5 treasures in South Australia’s Lincoln National Park

Sur­round­ed by some of the most attrac­tive coast­line in South Aus­tralia, Lin­coln Nation­al Park on the Eyre Penin­su­la boasts breath­tak­ing views and pris­tine beach­es that need to be seen to be believed.

Learn about the park’s rich his­to­ry, take a hike, watch for wildlife or cast your rod – there tru­ly is some­thing here for everyone.

1. Sleaford to Wan­na 4WD Track

The Sleaford to Wan­na 4WD track offers some of the best sand dune dri­ving expe­ri­ences on the Eyre Peninsula.

Fol­low the red mark­er posts and be reward­ed with scenery of mas­sive wind sculp­tured sand dunes, pound­ing surf and rugged lime­stone cliffs along the South­ern Ocean, with great views over the Sleaford Bay Sanc­tu­ary Zone, in the Thorny Pas­sage Marine Park.

Drop a line in from the shore at Millers Hole or the Salmon Hole and see if you can bring in an Aus­tralian salmon.

You could spend a few hours tra­vers­ing the 14km track, or spend the day out there catch­ing a fish or hav­ing a pic­nic on the beach.

Bird watch­ers should bring their binoc­u­lars – there are great oppor­tu­ni­ties to see white-bel­lied sea eagles, osprey, and var­i­ous species of wrens, par­rots or the elu­sive west­ern whipbird.

Keep an eye on the water below for long-nosed fur seals, Aus­tralian sea lions and large schools of salmon with birds feed­ing and the occa­sion­al shark fol­low­ing close­ly behind. 

2. Stam­ford Hill Hike

Not for the faint-heart­ed, the trek up Stam­ford Hill is short but steep. It’s about 2.7 kilo­me­tres and should take you rough­ly one and a half hours to get there and back.

If you need to catch your breath, stop at the inter­pre­tive signs along the trail and learn about the area’s history.

Reward your­self once you reach the top with a pic­nic lunch and panoram­ic views of Prop­er and Boston Bay, Port Lin­coln and Lin­coln Nation­al Park.

Don’t for­get to check out the his­toric Flinders Mon­u­ment while you’re there – it was erect­ed in mem­o­ry of Matthew Flinders who sur­veyed the Eyre Penin­su­la coast­line in 1802.

3. Sep­tem­ber Beach

Sep­tem­ber Beach, locat­ed on the Don­ing­ton Penin­su­la on the north-east­ern tip of the park, is a beau­ti­ful sandy beach and a great loca­tion to spot a pod of dol­phins swim­ming by.

You might also like to head to the rocks where you might find some cool lit­tle crit­ters that call the inter­tidal zone home.

Have a pic­nic under one of the shel­ters and enjoy the local wildlife around you – a sleepy lizard might be out and about, or a west­ern grey kan­ga­roo or some emus.

Stay the night at one of the many camp­sites or you could try one of the new glamp­ing sites run by Kata and Belle.

4. MacLaren Point

This seclud­ed rocky head­land, sit­u­at­ed in the north-east­ern area of the park, is acces­si­ble only by four-wheel drive.

Fol­low the main sealed road when you enter the park and head north-east, turn­ing off at the MacLaren’s Point sign onto the unsealed track.

The camp­ground at the end of the 4‑kilometre track is the per­fect spot to pitch your tent for a true bush camp­ing expe­ri­ence. You can expect the beach here to be small but pristine.

Don’t for­get to bring your fish­ing rod as tom­my ruffs, mul­let and small salmon can be caught from the beach and squid from the head­lands, thanks to the deep water.

Endan­gered hood­ed plovers can be spot­ted on the beach­es near­by, along with the occa­sion­al white-bel­lied sea eagle, dol­phins and seals swim­ming past.

This side of the coast has some of the pret­ti­est coastal bush­walk­ing trails, espe­cial­ly in spring when the wild­flow­ers are out.

5. Mem­o­ry Cove Wilder­ness Pro­tec­tion Area

A mag­nif­i­cent and seclud­ed bay with a pure white sandy beach, Mem­o­ry Cove Wilder­ness Pro­tec­tion Area is cra­dled between dense­ly veg­e­tat­ed headlands.

Sleepy Mem­o­ry Cove Beach was thrown into the lime­light a few years ago when it was vot­ed as one of the top 10 beach­es in the world by the Guardian news­pa­per. But don’t be dis­mayed, it still has all of its wilder­ness charm.

Acces­si­ble only by a gate key from the Port Lin­coln Vis­i­tor Cen­tre, this area is lim­it­ed to 15 vehi­cles a day and pro­vides a unique camp­ing or day-vis­it expe­ri­ence in the wilderness.

Take the 2‑hour self-guid­ed dri­ve to take in mag­nif­i­cent views of the area and learn more about its veg­e­ta­tion and history.

If you’re vis­it­ing dur­ing win­ter, pay spe­cial atten­tion to stop three on this map – the clifftop is the per­fect south­ern right whale watch­ing platform.

Love Lin­coln Nation­al Park? You might like to hear the top tips as rec­om­mend­ed by park ranger Elly Schultz.

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in April 2016