How to spend a weekend away in a national park for less than $50

Look­ing for a bud­get-con­scious mini vaca­tion close to Ade­laide? Look no fur­ther than a week­end escape to a nation­al park.

All you need is a car, tent, food and a sense of adventure.

Here are 7 nation­al parks in South Aus­tralia where you can enjoy a week­end away for less than $50:

1. Deep Creek Nation­al Park – Trig Campground

Cost: $46 for 2 nights of camp­ing and vehi­cle entry.

Deep Creek Nation­al Park is just a 90-minute dri­ve from Ade­laide, mak­ing it an ide­al week­end escape.

The park’s Trig Camp­ground teems with wildlife, so you’ll like­ly be shar­ing your camp­site with kan­ga­roos and Ade­laide rosellas.

The camp­sites are large and sur­round­ed by trees, which means there’s plen­ty of shade and shel­ter from the wind. Camp­ground ameni­ties include toi­lets, pic­nic shel­ter and tables, mak­ing for a com­fort­able stay.

Trig Camp­ground is a great loca­tion in the park, with near­by hik­ing trails tak­ing you to the Deep Creek water­fall or down to Deep Creek Cove.

Know before you go:

• Book online or in per­son at a local book­ing agent
• Camp­sites are suit­able for tents, car­a­vans, camper­vans and camper trailers
• Sites are unpow­ered and you must bring your own drink­ing water
• Camp­fires are allowed in this camp­ground, but be aware of sea­son­al fire restric­tions.

2. Coorong Nation­al Park – Pel­i­can Point, Pel­i­can Campground

Cost: $34 for 2 nights of camp­ing. Vehi­cle entry is free.

Escape to Storm Boy Coun­try and camp right on the edge of the famous Coorong Nation­al Park wetland. 

Pel­i­can Point, Pel­i­can Camp­ground at Parn­ka Point is only a 2‑hour dri­ve from Ade­laide and is the per­fect place to pitch a tent and search for pel­i­cans like Mr Per­ci­val, made famous in the Storm Boy movies.

The camp­sites are large and flat, and there are basic toi­let facil­i­ties near­by. There’s even a boat ramp per­fect for launch­ing a tin­ny or kayak for a day on the water.

Know before you go:

• Book online or in per­son at a local book­ing agent
• Camp­sites are suit­able for tents, car­a­vans, camper­vans and camper trailers
• Sites are unpow­ered and you must bring your own drink­ing water
• Camp­fires are not per­mit­ted in this campground.

3. Dhil­ba Guu­ran­da-Innes Nation­al Park – Casua­r­i­na Campground

Cost: $46 for 2 nights of camp­ing and vehi­cle entry. 

How does a beach­side hol­i­day with­out the big price tag sound? Dhil­ba Guu­ran­da-Innes Nation­al Park on Yorke Penin­su­la is approx­i­mate­ly a 4‑hour dri­ve from Ade­laide and is famous for its pris­tine beach­es, rugged cliffs, abun­dant wildlife, his­toric ship­wrecks, and is per­fect for activ­i­ties like camp­ing, bush­walk­ing, fish­ing and surfing. 

There’s 8 camp­grounds to choose from, and local park ranger Mark Davi­son rates Casua­r­i­na Camp­ground as his favourite.

Set amongst a nat­ur­al bush set­ting, the camp­ground is just a 10-minute walk across the dunes to the spec­tac­u­lar Pon­dalowie Beach, where you’ll find great fish­ing and one of SA’s most famous surf breaks.

Know before you go:

• Book online or in per­son at a local book­ing agent
• Camp­sites are suit­able for tents and camper trailers
• Sites are unpow­ered and you must bring your own drink­ing water
• Camp­fires are allowed in this camp­ground, but sea­son­al fire restric­tions apply.

4. Para Wirra Con­ser­va­tion Park – Wirra Campground

Cost: $46 for 2 nights of camp­ing and vehi­cle entry.

If you’re based in Ade­laide, you don’t have to trav­el far for your next camp­ing adven­ture – Wirra Camp­ground in Para Wirra Con­ser­va­tion Park is a short 50-minute dri­ve from the city.

There are 19 camp­sites and facil­i­ties includ­ing acces­si­ble toi­lets, a camp kitchen, gas bar­be­cues and pic­nic tables.

There are plen­ty of walk­ing trails to explore and the nature play for­est at Gawler View Pic­nic Area is sure to keep the kids entertained.

Know before you go:

• Book online or in per­son at a local book­ing agent
• Be sure to check the park web­site for safe­ty alerts and clo­sures before you go
• Camp­sites are suit­able for tents, car­a­vans, camper­vans and camper trailers
• Sites are unpow­ered and you must bring your own drink­ing water
• Camp­fires are allowed in this camp­ground, but sea­son­al fire restric­tions apply.

5. Onka­paringa Riv­er Nation­al Park – Pink Gum Campground

Cost: $34 for 2 nights of camp­ing. Vehi­cle entry is free.

For about the same price as a good bot­tle of wine, you can spend a week­end away on the beau­ti­ful Fleurieu Penin­su­la. The even bet­ter news is that if you still want that good bot­tle of wine, there are more than 70 cel­lar doors near­by in the McLaren Vale wine region!

Pink Gum Camp­ground in Onka­paringa Riv­er Nation­al Park is the per­fect base for explor­ing this rugged park and is only a 50-minute dri­ve from Adelaide.

There is plen­ty to see and do in the park, with a vast net­work of trails for bush­walk­ing and moun­tain bik­ing.

For the adven­tur­ous, the rock climb­ing zone is locat­ed just a short walk from the camp­ground and fea­tures cliffs up to 30 m high with per­ma­nent rock pools below.

The camp­ground comes com­plete with acces­si­ble toilets.

Know before you go:

• Book online or in per­son at a local book­ing agent
• Camp­sites are suit­able for tents, car­a­vans, camper­vans and camper trailers
• Sites are unpow­ered and you must bring your own drink­ing water
• Camp­fires are allowed in this camp­ground, but sea­son­al fire restric­tions apply.

6. Mur­ray Riv­er Nation­al Park – Lyrup Flats Section

Cost: $27 for 2 nights of camp­ing. Vehi­cle entry is free.

Is there any­thing bet­ter than lazy days on the riv­er? Locat­ed between Berri and Ren­mark, the Lyrup Flats sec­tion of Mur­ray Riv­er Nation­al Park has 45 riv­er-front camp­sites for the per­fect week­end away.

Whether you want to recline under a shady riv­er red gum with your favourite book, or hit the water for canoe­ing or fish­ing, the choice is yours.

Some of the camp­sites are iso­lat­ed and offer you plen­ty of soli­tude from the out­side world.

Know before you go:

• Book online or in per­son at a local book­ing agent
• Camp­sites are suit­able for tents, car­a­vans, camper­vans and camper trailers
• Sites are unpow­ered and you must bring your own drink­ing water
• Many of the camp­sites have no facil­i­ties, so you must come pre­pared to be ful­ly self-sufficient
• Camp­fires are allowed in this camp­ground, but sea­son­al fire restric­tions apply.

7. Mount Remark­able Nation­al Park – Mam­bray Creek Campground

Cost: $61 for 2 nights of camp­ing and vehi­cle entry.

Okay, it’s not less than $50, but we couldn’t leave Mount Remark­able Nation­al Park off the list as it’s still great val­ue for a week­end away.

This park is with­in easy reach of Ade­laide, at a lit­tle more than a 3‑hour dri­ve, and the Mam­bray Creek Camp­ground is a great spot to stay.

Nes­tled along the banks of Mam­bray Creek, this camp­ground has 54 sites suit­able for all types of camp­ing includ­ing car­a­vans and campervans.

The tall shady riv­er red gum trees pro­vide plen­ty of shade and wind pro­tec­tion, and the vast net­work of walk­ing trails will keep you busy.

Best of all, there’s no need to bring a shov­el – there’s a toi­let block with flush­ing loos – and there’s hot show­ers too, so you’ll have some of the crea­ture com­forts that you don’t always asso­ciate with a camp­ing trip.

To get to the park, head north on High­way 1 and the access road to the camp­ground is locat­ed about 45 km north of Port Pirie.

Know before you go:

• Book online or in per­son at a local book­ing agent
• Camp­sites are suit­able for tents, car­a­vans, camper­vans and camper trailers
• Sites are unpow­ered and you must bring your own drink­ing water
• Camp­fires are allowed in this camp­ground, but sea­son­al fire restric­tions apply.

What are sea­son­al fire restric­tions for camp­fires in nation­al parks?

Camp­fires are allowed in many of our nation­al parks as long as it’s not dur­ing fire dan­ger sea­son. Fire dan­ger sea­son dates vary depend­ing on which fire ban dis­trict the park is locat­ed, and are sub­ject to change based on sea­son­al conditions. 

So, before light­ing a fire, make sure you are famil­iar with the fire restric­tions that apply for the park you are vis­it­ing. You must also bring your own fire­wood, as col­lec­tion of fire­wood in the park is not allowed.

All fires, includ­ing gas and liq­uid fuel fires, are not allowed on days declared as a Total Fire Ban by the South Aus­tralian Coun­try Fire Service. 

For cur­rent fire ban infor­ma­tion and fire dan­ger fore­cast, vis­it the South Aus­tralian Coun­try Fire Ser­vice Web­site or call the CFS Bush­fire Infor­ma­tion Hot­line 1800 362 361. 

Note: prices are cor­rect as of pub­lish­ing date.

There are plen­ty of parks right across SA where you can spend a week­end away for an afford­able price. Find your next des­ti­na­tion by vis­it­ing theNation­al Parks web­siteand check out our sto­ries to get your­self pre­pared:8 camp­ing essen­tials to take on your next tripandCamp­ing Do’s and Don’t’s.

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in Octo­ber 2019 and has been updat­ed with cur­rent pricing