Demystifying parks passes

If you enjoy vis­it­ing nation­al parks, a parks pass is a great way to save mon­ey and help plan your trip.

In some South Aus­tralian parks a fee applies for vehi­cle entry. Parks pass­es cov­er vehi­cle access, but if you want to camp or stay overnight you’ll need to pay extra.

There are six pass­es avail­able for pur­chase via the Nation­al Parks South Aus­tralia web­site or through a range of out­lets, all with their own dis­tinct advantages.

The first thing to do is fig­ure out which pass is best for you

The Hol­i­day Park Pass is best for short-term vis­i­tors as it pro­vides access to a num­ber of parks for a two-month peri­od. If you want to vis­it year-round a Mul­ti Park Pass pro­vides access to the same parks for 12 months.

Sin­gle Park Pass­es are best if you have a favourite park that you vis­it mul­ti­ple times a year, as they pro­vide 12 months of access.

The Desert Parks Pass has the out­back cov­ered and is essen­tial if you plan on vis­it­ing the Simp­son Desert Con­ser­va­tion Park and Region­al Reserve or trav­el­ling east of Dalhousie.

The Kan­ga­roo Island Tour Pass pro­vides access to not only Flinders Chase Nation­al Park but the Seal Bay board­walk tour and look out plus admis­sion to a num­ber of unique tours:

• Seal Bay guid­ed tour
• Kel­ly Hill Show Cave tour
• Cape Bor­da Light­sta­tion tour
• Cape Willough­by Light­sta­tion tour

The table below sum­maris­es the dif­fer­ent pass­es, detail­ing costs and how long they’re valid for. Click on the name of each pass to see which parks it includes.

Types of mul­ti­ple entry park passes?