6 things to see and do at Flinders Chase National Park

From world-famous land­marks to one of Australia’s great walks, Flinders Chase Nation­al Park real­ly does have some­thing for every visitor.

Locat­ed on the west­ern end of the island, 110 kilo­me­tres from the main town of Kingscote, the rugged beau­ty of Flinders Chase will make you feel like you’re a mil­lion miles away.

Must-see sights include the icon­ic Admi­rals Arch, a beau­ti­ful nat­ur­al rock arch shaped by the pow­er­ful South­ern Ocean – and a great place for spot­ting long-nosed fur seals – or the sculp­tured gran­ite boul­ders known as Remark­able Rocks.

Stay in the rebuilt her­itage accom­mo­da­tion (Post­mans Cot­tage and May’s Home­stead) or pitch a tent at Harvey’s Return campground.

Flinders Chase is great to vis­it all year round, but win­ter is when you’ll see the whales arriv­ing, echid­nas mat­ing and maybe even the small goslings of the noisy Cape Bar­ren geese.

Fun fact: Did you know baby echid­nas are called pug­gles and kan­ga­roos, wal­la­bies and pos­sums are called joeys?

Here are 6 ways to explore Flinders Chase Nation­al Park, pre­pared for you by the park’s pas­sion­ate rangers and Nature Play SA:

1. Lis­ten for the thun­der­ing sounds of the South­ern Ocean and the haunt­ing calls of the bush stone-curlew or south­ern boo­book owl as you camp the night at the Rocky Riv­er Campground.

2. Look out over the cliffs at the his­toric Weirs Cove Ruins Look­out. Weirs Cove is where the light­house keep­ers would winch up sup­plies from ships to ser­vice the light­house. You can still see the remains of the orig­i­nal jet­ty and store rooms

3. On a stormy day watch the waves crash over the Casua­r­i­na Islets, the two small islets off Cape du Couedic in the West­ern Kan­ga­roo Island Marine Park. Be sure to take extra care when it’s windy.
   

4. In late win­ter, head along Snake Lagoon Hike where gold­en wat­tles have begun to bloom and you may spot a trail of male echid­nas fol­low­ing a female, known as an ​‘echid­na train’.

5. Put on your gum­boots and explore the Her­itage Walk just north-west of the vis­i­tor cen­tre off Cape du Couedic Road Look up and you may even spot a koala in the trees.

6. Keep your gum boots on and wan­der around the Black Swamp area which is a great spot to see Cape Bar­ren Geese – why not see how many you can count as they bick­er over nest­ing space? The geese like to nest in the morn­ing flag bush, keep an eye out, you may see one sit­ting on its nest.

Through­out Decem­ber, Parks of West­ern Kan­ga­roo Island are being cel­e­brat­ed as part of Park of the Month.

Rov­ing Seal Tours, Admi­rals Arch
Join one of our rov­ing rangers for a guid­ed tour on Sun­day, 18 Decem­ber 2022 between 10am and 3pm.

Guid­ed Bird Walk, Rocky Riv­er
Join Ranger Sam for a morn­ing bird­watch­ing ses­sion on Sun­day, 18 Decem­ber 2022 at 9am. Book­ings essential. 

Check the Nation­al Parks of Kan­ga­roo Island Vis­i­tor Guide: May 2022 for more infor­ma­tion to plan your trip to the island.