Take a walk in Karte Conservation Park: the Karte Conservation Park Hike

Take a walk in Karte Conservation Park: the Karte Conservation Park Hike



Explore a new walk­ing trail each month in one of South Australia’s nation­al parks. Here’s one to try next.


About 30 km north­west of Pin­na­roo in South Australia’s east is Karte Con­ser­va­tion Park, with its thick, low scrub and spec­tac­u­lar­ly steep sand dunes.

Karte Con­ser­va­tion Park Hike is the only trail in the park. It’s a mod­er­ate hike, where the 1.5 km trail will take you just less than an hour to complete. 

Start­ing at the camp­ground, this short hike involves steep hills and spec­tac­u­lar views over the district.

It pass­es through a mallee ecosys­tem char­ac­ter­is­tic of the tall inter­lock­ing sand dunes that cov­er most of Karte Con­ser­va­tion Park.

As you walk along the trail you will see the con­trast between the native veg­e­ta­tion on these tall sand dunes and the agri­cul­tur­al plains that sur­round the park.

Take the oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn about some of the species that call this park home – from the small ground­cov­er species to the large trees – by stop­ping at the inter­pre­tive signs along the trail that explain the impor­tant role they play in the mallee landscape.

A pic­nic area is locat­ed near the start of the trail and pro­vides an oppor­tu­ni­ty to enjoy the park’s vast expanse of wilder­ness and admire the stun­ning views across the district.

Shad­ed park­ing is avail­able at the camp­ground and so are toi­let facilities. 

Get­ting there

Karte Con­ser­va­tion Park is locat­ed 30 km north­west of Pin­na­roo and can be accessed via the Pin­na­roo to Lox­ton Road.

Before you go, down­load the park map via the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice web­site or down­load it on the Aven­za Map App. This app uses your phone’s in-built GPS to place your loca­tion direct­ly onto the map. Read our sto­ry to learn how it works.

Camp­ing

There are three camp­sites avail­able at Karte Camp­ground that pro­vide an oppor­tu­ni­ty to enjoy the park’s vast expanse of wilder­ness and serene location.

You might even encounter one of the park’s res­i­dents, such as the west­ern grey kan­ga­roos, echid­nas or fat-tailed dunnarts.

Toi­lets, pic­nic tables and fire pits are also on hand at the camp­ground. Just be sure to check the web­site for any fire restric­tions before you light a campfire.

Take a walk in Karte Conservation Park: the Karte Conservation Park Hike

Are you keen to explore the Mur­ray­lands region a lit­tle fur­ther? Ngarkat Con­ser­va­tion Park is a spec­tac­u­lar park to vis­it, with heaps to see and do. Ranger Ryan Hamood has sent us his top tipsfor the park and a few waysto get the most out of your visit. 


This con­tent was pro­duced in part­ner­ship with  Good Living