10 things to see and do at Lincoln National Park in South Australia

Known for its spec­tac­u­lar ocean views and rugged off­shore islands, Lin­coln Nation­al Park is one of South Australia’s many true beauties.

The park sits on the south-east­ern tip of the Eyre Penin­su­la and is an 8‑hour, 680-kilo­me­tre dri­ve from Ade­laide. But we promise the park’s mag­nif­i­cent scenery and tran­quil beach­es will total­ly make it worth every ​‘are we there yet?’ from the back­seat of the car.

If dri­ving all that way isn’t quite your style, you can catch a flight from Ade­laide to Port Lin­coln and cut 7 hours off of your trav­el time.

Lin­coln Nation­al Park has some­thing for every­one. If you’re feel­ing up for an adven­ture, you can go hik­ing, fish­ing or 4WDing but if you’re after a more relax­ing time, soak up the sun on the beach or cool off in the clear, blue waters. You’ll find plen­ty of oppor­tu­ni­ties for bird­watch­ing and prac­tic­ing your pho­tog­ra­phy skills too.

The park is also home to Mem­o­ry Cove Wilder­ness Pro­tec­tion Area, which fea­tures a pure white sandy beach and is sur­round­ed by mallee and gran­ite out­crops, mak­ing it com­plete­ly secluded.

Access to Mem­o­ry Cove is lim­it­ed to 15 vehi­cles a day, so if you’re plan­ning to make a stop, be sure to book your vehi­cle entry and camp­ing before you go to receive a gate key.

You could almost say there’s too much to do in Lin­coln Nation­al Park, so we’ve nar­rowed it down for you. Here are 10 ideas to explore on your next adven­ture, pre­pared for you by the park’s pas­sion­ate rangers and our friends at Nature Play SA:

1. Rosenberg’s goan­nas were once rare on the Eyre Penin­su­la but park staff and vol­un­teers have worked hard to bring them back. Help them out by col­lect­ing a sur­vey sheet at the gate, record­ing any sight­ings and drop­ping off on your way out.
2. Head to Spald­ing Cove Beach and take a stroll along the shore­line where you can spot black swans, pel­i­cans and oth­er shore­birds tak­ing a dip in the ocean.
3. Make use of the low tides and explore the Abo­rig­i­nal fish traps in and around Don­ning­ton Beach – imag­ine the com­mu­ni­ties they sup­port­ed and what life was like before Euro­pean settlement.
4. Prop­er Bay is a great place to try your hand at crab­bing. You can access some of the sand flats from Wiseman’s Shack, Horse Rock or Wood­cut­ters Campground.
5. Head to Sep­tem­ber Beach and dis­cov­er the weird and won­der­ful plants and ani­mals along the coast­line. You can head to the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice South Aus­tralia office and pick up a beach­comb­ing guide before you go.
6. Head to an open beach such as Stam­ford Beach, Sur­fleet Cove or Spald­ing Cove and spend the day exploring.
7. Go snorkelling along some of the park’s rocky coast­line such as Don­ning­ton Beach, Sep­tem­ber Beach and Maclaren Point. You can also grab a snorkel guide from the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice South Aus­tralia office.
8. Spend a fam­i­ly day at Stam­ford Beach – there’s plen­ty of space for beach shel­ters, safe swim­ming and beach cricket.
9. Get your heart pump­ing with an ear­ly-morn­ing hike up Stam­ford Hill and be reward­ed with a spec­tac­u­lar sunrise. 
10. Head to Sleaford Dunes to observe some of the many fruit­ing sum­mer plants such as the native cur­rent (Nitraria bil­lardierei) and coastal heath (Leu­co­pogon parv­i­florus). These fruits are a food source for many birds such as ravens, sil­vereyes and honeyeaters.

There’s plen­ty to do at Lin­coln Nation­al Park all year round, so don’t fret if you can’t make it out this sum­mer. Have a look atNature Play SA’s brochurefor a list of activ­i­ties to cov­er every season.

Burst­ing for more info on this mag­nif­i­cent park? Check out these blogs –Insid­er Guide: Lin­coln Nation­al Parkand5 Trea­sures in Lin­coln Nation­al Park.

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in Feb­ru­ary 2018