Where last-minute October long weekend campsites are available in South Australia’s national parks

The sun is shin­ing, the birds are singing and the trails are wait­ing – it’s almost time for the Octo­ber long week­end (Sat­ur­day 2 Octo­ber to Mon­day 4 October).

Haven’t made plans yet? Look no fur­ther than a nation­al park.

Camp­sites in South Australia’s nation­al parks can be booked up to 12 months in advance and the most pop­u­lar sites sell out quick­ly around hol­i­day times.

This means that almost all sites are now booked out at parks such as Dhil­ba Guu­ran­da-Innes Nation­al Park, Mur­ray Riv­er Nation­al Park, Mount Remark­able Nation­al Park and Deep Creek Recre­ation Park.

But don’t despair, there are still plen­ty of options to camp in a nation­al park, par­tic­u­lar­ly if you’re will­ing to try a less­er-known park and camp­ground or trav­el a lit­tle fur­ther afield.

We’ve round­ed up a list of places where you can still book in:

Lime­stone Coast

Canun­da Nation­al Park

• Gelt­wood Camp­ground (book­ing fast!)
• Num­ber Two Rocks Campground

Coorong Nation­al Park

• Boat­ing Based Camp­ing (Coorong Lagoon)
• Loop Road, Malleefowl Camp­ground (book­ing fast!)
• Ocean Beach (4WD)
• Parn­ka Point, Avo­cet Camp­ground (book­ing fast!)
• Tea Tree Cross­ing Campground
• Tea Tree Cross­ing, Oys­ter­catch­er Camp­ground (book­ing fast!)

  Bool Lagoon Game Reserve and Hacks Lagoon Con­ser­va­tion Park

• Bool Lagoon Campground

Mur­ray River

Karte Con­ser­va­tion Park

• Karte Camp­ground (book­ing fast!)

Ngarkat Con­ser­va­tion Park

• Box Flat Campground
• Bucks Camp Camp­ground (book­ing fast!)
• Comet Bore Campground
• Coxs Wind­mill Campground
• Dog­gers Hut Camp­ground (book­ing fast!)
• The Pines Camp­ground (4WD) (book­ing fast!)

Eyre Penin­su­la

Chadin­ga Con­ser­va­tion Park

• Chadin­ga Campground

Cof­fin Bay Nation­al Park

• Black Springs Camp­ground (4WD) (book­ing fast!)
• Black Springs Over­flow (4WD)
• Mor­gan’s Land­ing Camp­ground (4WD) (book­ing fast!)
• Sen­sa­tion Camp­ground (4WD) (book­ing fast!)
• The Pool Camp­ground (4WD) (book­ing fast!)
• Yang­ie, Big Camp­ground (4WD)

Fowlers Bay Con­ser­va­tion Park

• Mex­i­can Hat Flat Campground
• Mex­i­can Hat Head­land Campground
• Scotts Beach Campground

Gawler Ranges Nation­al Park

• Chillu­nie Campground
• Kolay Hut Campground
• Mat­tera Campground
• Scrub­by Peak Campground
• Wagan­ny Campground
• Yandin­ga Campground

Lau­ra Bay Con­ser­va­tion Park

• Lau­ra Bay Campground

Lin­coln Nation­al Park

• Engine Point Camp­ground (4WD)
• Fish­er­man Point Campground
• Horse Rock Campground
• Lin­coln Track Camp­ground (4WD)
• Richard­sons Shack Campground
• Sur­fleet Cove Camp­ground (book­ing fast!)
• Wood­cut­ters Beach Camp­ground (4WD) (book­ing fast!)

Nullar­bor Nation­al Park

• Koon­al­da

Point Bell Con­ser­va­tion Park

• Point Bell Campground

Wah­gun­yah Con­ser­va­tion Park

• Chee­ti­ma Campground
• Dogfence Beach Campground

Wit­tel­bee Con­ser­va­tion Park

• Wit­tel­bee Campground

Yellabin­na Region­al Reserve

• Mt Finke Campground

Yum­bar­ra Con­ser­va­tion Park

• Googs Lake Campground

Flinders Ranges and Outback

Acra­man Creek Con­ser­va­tion Park

• Acra­man Creek

Innam­inc­ka Region­al Reserve

• Burke’s Grave Campground
• Cullya­mur­ra Water­hole Campground
• Kings Site Campground
• Kudriemitchie Camp­ground
• Minkie Water­hole Campground
• Police­mans Campground
• Queer­bi­die Campground
• Ski Beach Campground

Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park

• Brachi­na East Camp­ground (book­ing fast!)
• Koola­m­on Camp­ground (book­ing fast!)
• Wil­co­lo Hik­ers only

Kati Than­da-Lake Eyre Nation­al Park

• Hal­li­gan Bay Point Campground

Malkum­ba-Coongie Lakes Nation­al Park

• Malkum­ba-Coongie Lakes Campground

Tal­laringa Con­ser­va­tion Park

• Tal­laringa Con­ser­va­tion Park Camping

Vulkathun­ha-Gam­mon Ranges Nation­al Park

• Arcoona Camp­ground (4WD or high clear­ance 2WD)
• Grindells Hut Camp­ground (4WD Only)
• Italowie Gap Campground
• Main­wa­ter Well Camp­ground (4WD Only)
• Wee­t­oot­la Gorge Camp­ground, Wiri­ti Urdla

Witji­ra Nation­al Park

• 3 O’clock Creek Campground
• Dal­housie Springs Campground

Kan­ga­roo Island 

Cape Gantheaume Con­ser­va­tion Park and Wilder­ness Pro­tec­tion Area

• D’Estrees Bay Campground
• Mur­ray Lagoon Camp­ground (book­ing fast!)

Flinders Chase Nation­al Park

• Har­vey’s Return Campground
• West Bay Camp­ground (4WD)

Note: fer­ry book­ings to Kan­ga­roo Island can sell out around hol­i­day times, so Kan­ga­roo Island parks might only be an option if you’re a local, if you’ve already booked your fer­ry, or if you’re hap­py to fly to the island.

Avail­abil­i­ty at these camp­grounds for the Octo­ber long week­end is cor­rect as of Mon­day 27 Sep­tem­ber, 2021.

Top tip: Camp­sites can be booked 12 months in advance, so if you’ve missed out this year you can always book ahead for next year.

New to camp­ing? You might be inter­est­ed in read­ing these blogs: tips for begin­ners, camp­ing dos and don’ts, essen­tials to pack and easy camp­fire recipes.

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in Sep­tem­ber 2020 and has been updat­ed with details for 2021.