Safety

South Australia’s nation­al parks are great places to con­nect with nature.

Enjoy your time in parks by under­stand­ing that the nat­ur­al envi­ron­ment can be unpre­dictable and by prepar­ing ahead to stay safe.

You are respon­si­ble for your own safe­ty and the safe­ty of those in your care. 

Do your research on the places you’ll be vis­it­ing so you can be best pre­pared – and always take direc­tion from our park rangers as they have the great­est knowl­edge of local conditions.

How can I check cur­rent con­di­tions in parks?

• Check the Bureau of Mete­o­rol­o­gy at bom​.gov​.au for weath­er fore­casts and warnings.
• Some­times parks or parts of parks such as trails are closed because of weath­er dam­age or for park man­age­ment rea­sons. Find out if the park you want to vis­it is open by check­ing the list of parks clo­sures and alerts.
• Check Alert SA for the lat­est updates from South Australia’s emer­gency ser­vices. For fire updates tune to your local emer­gency broad­cast radio station.
• Check the desert parks bul­letin for infor­ma­tion about access, clo­sures, camp­grounds and roads in the Flinders Ranges and Out­back region.

What should I take with me to a park?

• Keep well hydrat­ed. Aim to drink one litre of water per hour of exer­cise. Make sure you car­ry enough drink­ing water as not all of our parks have this resource. We can­not guar­an­tee the qual­i­ty and avail­abil­i­ty of drink­ing water in our reserves.
• Be sun smart. Sun­burn strikes fast. Wear a wide-brimmed hat and plen­ty of sunscreen.
• Choose the right gear for your parks expe­ri­ence. If bush­walk­ing, wear pro­tec­tive cloth­ing and footwear and pre­pare for weath­er changes. Car­ry insect repel­lent and first aid supplies.

How can I stay safe when walk­ing in parks?

• Stick to defined walk­ing trails and avoid closed sec­tions. Areas are closed for safe­ty rea­sons such as unsta­ble sur­faces, flood or fire risk.

• If you’re plan­ning to do some remote trekking it’s a good idea to speak to the local park office. You may need to com­plete a trip inten­tions form in advance of your vis­it and let a respon­si­ble per­son know before you go. Tell them where you’ll be trav­el­ling and your expect­ed return time.

• Be aware that mobile phone cov­er­age is not reli­able in all of our parks, par­tic­u­lar­ly in remote areas and where there is steep terrain.

• Ser­vice your vehi­cle and check road con­di­tions. Ensure your vehi­cle is in excel­lent con­di­tion before hit­ting unsealed roads.
• Native wildlife often becomes more active at dusk and dawn. This makes ani­mals more vul­ner­a­ble to injury caused by oncom­ing traf­fic. If you must dri­ve at these times, please reduce your speed and keep watch for wildlife.

• For boat­ing safe­ty infor­ma­tion check Marine Safe­ty SA.

• Check the desert parks bul­letin for for infor­ma­tion about access, clo­sures, camp­grounds and roads in the Flinders Ranges and Out­back region.
• Check the Aussie Trav­el Code for insid­er knowl­edge on how to enjoy your trip, stay safe, and be the kind of trav­eller you would want to meet in your own hometown.

Who can I con­tact in an emer­gency in parks?

• In emer­gen­cies, dial 000 for police/​fire/​ambulance.
• Region­al Duty Offi­cers are on duty to respond to emer­gency sit­u­a­tions in parks, which may include:
• Vis­i­tor fatal­i­ty or sig­nif­i­cant injury;
• Vehi­cle relat­ed inci­dents in parks;
• Lost vis­i­tors requir­ing search and res­cue operations;
• Mat­ters requir­ing a com­pli­ance or enforce­ment response;
• Marine mam­mal rescue;
• Injured wildlife and fau­na rescue;
• Park asset main­te­nance / build­ing security;
• Online camp­site book­ing queries for parks (after hours only).

How can I enjoy a camp­fire safe­ly in parks?

Find out whether a camp­fire is per­mit­ted in the park you’re vis­it­ing and how to build and put out a camp­fire safely.

How can I stay safe from mos­qui­toes in parks?

Mos­qui­toes can be a nui­sance and some can spread seri­ous dis­ease when they bite.

The most com­mon dis­ease spread by mos­qui­toes in South Aus­tralia is Ross Riv­er virus, fol­lowed by Barmah For­est virus.

There is cur­rent­ly no cure and no vac­cine for these viruses.

The only way to pro­tect your­self and your fam­i­ly is to avoid being bitten.

It is rec­om­mend­ed that peo­ple use mos­qui­to repel­lents con­tain­ing either DEET, Picaridin, or Oil of Lemon Euca­lyp­tus (PMD), that have been approved by the Aus­tralian Pes­ti­cides and Vet­eri­nary Med­i­cines Author­i­ty (APV­MA).

Learn how to fight the bite.