Flinders Chase National Park and Ravine Des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area

Harvey’s Return Camp­ground is the old land­ing site for the Cape Bor­da light sta­tion and is near the his­toric light keep­ers’ ceme­tery. A 4WD is rec­om­mend­ed for camp­ing at Harvey’s Return as the grav­el road to the camp­site can be quite cor­ru­gat­ed. 2WD access is sub­ject to road conditions.

West Bay Camp­ground is locat­ed at the west­ern end of Flinders Chase Nation­al Park, set with­in a stun­ning coastal land­scape and a short walk from a tran­quil bay. This camp­ground is 4WD only and is not suit­able for car­a­vans or large vehicles. 

Camp­sites need to be booked pri­or to arrival. Book online to reserve your camp­site up to 12 months in advance. 

West Bay Camp­ground, West Bay Road and Shack­le Road may be closed sea­son­al­ly as the roads are unsafe fol­low­ing rain events. Please read our park alerts or phone (+61 8) 8553 4444 for cur­rent information. 

Part of the orig­i­nal Rocky Riv­er Home­stead precinct, her­itage-list­ed May’s Home­stead and Postman’s Cot­tage have been brought back to life fol­low­ing the 2019 – 20 sum­mer bush­fires. Lov­ing­ly restored, with con­tem­po­rary fea­tures through­out, the cot­tages offer a dis­tinc­tive her­itage encounter in one of South Australia’s most icon­ic nation­al parks.

Both prop­er­ties are locat­ed at Rocky Riv­er, close enough to be booked togeth­er for shar­ing by a group, but far enough apart to be private.

One-bed­room Postman’s Cot­tage has been designed with acces­si­bil­i­ty in mind, while two-bed­room May’s Home­stead is ide­al for fam­i­lies. The two build­ings are walk­ing dis­tance from one anoth­er and can be booked togeth­er to accom­mo­date large fam­i­lies or groups.

Sit­u­at­ed 5 km into Flinders Chase Nation­al Park, this accom­mo­da­tion is the per­fect loca­tion to immerse your­self in nature and make your base for explor­ing some of Kan­ga­roo Island’s most icon­ic locations.

Book online to reserve your accom­mo­da­tion up to 12 months in advance.

FAQs about book­ing online

May’s Home­stead (2 bed­room, sleeps 4)

This her­itage-list­ed cot­tage offers cosy self-con­tained accom­mo­da­tion for up to four guests. Stun­ning­ly restored and updat­ed, the cot­tage fea­tures an open-plan lounge, din­ing and kitchen, two bed­rooms, and a spa­cious bathroom.

Bed­room 1 has a queen bed, while Bed­room 2 has two sin­gle beds. 

The ful­ly equipped kitchen includes an oven with 4‑burner stove­top, fridge/​freezer, microwave, ket­tle, toast­er, cof­fee plunger (BYO fan­cy cof­fee), cook­ing uten­sils, pots and pans, glass­ware, crock­ery and cut­lery. Cook­ing basics (tea, instant cof­fee, sug­ar, oil, salt and pep­per) are provided.

Take the oppor­tu­ni­ty to dis­con­nect from the busy world (there is no wifi or TV and phone recep­tion is lim­it­ed), and con­nect with your loved ones – board games and cards are provided. 

All linens and tow­els are pro­vid­ed. Hair dry­er, sham­poo, con­di­tion­er and body wash supplied.

There is reverse-cycle air-con­di­tion­ing in the kitchen/​dining and lounge room, and a wood-fired com­bus­tion heater in the lounge room.

Enjoy out­door din­ing on the large paved deck and gath­er­ing around the fire pit in the cool­er months (fire restric­tions apply), while Cape Bar­ren geese and kan­ga­roos graze just steps away.

While the cot­tage is not ful­ly acces­si­ble, an access ramp for the front door and a show­er chair are avail­able on request. Con­tact Flinders Chase Nation­al Park pri­or to your vis­it on (+618) 8553 4444.

Min­i­mum two night stay.

Postman’s Cot­tage (1 bed­room, sleeps 2)

This her­itage-list­ed cot­tage offers cosy self-con­tained accom­mo­da­tion for up to two guests. Stun­ning­ly restored and updat­ed, the cot­tage fea­tures an open-plan lounge, din­ing and kitchen, one bed­room with a queen size bed, and a spa­cious bathroom.

Designed with acces­si­bil­i­ty in mind, the cot­tage has step-free access through­out, spa­cious rooms, acces­si­ble bath­room with roll-in show­er with fold-down show­er seat, and on-site dis­abled parking. 

The ful­ly equipped kitchen includes an oven with 4‑burner stove­top, fridge/​freezer, microwave, ket­tle, toast­er, cof­fee plunger (BYO fan­cy cof­fee), cook­ing uten­sils, pots and pans, glass­ware, crock­ery and cut­lery. Cook­ing basics (tea, instant cof­fee, sug­ar, oil, salt and pep­per) are provided.

Take the oppor­tu­ni­ty to dis­con­nect from the busy world (there is no wifi or TV and phone recep­tion is lim­it­ed), and con­nect with your loved ones – board games and cards are provided. 

All linens and tow­els are pro­vid­ed. Hair dry­er, sham­poo, con­di­tion­er and body wash supplied.

There is a reverse-cycle air-con­di­tion­er in the bed­room, and a wood-fired com­bus­tion heater in the liv­ing area.

Enjoy out­door din­ing on the large paved deck and gath­er­ing around the fire pit in the cool­er months (fire restric­tions apply), while Cape Bar­ren geese and kan­ga­roos graze just steps away.

Min­i­mum two night stay.

Postman’s Cot­tage key acces­si­ble features:

• Step-free accom­mo­da­tion
• The cement floors in the open plan area and tiled bath­room are smooth for easy move­ment with plen­ty of room to move around
• The bed­room has a queen bed with suf­fi­cient room for wheel­chair access. It has lamps with­in reach of the bed
• On-site dis­abled parking
• The show­er is an open plan roll-in show­er with a wall-mount­ed show­er chair pro­vid­ed (a move­able show­er chair is avail­able upon request)
• The show­er has a hand­held show­er­head and there is grab bar
• Wheel­chair acces­si­ble water basin
• Acces­si­ble toi­let with grab bar
• Extend­ed lever mixers

Kan­ga­roo Island’s rugged coast­line offers keen bush­walk­ers spec­tac­u­lar coastal scenery, pris­tine rivers, tracts of undis­turbed native veg­e­ta­tion and oppor­tu­ni­ties to observe abun­dant and diverse wildlife. Most of the coast is very iso­lat­ed and pro­vides trekkers with a true wilder­ness expe­ri­ence. Our trails cater for all lev­els of fit­ness and adven­ture and our clas­si­fi­ca­tion sys­tem makes it easy to select an expe­ri­ence suit­able for you. 

• Walk, hike or trek — what’s the dif­fer­ence?
• Bush­walk­ing safe­ty
• Bush­walk­ing min­i­mum impact code
• Park trail maps

Mod­er­ate hikes

• Cape du Couedic Hike (40 min loop, 2km)

Spec­tac­u­lar coastal cliff top views and inter­pre­tive signs. Learn about the park’s coastal veg­e­ta­tion and mar­itime history. 

Access: this trail starts at the Cape du Couedic day vis­i­tor area. 

• Ravine Hike (3 hrs, 7km)

Explore the Val­ley of the Cas­sowaries, named after the now extinct dwarf emu. Take a shad­ed walk into the val­ley, then fol­low the riv­er to a remote sandy beach. 

Access: this trail starts from the car park on Ravine Road, in the Ravine des Casoars Wilder­ness Pro­tec­tion Area. 

• Har­veys Return Hike (30 mins, 1km)

Treks

• Kan­ga­roo Island Wilder­ness Trail (5 days, 61km)

This once-in-a-life­­time expe­ri­ence allows walk­ers to see the Kan­ga­roo Island Wilder­ness Trail envi­ron­ment as it’s nev­er been seen before. Find out more. 

Between mid-May and late Octo­ber whales migrate from sub-Antarc­tic water to the com­par­a­tive­ly warmer waters of the South Aus­tralian coast to calve and mate. While our whale vis­i­tors are most­ly south­ern right whales, we also have sight­ings of sperm whales, hump­backs, blue whales and the occa­sion­al orca. 

Flinders Chase Nation­al Park and Ravine des Casoars Wilder­ness Pro­tec­tion Area offer ide­al van­tage points to see these majes­tic crea­tures. If you are vis­it­ing dur­ing whale sea­son, keep an extra keen eye on the ocean at these fol­low­ing places 

• Cape du Couedic Look­out (acces­si­ble only from the Cape du Couedic hike), Flinders Chase Nation­al Park 
• Weirs Cove Look­out, Flinders Chase Nation­al Park 
• Admi­rals Arch Look­outs, Flinders Chase Nation­al Park 
• Cape Bor­da Light­sta­tion, Flinders Chase Nation­al Park 
• Scott Cove Look­out, Ravine des Casoars Wilder­ness Pro­tec­tion Area 

Remark­able Rocks

Vis­it the exquis­ite nat­u­ral­ly sculp­tured Remark­able Rocks whose for­ma­tion lies atop a rem­nant gran­ite outcrop. 

Fol­low­ing the 2019 – 20 sum­mer bush­fires, the rebuild­ing of vis­i­tor facil­i­ties at this site is now com­plete. A new board­walk, view­ing plat­form and inter­pre­tive sig­nage is now in place. 

Admi­rals Arch

Locat­ed at Cape du Couedic, Admi­rals Arch is a beau­ti­ful nat­ur­al rock arch that dis­plays the pow­er of the ocean and weath­er­ing which has shaped the coast­line. This area is also home to a large breed­ing colony of long-nosed fur seals. 

Dur­ing a severe weath­er event with dam­ag­ing winds, Admi­rals Arch and Remark­able Rocks may be closed for pub­lic safe­ty. Please vis­it the Flinders Chase Vis­i­tor Cen­tre or phone (+61) 0428 766 269 for cur­rent information. 

Cape Bor­da Light­sta­tion

Dri­ve Shack­le Road to Cape Bor­da. Once there, you can explore the Cape Bor­da Light­sta­tion that sits upon tow­er­ing cliffs over­look­ing Inves­ti­ga­tor Strait. Take a self-guid­ed tour around the Cape Bor­da Light­sta­tion set­tle­ment. It will give you an insight into the ear­ly light­keep­ers’ liv­ing con­di­tions, and how iso­la­tion and a demand­ing rou­tine dom­i­nat­ed their often harsh lives. Book your self guid­ed tour online before you go.

After the self-guid­ed tour, enjoy a stroll along one of the walk­ing trails around the park includ­ing the Clifftop Hike. This short trail through a pic­turesque rock gar­den takes you to a stone look­out that pro­vides an ide­al van­tage point for spot­ting whales and dolphins.

You can ride your bike on roads open to the pub­lic. All walk­ing trails with­in the park are for pedes­tri­ans only. 

• Which parks can you ride in?

Fish­ing is active­ly man­aged in South Aus­tralia by the Depart­ment of Pri­ma­ry Indus­tries and Resources SA.
Check out these use­ful links before embark­ing on your fish­ing adventure: 

• Recre­ation­al fish­ing reg­u­la­tions
• SA recre­ation­al fish­ing guide app
• Aquat­ic reserves

In Flinders Chase Nation­al Park you can see a range of wildlife.

Find out how wildlife has recov­ered fol­low­ing the 2019/2020 sum­mer bushfires.

Here are some of the ani­mals you may encounter: 

Kan­ga­roo Island kan­ga­roo
This kan­ga­roo is small­er, dark­er and longer furred than its clos­est main­land rel­a­tive. Dur­ing the day they often rest under veg­e­ta­tion, com­ing out to graze in the ear­ly morn­ing and late afternoon. 

Tam­mar wal­la­by
These wal­la­bies are noc­tur­nal and are best seen at dawn and dusk. Dur­ing the day Tam­mar wal­la­bies rest in dense, low veg­e­ta­tion. They move through tun­nels in the veg­e­ta­tion from their day­time shel­ters to grassed areas to feed in the evening.

Short-beaked echid­na
Echid­nas are found across Kan­ga­roo Island in all types of habi­tat. Short-beaked echid­nas are gen­er­al­ly soli­tary, but dur­ing the breed­ing sea­son from May – Sep­tem­ber male echid­nas form trains behind females. Echid­nas can be seen through­out Kan­ga­roo Island, across all types of habitat. 

Platy­pus
Kan­ga­roo Island con­tains the only wild pop­u­la­tion of platy­pus in South Aus­tralia. In the 1920s con­cerned con­ser­va­tion­ists recog­nised platy­pus were becom­ing endan­gered on the main­land of South Aus­tralia and con­se­quent­ly intro­duced them to Flinders Chase Nation­al Park.

Aus­tralian sea-lion
The Aus­tralian sea-lion is one of the rarest seals in the world. Seal Bay Con­ser­va­tion Park is home to the world’s third largest breed­ing colony. 
Spot one in this park or at Seal Bay Con­ser­va­tion Park on a guid­ed tour. 

Long-nosed fur seals
Long-nosed fur seals live along rocky shores around Kan­ga­roo Island where they rest and breed in colonies. 
Spot them at Admi­rals Arch in Flinders Chase Nation­al Park. 

Glossy black-cock­a­too
Glossy black-cock­a­toos feed dur­ing the day return­ing to their nests at dusk.

Koala
Koalas were not on Kan­ga­roo Island at the time of Euro­pean set­tle­ment. In the 1920s con­ser­va­tion­ists released 18 koalas in Flinders Chase Nation­al Park to save their declin­ing main­land pop­u­la­tion. The pop­u­la­tion quick­ly estab­lished and their num­bers rapid­ly increased and koalas moved across the island. Koalas spends most of the day rest­ing in a tree fork, usu­al­ly climb­ing into the canopy around dusk to feed. Look for their ball-shape high in the canopy, or as they move between branches.

Heath goan­na
Heath goan­nas are active dur­ing the day and are often seen bask­ing in the sun. Spot one along one of the park’s walk­ing trails or alter­na­tive­ly at Bales Bay in Seal Bay Con­ser­va­tion Park.

Cape Bar­ren goose
Cape Bar­ren geese can be seen on Kan­ga­roo Island from autumn through to ear­ly spring. Spot one at the grassy areas near the entrance of the park, where they breed. 

Whales
There have been 29 dif­fer­ent types of whales record­ed in South Aus­tralia. The most com­mon are the south­ern right whale, hump­back whale, sperm whale, blue whale and orca whale (killer whale). Of these you are most like­ly to spot a south­ern right whale along the South Aus­tralian coast. 

South­ern right whale
Every year, between May to Octo­ber, south­ern right whales gath­er along the south­ern coast­line of Aus­tralia to mate and calve, before return­ing to sub-Antarc­tic waters to feed. 

The south­ern right whale is a large whale which can grow up to 17.5 metres and weigh over 80 tons. The vast major­i­ty of south­ern right whales are black in colour with dis­tinc­tive white pat­terns on their heads that are cal­lus­es formed by small crus­taceans known as ​‘whale lice’. The pat­terns are vis­i­ble at birth and are unique to each whale allow­ing researchers to iden­ti­fy indi­vid­ual whales.

Become a vol­un­teer in South Australia’s nation­al parks.

Vis­it­ing Kan­ga­roo Island with the kids? Make sure you pick-up a Kan­ga­roo Island Parks Pass­port. This free ini­tia­tive invites fam­i­lies to col­lect stamps and mem­o­ries as you explore the island. Embark on an unfor­get­table jour­ney as you learn fun facts about each loca­tion. Once you’ve explored each spot and answered the ques­tions, sim­ply ask the friend­ly staff at each loca­tion to stamp your pass­port, and you’re all set for more island adven­tures! Here’s a taste of what you’ll experience:

Cape Willough­by Light­house: South Aus­trali­a’s old­est light­house, shin­ing since 1852.

Seal Bay Con­ser­va­tion Park: A nat­ur­al sanc­tu­ary for Aus­tralian sea lions.

Flinders Chase Nation­al Park: Home to icon­ic attrac­tions like Remark­able Rocks and Admi­rals Arch.

Kel­ly Hill Caves: The expe­ri­ence starts with a guid­ed above-ground walk, set­ting the stage for an under­ground adventure.

Pick up your KI Parks Pass­port from one of these loca­tions: Cape Willough­by Light­house, Seal Bay Con­ser­va­tion Park, Flinders Chase Nation­al Park, Kel­ly Hill Caves or the Kingscote NPWS Office.