Our recent stay at this naturally beautiful national park at the bottom end of South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula, just reinforced my feelings of how fortunate we are to have places such as this to visit and stay in.

In 2020 Innes National Park was officially renamed Dhilba Guuranda – Innes National Park in recognition of its 50^th anniversary and to honour the Narungga traditional owners. Dhilba refers to the southern clan group and Guuranda translates to southern land or territory. It also marked the co-management of this 9,415 hectare park with the Narungga Nation Aboriginal Corporation.

There have been some terrific improvements in the park including better signage which includes indigenous stories and some new sculptures which grab your attention and encourage you to read the stories behind them.

Within the park there are seven campgrounds to choose from, where you can camp or park the caravan, with fees starting from around $26 per night. The park’s website has all the details and photos of the campgrounds and it’s also where you book online to stay in your chosen place or in some of the other cottage accommodation that exists in the park.

We stayed at Stenhouse Bay near the entrance to the park, which has 27 allocated sites to suit any size caravan or camp setup. This campground has recently undergone an upgrade and the sites are well defined and numbered, there are new (basic) long drop toilets and a sheltered BBQ area to use.

Stenhouse Bay also has a jetty and other rock fishing sites which are a drawcard for fishers and provide some spectacular coastal views.

At Stenhouse and throughout the park, you are also likely to be visited by emu families as they wander throughout the park at all times of day. We’ve also been lucky to see kangaroos at times too.

Dhilba Guuranda – Innes National Park is a park of beautiful views around every corner and as the entrance road descends into the park you’ll want to pull over and get the iconic photo that features on most tourism brochures and advertising for this park.

Take the scenic drive through the park and you’ll not only enjoy the incredible views but you can stop, park, walk and learn about shipwrecks along the coast, including making your way down to Ethel Beach where the rusty remnants of the wreck of the Ethel which hit a reef in 1904, still sits on the sand.

There are lighthouses to walk to on clifftops, beautiful serene bays and beaches to visit and you can take a walk through the ruins of the historic gypsum mining town of Inneston.

The park is around 285 kilometres from Adelaide and it’s one you’ll want to spend time in for the views, fishing, surfing, history, wildlife and pure serenity. The park is open all year round and only closed on days of extreme fire danger.

Enjoy

Glenys