1. Flinders Chase National Park

Location: Flinders Chase, Kangaroo Island
If there’s any single highlight that makes Kangaroo Island a must-visit, Flinders Chase National Park is it.
The crown jewel in what itself is one of South Australia’s key highlights, there’s a reason we ranked this hub of wonderful natural features at #1 in our South Australia’s Ultimate Bucket List feature back in 2016 – amongst many of Australia’s incredible national parks, the diversity on display here in terms of both geography and wildlife is a microcosm of Kangaroo Island as a whole.
Situated on the island’s west end, Flinders Chase National Park spans an impressive 326 square kilometres within which you’ll find a number of standout highlights ranging from geological rarities such as the massive, otherworldly spectacle of the Remarkable Rocks, the aforementioned Admiral’s Arch, a resident colony of fur seals and abundant other native wildlife including koalas, wallabies and more.
This is an expansive wonderland which blends together alien-like landscapes with traditional forested areas and dramatic stretches of stunning coastline that makes for a showcase of some of South Australia’s best bushwalks.
While it’s a fair hike from most of the civilised portions of Kangaroo Island – the entrance sits around 110km from Kingscote – reaching Flinders Chase is done via sealed roads which make navigation easy.
You’ll want to take things slow, however, as its heaping of wildlife can often be spotted trying to make their way across.
There’s a reason we ranked this hub of wonderful natural features at #1 in our South Australia’s Ultimate Bucket List back in 2016.
Visiting the park begins with a stop at the excellent and highly detailed Visitor Information Centre where you’ll pay your national park entry fee per person (and optionally enjoy some great coffee), with multi-day passes available for those wanting to cover all of its highlights.
Given the sheer scale of Flinders Chase National Park, its cavalcade of excellent walks, lighthouses, and gorgeous coast dotted with pristine beaches, there’s no shortage of things to see that make a multi-day itinerary all but essential.
Flinders Chase National Park is also very well maintained and easily accessible via both vehicle on foot – a sign that those national park fees are being put to good use by the authorities.
2WD vehicles can access the majority of the park’s highlights as well, so those with a standard rental car need not fear being restricted or missing out on anything essential. In addition, companies such as AAT Kings offer day tours to Kangaroo Island that put the emphasis on the park’s highlights for those short on time.
Above all, Flinders Chase National Park is a place where a lack of phone reception and seeing few other people is definitely a good thing; it’s been dubbed an “escape within an escape” for this very reasons, and there are thus few more enjoyable places within Australia in which to fully unplug from urban life. Geology, wildlife, greenery, pristine sands – Flinders Chase has it all in spades.