S.A. Desert Parks Pass

[ab56452001]

Hi all , just in the early stages of planning a trip to the Simpson and surrounds . If I am correct ( Could easily be misinformed !) in my home state of S.A. we need a Desert Parks Pass to venture/stay in the Strez,Innamincka,Lake Eyre , Simpson and Watjira parks , but interstate we are able to visit the Sturt, Diamantina Lakes and Big Red and the such at no charge ? , have posted this question in another forum aswell , cheers

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

You can check at Mt Dare, or the pink roadhouse, and buy a pass.

http://www.mtdare.com.au/

http://www.pinkroadhouse.com.au/

http://birdsvilleroadhouse.com.au/Home
or give Barnesy and his mob a call.

Good luck.

[trinityalyce]

You can check at Mt Dare, or the pink roadhouse, and buy a pass.

http://www.mtdare.com.au/

http://www.pinkroadhouse.com.au/

http://birdsvilleroadhouse.com.au/Home
or give Barnesy and his mob a call.

Good luck.

You can also buy them online. $160 for the Desert Parks Pass for 12 months. Personally we'll buy ours at Birdsville.

Also, SA National Parks have introduced online pre-booking of campsites for SOME parks. Simpson isn't included in this, but the likes of Dalhousie Springs (Witjira NP - http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/parks/Find_a_Park/Browse_by_region/flinders-ranges-outback/witjira-national-park#fees) does require online campsite booking. Innamincka does as well... For each you can alternatively book in person at various locations. Info is all on the SA National Parks website. The online booking for camping in SA parks only came in on June 1st this year, I believe.

Big Red is no charge to visit, but fees apply for camping apparently (https://www.npsr.qld.gov.au/parks/munga-thirri/about.html) - we weren't planning to camp near there so I didn't know that until I had a quick look at the site! Don't know about the others because I haven't personally looked into them.

Best of luck with the trip planning. We're about to do the Simpson and are really looking forward to it.

[Traveller]

I would like to have a whinge about this also. I don't travel to the SA deserts every year, but do get there regularly. It cheeses me off that I can renew a Desert Pass every year after the initial purchase for just under $100, but if you have a break then it is the full $160 again. Surely there must be a cheaper alternative if you don't want all the maps and etc you get with each renewal. Have mercy, I am sure my maps that they sent years ago would still do the job as not a lot changes out there. And what happened to the windscreen sticker, the piece of paper sucks.

The second whinge is the online campsite booking procedure. I am sure a lot of people don't work to a daily schedule on trips (we certainly don't) and like to drive along choosing to stay on longer, or leave a camp, as the whim takes us. Throw into the equation the vagaries of outback travel (weather, breakdowns, road closures, road conditions, etc), combined with the lack of internet access away from towns to apply for permits, all combine to make for an inefficient system. It could also lead to a dangerous situation where people will push themselves, and their vehicles, to reach their pre-booked site for fear of losing it.

Sorry OP, I just needed to vent and haven't helped you at all.