Daly Head was our second night on the Yorke Peninsula and the one we talk about most. The campground sits high on the cliff above the sea, the views across the open ocean are awesome, and we parked the Prado right on the edge with the tent facing the sunset. It’s also half an hour from Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park, which we visited the next day.
What we like
- Camp on the cliff above the ocean
- Sunset and stars from the tent
- National Surfing Reserve below
- Boardwalk to the beach
- Innes National Park next door
- $20 a night per vehicle
What we don’t
- Exposed to the wind
- No drinking water or bins
- No fires in summer
About Daly Head CampgroundAbout
Daly Head is a Yorke Peninsula Council bush campground on the west coast between Gleesons Landing and Marion Bay, on the clifftop above the Daly Head National Surfing Reserve, Waluri to the Narungga people. The sites are spread along the cliff edge on firm ground with low scrub between them, and in the middle there’s a picnic shelter with a rainwater tank and a toilet, with a second toilet by the day-use area. Blue Bay is at the northern end and the surfing reserve, with its own car park, at the southern end.
Like all the council bush camps it needs a permit, booked online before you come: $20 a night per vehicle when we checked, plus a booking fee, with a $312.50 fine for camping without one. Have a look at the council signs at the entrance: they show all 19 campgrounds on a map, where to drop your rubbish and the fire rules.
Quick facts
- AddressDaly Head Bush Campground, Corny Point, Yorke Peninsula, SA, AustraliaSee on the trip map →
- Phone receptionPatchy
- FacilitiesToiletsPicnic ShelterPicnic TablesBeach AccessWalking TrailsCamper Trailer AccessNo Drinking WaterNo BinsNo ShowersNo PowerNo Campfires
- Good to knowPermit online, $312.50 fine withoutExposed clifftop, bring a windbreakInnes NP 30 min away
- Fees$20 a night per vehicleplus a booking fee
- 9.0/10Overall rated
- Book your site
Getting There
From Corny Point, follow the coast road south and turn off at the Daly Head Camp Ground sign onto a gravel road that runs out towards the coast past big white dunes to the north. The road is firm all the way and the track along the clifftop is gravel and packed sand, so a 2WD could manage it in the dry, and we saw a motorhome in there. Buy the permit before you leave town; reception on the cliff was patchy.
The Campsites
A big loop track runs around the campground, with long strips of campsites along the clifftop inside and outside it. The strips are cut into big blocks of packed sand, divided by low scrubby bushes, and each block makes up two campsites, so your neighbours are close: the next car and tent can be a few metres from yours. We took one at the end with nothing between the tent and the horizon, and spent the evening watching the sun go down from the clifftop. It’s exposed up there: when the wind came up it came straight off the water, so an awning or a windbreak on the seaward side makes a difference, and anything light goes in the car.
Facilities
A picnic shelter stands in the middle of the campground with a table, a rainwater tank and a toilet beside it, and there’s a second toilet with a mural on it by the day-use car park near the boardwalk. The tank is rainwater for washing up, not drinking water, and there are no bins, showers or power, so bring your water and take your rubbish out to the nearest council waste disposal area. Campfires aren’t allowed in the fire danger season, so bring a gas stove.
Blue Bay
At the northern end of the campground a timber boardwalk and steps drop down the cliff to Blue Bay, a sandy bay with a rock shelf and rocks at one end and turquoise water. You walk in: there’s no 4WD access to the beach. The Walk the Yorke beach walk to Gleesons Landing starts here too. It depends on the tide, so check the times before you set off and keep below the high tide line, and as the Narungga Caring for Country board at the top asks, leave no trace.
The Surfing Reserve
The southern end of the campground is the Daly Head National Surfing Reserve, Waluri to the Narungga people, with its own car park on the clifftop where surfers and day visitors pull up to check the break. It’s a reef break on the open Southern Ocean rather than a swimming beach, and in the morning the sea around the reef was every shade of blue.
Things to Do NearbyThings to do
Gleesons Landing is the next council camp north, a 4 km beach walk on the Walk the Yorke, and Corny Point Lighthouse is further up the coast. The big one is Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park at the toe of the peninsula, half an hour away, which is where we spent the next day. Everything else is in our Yorke Peninsula guide.
Summary
A clifftop camp above the Southern Ocean with a surfing reserve below, a toilet, a shelter and a tank, and Innes National Park down the road, for $20 a night. Book the permit before you lose reception, bring water and a windbreak, and take the end site if it’s free.
High on the cliff, towering above the sea, with awesome views across the wide ocean.
Daly Head has a toilet, a shelter and a rainwater tank, a boardwalk down to Blue Bay at one end and a surfing reserve at the other, and Innes National Park half an hour down the road. We watched the sun go down from the clifftop, and with The Bamboos it was the camp we liked most on the peninsula.
- 4WD tourers
- Campers
- Couples
Yes. $20 a night for a site on the cliff edge above the ocean, with a sunset from your tent and Innes next door. Bring water and a windbreak.
Recommended Gear for Daly Head
The wind comes straight off the ocean, so our Kings 270 Tourer awning doubled as a windbreak. Bring drinking water in good water containers, a camp shower for the salt after the beach, and a solar panel to keep the fridge going with no power on the cliff.
