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Seven fully restored heritage lodges are available for short-term holiday accommodation at Inneston Historic Township, Innes National Park. Nestled amongst the mallee and ruins of the historic township etsablished in 1913, visitors can immerse themselves in the natural environment, and take a step back in time to learn about the gypsum mining history of the area if they are interested.The Managers and Engineers Lodges sleep up to 10 people in large houses furnished in a heritage style, and command stunning views of the township and the Inneston Lake. Whilst the Post Office and Mallee Lodges sleep 2-4 people respectively, have been restored more recently and feature modern furnishings adding a little extra comfort in nature.
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A quaint old cottage which has been modernised within. I felt immediately relaxed entering the lodge. If you love nature and the outdoors but need your basic amenities or like me, travelling solo and want that extra security, I highly recommend! On my first day, I opened the bathroom windows, and right outside was an Emu father and his nine chicks. It’s also a great base as you’re in the centre of the NP.
My only reasoning behind one less star is that I would’ve liked to have known there was a microwave and that there was no hand wash supplied.
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Date of stay: August 2020Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Great Place to get away from it all. We hired the Engineers House which sleeps ten people and has loads of space for kids and adults. The house has no power points for charging phones or modern conveniences, so makes sure you take enough items to keep everyone entertained. The mobile phone reception is also almost non existent. There is solar lighting and there is plenty of natural light during the day. The water is not the best for drinking so ensure you travel with plenty of water or water treatment. The kitchen is well equipped and the bathroom is clean and usable. The views in are amazing and the sunsets breathtaking. Wildlife was abundant, alas too many mosquitoes but plenty of bug spray helps that. We were the only people staying in Inneston and could explore the deserted town to our hearts content. The family had a great time and will be returning again.
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Date of stay: September 2014
Rooms
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Fantastic. Comfortable and cosy. Right out there with emus and kangaroos at your doorstep. Lots of historical information provided about this 'ghost town' and the national park. No provisions at all. Candles would have been nice during black out. I'll know what to take with me next time.
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Date of stay: September 2016Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This lodge feels haunted and gave me and my girl friend goose bumps living in there. The pack of macadamia nuts that I have bought and left in my car was spilled all over the driver's seat after we left the car for only 5 minutes. The pack of nuts was quite left in a secure place too. At night it was just pitch black, the only light you can see is just star lights and the light from our lodge and that's it. The toilet was not built in the lodge itself, you have to walk outside the house to get in there. It was sooooo scary. I would not recommend anyone live in this place.
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Date of stay: January 2015
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We had a delightful three nights (Fri/Sat/Sun) whilst staying in Mallee Lodge. The accommodation was spotlessly clean on our arrival and we could not have wished for a better presentation. There was wild life with wallabies, kangaroos, emus and skinks to entertain us, and even a resident carrawong who had obviously been fed a few times by visitors.
The first day we walked around the old village, which with the signage and descriptions was most interesting. Following that there was so much to see in the park with the beautiful beaches, headlands and lighthouses that we were truly sorry to leave at the end of our visit.
We took pre-prepared meals for two nights and went to the local Marion bay Hotel for the Saturday night. Every table was taken, so just as well we had pre-booked. Overlooking the sea the food and service was first class - we would highly recommend it.
All in all a brilliant break for us.
As a word of caution we would advise ensuring you have the after hours check in arrangement sent to you before leaving home. We were delayed on our journey, and by oversight we did not receive the instructions. It was only by a diligent staff member noticing us as she was locking up that saved us from an unpleasant situation.
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Date of stay: March 2017Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Inneston, Innes National Park, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
Coming into the Innes National Park, fair weather or foul, there’s a point where you top the rise and see a sight that simply demands that you stop and take in the view. The road unravels in undulations somewhere over Cape Spencer, which protrudes like other more distant capes into the mighty Southern Ocean spread before you. Today its mood is winter grey green, the ochre gold of the Althorpe Islands shrouded in sea mist. An Osprey and several Petrels wheel away.
We have driven about 290 km from Adelaide down into the Innes National Park at the toe of South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula, colloquially termed ‘the Bottom End.’ We pick up our key from the Ranger Station at the entrance, having booked the Post Office accommodation within the old ghost town of Inneston some time ago. We drive past Cable Beach. Off in the distance is the aptly named Rhino Head. We pull in at Stenhouse Bay for a look. The jetty, once used to convey gypsum on to ships, reaches out down below. For a moment the sky clears, the sea suddenly a brilliant aqua, the rounded granite boulders beyond the jetty honey brown.
The Innes brothers, Willliam and Stanley along with Andrew Stenhouse and Graham Bell mined gypsum, used in the production of plaster, cement, chalk and fertilizer, here early in the 20th century. The town they established, Inneston, was a day’s journey from the nearest town, Warooka. It thrived between 1913 and 1930. Near where we will stay is a humble looking building. From here chalk was sent to every school supply outlet in Australia until the 1980s. It is the one, and literally, only Bellco Chalk Factory, named aftrr Graham Bell.
The Innes National Park is famous for its spectacular coastal landscapes, rugged cliffs and sandy beaches. There are shipwrecks visible, a hull spread-eagled like gigantic rusty fishbones, another just a smoke stack leaning out of the sand. There is the tiny rock lobster fishing shack town of Pondalowie Bay and the brilliant world famous surf beach next to it. Further are the beautiful white beaches of Dolphin bay and Shell Beach. At the far end is Browns Beach, a place of pilgrimage for fishers of Salmon. The capes with their lonely windswept light houses above the savagery of the ocean stand testament to how wary and careful even the most capable seafarer must be here. There are so many stories here.
We revisit the places we grew to love when we lived on Yorkes. Tomorrow we’ll take a few walking tracks. There are plenty of them and so diverse too, through sections of the park. We expect to glimpse some of the vast range of bird and animal life habituating here. Mallee Fowl, the White Bellied Sea Eagle and Western Whipbird are a few among the seventy odd species of birds down here. The knee high Tammar Wallaby, once thought extinct, has been reintroduced and is thriving. It has a dark grey-brown coat, reddish arms and flanks, often with a faint white cheek stripe.
Inside it’s snug and warm. A clock ticks. Outside gusts of wind bring squalls of rain. Sea and woodland birdcalls occasionally carry through the weather. Our accommodation is the old post office, one of seven refurbished dwellings, intact and comfortable amongst poignant reminders of the old mining town of Inneston. Except for occasional temporary visitors like us, it is a ghost town.
Accommodation
Our accommodation is comfortable. There’s heating, a complete kitchen, excellent shower facilities, a very roomy lounge dining area and a bedroom with a Queen size bed. Other restored places cater for more people than our post office. But there’s just the two of us.
If you are accommodated in Inneston itself, there is not a separate entry fee. There are plenty of campsites round the park as well.
Following are the seven heritage listed Inneston accommodations and two just outside.
Accommodation Peak Off Peak Post office $135 $115 Engineers lodge $190 $170 Managers Lodge $190 $170 Miners Cottage $145 $115 Gatehouse Lodge $170 $135 Norfolk Lodge $190 $165 Mallee lodge $190 $265 Stenhouse Hall $450 $360 Shepherds Hut $65 $65
The weather settled a while ago and we walked round the empty town. Puddles reflected the sky, ploughs and cultivators immobilized by rust and half obscured by lush grass and wild flowers gathered in a rough line, petering out to gnarled twisted trunks of coastal mallee scribbled above the remnants of days gone by. The gypsum track wends and winds up to the manager and engineers houses, both intact and available for hire. The lake is a bright light blue from up here. In the other direction a dirt track leads to the sea and the Althorpe Islands look golden against a sky scrubbed clean by the rain. A few clouds hang dripping on the horizon. There is no noise except the rustle of leaves, the call of a bird, the ocean.
And now that we’re back, the weather wheels back in from the Southern Ocean. How considerate. There’s no T.V. here but its snug and dry and warm. A clock ticks. There are things to write and books to be read. I peek outside. A forest of flowering melaleuca trees sway to the rhythm of the wind.
Next door to us, rising from grass and wildflowers is the General Store, next to that the Hall and School and further along the bakery. Other dwellings trail in a rough line from there. In the other direction, slightly up hill is the plaster factory and below that leading to the lake is the sports precinct, a tennis court and cricket ground. Lapped by the lake are the remains of the Crushing and Washing Plant. Overlooking the town are the intact lodges once occupied by the company manager and engineer.
Inneston, tiny as it was had almost everything, including tennis courts and a cricket oval. A lofted straight drive from the Managers House end, would have resulted in a six and ball lost in the lake. It didn’t have a pub, which probably reflected an agreed teetotaler lifestyle within the community. What is more curious though is there is no sign of a cemetery. There are stories still to be told in this remote, beautiful part of the world. Remote, yet only a few hours from Adelaide.
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Date of stay: October 2016
Value
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â There are about 7 refurbished dwellings accommodating various numbers of people
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed in the Post Office Lodge recently for two nights. It is somewhat basic, but has a good kitchen, reasonable bathroom (although it could do with more places to put wet towels), comfortable bed, and large lounge. The shower worked well, as did the extractor. The fire was not necessary for us in early February, but seemed to use gas, electricity or logs - although we could see how to open it, or even clean it, as it was not clean! There were no instructions, other than to clean it, and not to collect firewood in the National Park. The whole Post Office was not very clean when we arrived, and immediately had to sweep all the floors (and then again when we left). We were expected to remove all rubbish, with the instruction to take it to the local skip, but we left on a Sunday, and found the skip area locked, so we eventually had to put it all in a public refuse bin on a highway. (It wasn't really convenient to take it home as would have been bulky on our flight to the UK.) The furnishings were odd, with a totally stainless-steel dining table, which would not have looked out of place in a mortuary. No tea/coffee/sugar/milk was provided, but toilet rolls were. However, it was beautifully tranquil, peaceful, and wonderful for wildlife. A family of kangaroos obvious lived in the expanse outside, as did two emus. It was a real pleasure to be there, and the history of Inneston was fascinating. We loved it, regardless of the above comments, which have been written so that others will know what to expect. There is, of course, no wifi. We think it was actually overpriced for the facilities being provided, but probably correctly priced for the location. We would recommend anyone to go there, but don't expect total luxury.
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Date of stay: February 2016
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Don't expect luxury, but wonderful surroundings
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The Lodge was very well equipped and comfortable in a very peaceful and historic setting. Wooden interior decor pleasing. Toilet which is ensuite to the Lodge was more than adequate. This was our third visit. It was a change to have no telephone reception but this access was available at points within the Innes National Park.
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Date of stay: March 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
A wonderful drive through the Innes National Park. Saw some beautiful nature like Dad Emu and his four babies, several snakes a couple of huge Kangaroos. We stopped at several breath taking views of all the cliffs and the light house. Some of the beaches are so beautiful couldn't believe we had a beach to our selves the water so clear and inviting. I would come back again. Bring you own lunch and drinks as there are no facilities in the park to buy anything also take your swimmers comfortable shoes sun block hat and camera. Have fun. We didn't stay in the accommodation. This Park is good for all ages.
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Date of stay: November 2017Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Our first holiday for 2017 was one to remember. Innes National Park is truly memorable, full of natural beauty, turquoise waters, beautiful beaches and so many picture perfect photo opportunities.
We stayed in the Gatehouse at Inneston, which was basic but very clean and quaint, with most things expected of a rental. No microwave and a bit limited on kitchen utensils, bring your own linen but otherwise had everything we needed. Kids will love no TV or phone reception!!!
Warning : March flies a plenty so bring the Bushman's!
Beaches for kids under 10, Dolphin Bay, Shell Beach and Browns Beach. For boogie board action we had a great time at Pondalowie Surf Break. Definitely worth visiting the park for its natural untouched beauty. We'll be back!!
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Date of stay: January 2017Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
"The Mallee Lodge is great for a family with up to two children as it is right at the back of the township and even other guest cars don't drive past, making it safe for children"
There are more places to choose from in the Inneston area.
LOCATION
AustraliaSouth AustraliaInneston
NUMBER OF ROOMS
7
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