Belair National Park Holiday Park

Belair National Park Holiday Park sits inside Belair National Park itself, a cabin and caravan stay surrounded by Adelaide Hills bushland where koalas and kangaroos are regular sights through the sites. Dogs are welcome if you book the right cabin or site, which makes this one of the few national-park-base stays in South Australia that takes them.

The pet policy

Only dogs are permitted, and only in designated pet-friendly cabins and on select caravan and camping sites, so book the dog-friendly option explicitly rather than assuming any cabin works. A pet fee of $20 per stay applies on cabin bookings, charged at the park. Dogs must never be left unattended, including inside the cabin or tied up outside, they stay off furniture and bedding, and pet washing in the park laundry and communal basins is banned. Restricted breeds are not accepted.

Worth knowing

Outside your own site or cabin, dogs stay on a lead of up to three metres, and the national park's own trail rules cap leads at two metres, so this is an on-lead base rather than an off-leash one. The park has a camp kitchen, BBQ area and tennis courts, and the bushland setting means wildlife wanders through, another reason to keep the lead short at dusk.

Max: plan your dog's exercise around walks rather than free running here. The lead rules apply across the park and on every trail in the national park.

While you're out there

The park's walking trails start at the gate, including the flat Playford Lake circuit and gentler loops off the Yurrebilla Trail, with multi-use fire tracks past Old Government House. The national park has no bins along the tracks, so carry bags and pack waste out. Back in Belair itself, Hannaford Park offers a local green space when you want a short stop.

Getting there and parking

The park is on Upper Sturt Road at Belair, about 20 minutes' drive south of the Adelaide CBD, with parking at your site or cabin. Note that national park vehicle entry fees apply on top of accommodation.

Confirm the current cabin list and pet fee when booking, since which units take dogs can shift with renovations. Book well ahead for school holidays: the dog-friendly cabins are a smaller pool than the general stock and sell out first. More options are in the South Australia stays guide and the Belair destination page.