Harveys Return Campground - SA

This campground is the old landing site for the lightstation and is near the historic light keepers' cemetery. Cape Borda Lighthouse is within walking distance. The campsites provides very minimal shade and wind protection.

8 allocated campsites. Sites 1 and 2 suitable for tent only, site 3 suitable for tent/campervan, sites 4 to 8 suitable for tent/camper trailers and camper vans. Long-drop toilet, picnic area. Campfires not allowed. The Campground is accessible by both 2wd and 4wd vehicles.

Gas fires only. Fees apply. Fees must be paid before entry to the park. Campsite fees are per night, subject to availability. Book on-line or visit a Parks SA booking agent.

If you are taking the Shackle Road Self Guided Drive, the campground is Stop No. 9.
A steep but rewarding hike (1 kilometre return) to the tiny cove originally known as Murrells Landing will have you pondering the hardships and endurance of pioneering settlers.
The cove was initially used by Joseph Murrell to load salted seal skins collected from the area in the early 1800s. It was an extremely dangerous landing site and the early hunters must have been skilful and hardy seamen.
In 1834 the cove became known as Harveys Return and it is the nearest landing site to Cape Borda Lightstation. Much of the material used to build the lighthouse was landed at Harveys Return in 1858. In 1859, following repeated requests from the first head lighthouse keeper Captain Woodward, provision was made for a double track and trolleys down the steep incline with a horse-drawn winch near
the top.
The sea to land transfer of goods continued to be a dangerous and hazardous affair, until the site was finally abandoned around 1928. Relics of the landing apparatus are still visible today, including the base of a derrick crane that was erected atop a rocky platform in 1923, with an additional connecting rail.
A history of the difficulties of Harveys Return as a loading site and subsequent improvements is presented at Cape Borda museum.
The valley leading to the cove contains drooping sheoaks (Allocasuarina verticillata), the predominant food source for the endangered glossy black-cockatoo. If you move quietly you may be rewarded with a ‘flash of red’ from the glossy black- cockatoos’ tail feathers as they fly overhead.
Spectacular outcrops of tightly folded, thinly bedded schists (known as zebra
schists due to its bands of colours) can be seenof colours) can be seen at the base of the cliffs on the western side of the cove.
A 400 metre section of this coastline has been designated as a ‘geological monument’ by the Geological Society of Australia.