
The Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail is a five day hiking trail along the spectacular coastline of the south-west corner of Kangaroo Island. The trail opened in October 2016. There are campgrounds along the way. The first day in the Rocky River Section (as the Rocky River Hike), and the 5th day in the Kelly Hill Section (as the Hanson Bay Hike) can be hiked by anyone, but the middle 3 days are only accessible to people who have paid the $161 trail fee. In the Suggested Itineraries section we review shorter ways to walk the trail, including how to hike the sections as day walks.
We walked the trail in December 2016, offering the following review. Although we had earlier received an invitation, we were not guests of National Parks and Wildlife Service SA on this hike trip.
This review was originally published on the Notes from a Trailhead blog, and is reproduced here with permission.
Details about each day’s walk appears in our Find a Place to Walk directory listing for the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail.
The trail is referred to using the acronym of KIWT on some trail signage, and when using hashtags on social media (#KIWT).
Contents of this Review

Our review covers the following topics, which you can jump to directly or read the whole article below:
- Trail Comparison
- Choose this trail if you like
- Starting the Hike
- Trail Conditions Underfoot
- Trail Signage
- Campgrounds
- Large communal kitchen and dining shelter
- The Bathroom Block
- Campsites
- Campground Signage
- Extra Campground Facilities
- Food in Campgrounds
- Maps
- Audio Tour App
- When to Walk
- Suggested Itineraries
- 5 Day hike plan
- 4 Day hike plan #1
- 4 Day hike plan #2
- Packing List
- Wildlife
- Beaches & Swimming
- Bushfires
- Drinking Water
- Mobile Reception
- Details of each Trail Section