Mount Gambier to Naracoorte road trip: Best stops, distance & time

The best stops on a Mount Gambier to Naracoorte road trip are the Mary MacKillop Penola Centre, the Coonawarra wineries and the Naracoorte Caves. By car along the Riddoch Highway, the distance from Mount Gambier to Naracoorte is 102km, with a driving time of around 1h13m.

The Mount Gambier to Naracoorte drive connects the largest town on South Australia’s Limestone Coast to a town famous for its caves. Most travellers will come along this route as part of a longer road trip from Warrnambool to Adelaide or Melbourne to Adelaide.

Highlights of Mount Gambier include the Cave Garden inside the Umpherston Sinkhole and the eerily blue Blue Lake. To pick out the best Mount Gambier accommodation, look for deals here.

To choose your Naracoorte accommodation, head here.

This guide should help travellers plan their perfect Mount Gambier to Naracoorte road trip itinerary.

Mount Gambier to Naracoorte distance and driving time

By car along sealed roads, the distance from Mount Gambier to Naracoorte is 102km. That makes for a driving time of around one hour and 13 minutes.

Top Mount Gambier accommodation choices

The best places to stay in Mount Gambier are:

For something fun and unusual: Old Mount Gambier Gaol.
For 19^th century charm and grandeur: Colhurst House.
For a good quality motel with low prices: Blue Lake Motel.
For studio apartments with kitchenettes, washing machines & tumble dryers: Aloha Central Premium Studios.

Mount Gambier to Naracoorte road trip: Mount Gambier to Penola

The quickest Mount Gambier to Naracoorte driving route heads north along the Riddoch Highway, past Mount Gambier Airport. You soon reach the Telford Scrub Conservation Park, which offers a few walking trails.

The most popular of these is the Forest Canopy Walk, which is 1.6km long and features an elevated boardwalk section that gets high up in the trees.

From there, the Riddoch Highway passes forgettable Tarpeena and Nangwarry on the way to Penola. Here, you can enjoy the arboretum at the Greenrise Recreational Reserve and the Mary MacKillop Penola Centre.

The latter celebrates Australia’s first saint. Penola was where Mary MacKillop founded the Australian Sisters of Saint Joseph in 1866. The old school house, an interpretive centre, a shrine and the old convent are on site.

Mount Gambier to Naracoorte drive: Penola to Naracoorte

The next town along from Penola is Coonawarra, the hub of the Coonawarra wine region. Several wineries with cellar doors line up next to the Riddoch Highway. You can pop in for tastings at Hollicks Estates, Balnaves of Coonawarra, Majella Wines and Ladbroke Grove Wines before reaching birdwatcher favourite Glenroy Conservation Park.

The next key stop is South Australia’s only World Heritage site – the Naracoorte Caves. An extraordinary collection of megafauna fossils has been found here. There are several tour options – pick Victoria Fossil Cave to learn about the discoveries, or Stick-Tomato Cave if you just want a spectacular-looking cave.

The town of Naracoorte is just to the north. Here, you can go for a dip in the Naracoorte Swimming Lake or learn about the wool industry at the Sheep’s Back Museum.