The Yorke Peninsula's lighthouses were built to keep grain ships off a coast of reef and cliff. Today they make some of the best lookouts and sunset spots on the peninsula.
The Yorke Peninsula's lighthouses were never built for the view, but they happen to offer some of the finest on the coast. Strung around the wild bottom and the gulf approaches, they were raised to keep the windjammers and grain ships off a shoreline that had already claimed too many.
Cape Spencer and West Cape
In Innes National Park, the squat white tower at Cape Spencer stands above sheer cliffs at the south-western tip, looking out toward Kangaroo Island across Investigator Strait. A short drive away, the slim modern light at West Cape marks the western edge of the park and has become its unofficial sunset spot, with a flat boardwalk leading out to the headland.
Corny Point and Troubridge
On the gulf side, the historic Corny Point Lighthouse has guided ships into Spencer Gulf since the 1880s, its whitewashed tower a landmark above the surrounding beaches. Off the south-east coast, the old Troubridge Island light once warned ships off the notorious Troubridge Shoal, a low sandy island now better known for its little penguins and seabirds.
Beacons as lookouts
Today these lights pull double duty. The walk to West Cape is one of the most accessible big-view experiences in the state; Cape Spencer is a prime whale-watching point in winter; and Corny Point anchors a quiet stretch of the gulf coast. Together they trace the edge of a peninsula that has always lived by, and sometimes against, the sea.
