Ridgetop Retreats Deep Creek review | SA’s great travel planner

If you love being close to the bush but don’t fancy camping, a Ridgetop Retreat cabin, amid the Deep Creek Conservation Park forest, offers a practical but classy solution.

Who knew pine cones would be so hard to light? I’m sitting in front of the fireplace at our luxe cabin in Deep Creek Conservation Park trying to add a little ambience and heat to beat off the late afternoon chill.

I’ve got the paper, the logs, and now what I’d really like is a bit of kindling. But while there’s plenty of the stuff just lying around outside the door, it’s illegal to use it because it might be home to some forest critters.

So the pine cones it is, with the firelighters and extra-long matches, and me blowing hard into the fireplace to convince the glowing embers to get serious and burst into flame. Which, after a while, they do.

My caveman reputation intact once more, it’s time to pour a glass of red, sit back on the leather couch, and admire the beautiful forest of stringybark trees, yacca and wattle, on the other side of a soaring wall of glass.

If you love being close to the bush but don’t fancy camping, the Ridgetop Retreat cabins set amid the forest in the Deep Creek Conservation Park offers a solution that’s practical but also classy.

A stylish interior at this Ridgetop Retreat.

Designed by South Australian architect Max Pritchard, they are positioned to stay warmer or cooler depending on the weather, with soaring ceilings and the use of glass that provides plenty of natural light.

There are two bedrooms sharing one large bathroom, while the kitchen, dining and lounge all share a single space looking out to the forest.

The structure outside is corrugated iron and glass, while inside the emphasis is on a natural look with timber floors, table and coffee table, and a stylish stone surround for the slow combustion fire. The interior walls are showing a bit of wear and tear, and could benefit from a touch-up.

An outdoor setting is provided, and you can watch the local creatures – we saw several varieties of birds and a bilby – come sniffing up to it at dusk in the hope of some crumbs for dinner. Speaking of provisions, make sure you bring all you need as the nearest store is about a 10-minute drive away. And bring a box of water, as the tank water is best left to showering and washing up.

If you tire of the view, there are plenty of books and magazines to flick through, and a CD player if you have brought some music.

A beautiful breakfast setting at a Ridgetop Retreat.

But there’s no TV, no internet and – for our phones at least – no signal, which all adds up to an opportunity to do very, very little and not feel guilty.

Especially if you (like me) are feeling virtuous because you’ve just hiked 7km down to the Deep Creek waterfall and back.

The park is full of great hikes and there are 8km of trails just around the Ridgetop Retreat Cabins. Farther afield there are a range of other options and they offer something for all fitness levels. The park, 108km south of Adelaide, boasts 15 walking trails, ranging from easy to difficult.

We drove to Tapanappa Lookout on a bumpy dirt road that eventually provided spectacular views along the coastline and over to Kangaroo Island.

We passed a mob of kangaroos just lazing on the grass by the roadside, before setting off on what was rated a difficult hike expected to take three and a half hours to return.

It seemed an unnecessarily scary rating for what was a fairly pleasant walk through the bush, admittedly on a narrow path with some hills. We’d done several hikes in NSW a few weeks before that were much more difficult, yet rated moderate.

In any case, there are plenty of other options rated much easier, so there’s no excuse for not exploring what is the largest portion of remnant natural vegetation on the Fleurieu Peninsula.

All reviews are unannounced and paid for by SAWeekend.

This review was published in December 2017 and had details updated in March 2021.

• Southern Ocean Retreats, Deep Creek Conservation Park
• southeroceanretreats.com.au

• LOCATION 108km south of Adelaide.
• ACCOMMODATION Architect-designed two-bedroom cabins.
• FACILITIES Full kitchen, fireplace, barbecue, CD player, but no TV or internet. Two bedrooms, airconditions, includes all linen. Run-on rainwater. Breakfast provisions provided. Park entry pass included.
• PRICE $265 a night for two adults, minimum two-night stay at weekends. $285 for one night Sunday-Thursday. Extra guest charges apply, $25 per child or $35 per adult.