It was occupied by Aboriginal Australians as recently as 3,100 years BP but was found to be unoccupied by the first European explorers to visit it in the early 19th century.

As of 1999, radiocarbon dating of material recovered via archaeological excavation from a site called Pigs Waterhole on the peninsula suggest aboriginal presence in the eastern end of Kangaroo Island as recently as 3,100 years BP.

[12][13][14] Formal settlement commenced in 1836 with a fleet under the control of the South Australian Company arriving at what is now Kingscote further west on Kangaroo Island.

The southern half of the peninsula has a Bridgewater Group limestone which was laid over the basement stratum during the Pleistocene and which has eroded to form a dune field.

[6][27][28] As of 2014, majority of the land on the Dudley Peninsula has been zoned by law for agricultural use (i.e. "primary production") followed by conservation including most of the coastal perimeter with exception to some parts of the Nepean Bay coastline and by residential use.

[6] As of 2014, no public airfields were located within the extent of the Dudley Peninsula with the nearest and the only one available being the Kingscote Airport on the western part of the island in the locality of Cygnet River.

[32][33] The Dudley Peninsula is located within the jurisdiction of the Kangaroo Island Council and within the following electorates – the state district of Finniss and the federal division of Mayo.

Also, as of 2015, an area of privately owned land appropriately equivalent to that of the above conservation parks has protected status due to being subject to native vegetation heritage agreements.