Wildlife & Nature
Koalas, kangaroos and botanic gardens
The best wildlife & nature in Adelaide Hills
Hand-feed kangaroos, meet koalas and platypus, and explore cool-climate botanic gardens that blaze with colour each autumn.
The Adelaide Hills is one of the easiest places in Australia to get close to native wildlife, with open-range parks, fenced sanctuaries and conservation reserves all within a short drive of the city. The cool, forested ranges are home to wild koalas, kangaroos, echidnas and an abundance of birdlife, and several parks let you walk right among the animals.
The headline experience is Cleland Wildlife Park on the slopes of Mount Lofty, where free-roaming kangaroos and emus wander the paths and you can book to hold a koala. Near Mylor, Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary has brought platypus, bettongs and bandicoots back from the brink behind a feral-proof fence. For gardens and gentler nature, the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden dazzles with rhododendrons and autumn colour.
Koalas turn up in the gums on many bushwalks, especially around Aldgate, so keep your eyes on the canopy. Dawn and dusk are the best times to spot animals on the move.
Browse wildlife & nature by area
39 places
Mylor / Heysen Trail Loop
$Bushland walking from the Mylor village
Accessible bushland and Heysen Trail walking radiating from the village of Mylor, threading native forest, the Onkaparinga River and quiet back roads.
Mylor Conservation Park
A pocket of remnant eucalypt woodland on the edge of Mylor village, threaded by the Heysen Trail and alive with birds.
Newman's Nursery Ruins
Romantic glasshouse ruins from a pioneering nursery
Romantic glasshouse ruins from a pioneering nursery
Piccadilly Valley
A misty, green valley of vines and market gardens
A misty, green valley of vines and market gardens
Pulpit Rock Lookout
A dramatic perch above the Torrens Gorge
A dramatic perch above the Torrens Gorge
Scott Creek Conservation Park
The Hills' richest pocket of native bushland
The Hills' richest pocket of native bushland
Sinclair's Gully
Bushland cellar door and revegetated gully at Norton Summit
A small family cellar door set in a revegetated bushland gully near Norton Summit, pouring sparkling and cool-climate wines with native woodland and birdlife on the doorstep.
South Para Reservoir Reserve
A once-locked reservoir near Kersbrook now open for kayaking, shoreline fishing and almost nine kilometres of peninsula trails.
Stangate House and Garden
$A camellia-rich heritage garden in Aldgate
A historic Aldgate house and garden renowned for its camellias and cool-climate plantings, opened to visitors by the National Trust.
The Big Rocking Horse
$Climb one of Australia's great Big Things
A towering 18-metre rocking horse you can climb, beside a toy factory and a free-roaming wildlife park - a classic Hills family stop.
Totness Recreation Park
Open woodland walking on the edge of Mount Barker
Open woodland walking on the edge of Mount Barker
Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary
$$A fenced sanctuary near Mylor where platypus, bettongs and bandicoots have been brought back from the brink.
Warren Conservation Park
Steep, wild walking country between Kersbrook and Williamstown, where the Heysen Trail climbs through stringybark forest.
Woorabinda Bushland Reserves
A lake and 34 hectares of bushland hidden a short stroll from Stirling's main street.
Wotton Park / Stirling Gardens
$Stirling's avenue of autumn colour
The leafy public gardens and exotic plantings around Stirling, celebrated for their spectacular autumn colour each April and May.