Wildlife & Nature
Koalas, kangaroos and botanic gardens
The best wildlife & nature in Gumeracha
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
8 places
Cudlee Creek (Gorge Wildlife Park)
Hands-on wildlife park in the Torrens Gorge
A long-established family wildlife park at Cudlee Creek near Gumeracha, home to a large collection of native and exotic animals with hands-on encounters in the Torrens Valley.
Cudlee Creek Conservation Park
Regenerating bushland in the Torrens Gorge
Regenerating bushland in the Torrens Gorge
Newman's Nursery Ruins
Romantic glasshouse ruins from a pioneering nursery
Romantic glasshouse ruins from a pioneering nursery
Pulpit Rock Lookout
A dramatic perch above the Torrens Gorge
A dramatic perch above the Torrens Gorge
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.
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.
Warren Conservation Park
Steep, wild walking country between Kersbrook and Williamstown, where the Heysen Trail climbs through stringybark forest.