Wildlife & Nature
Koalas, kangaroos and botanic gardens
The best wildlife & nature in Mylor
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
6 places
Jurlique Farm
Biodynamic skincare farm in the Mylor hills
The biodynamic flower and herb farm behind the Jurlique skincare brand, set in the green hills near Biggs Flat and Mylor, offering seasonal farm experiences among the gardens.
Kuitpo Forest Reserve
A 3,600-hectare working forest near Meadows with walking trails, campgrounds and historic huts among the pines.
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.
Scott Creek Conservation Park
The Hills' richest pocket of native bushland
The Hills' richest pocket of native bushland
Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary
$$A fenced sanctuary near Mylor where platypus, bettongs and bandicoots have been brought back from the brink.