5 national parks to visit in and around the Barossa Valley

South Australia’s Barossa Val­ley is locat­ed 60 kilo­me­tres north-east of Ade­laide. The region is famous for its world-class winer­ies and fine food, but did you know it’s also home to some idyl­lic nation­al parks?

There are a num­ber of parks to vis­it in and around the region, where you’ll be able to expe­ri­ence and enjoy nature at its best.

From wan­der­ing among native pink gums to observ­ing roam­ing emus, there’s plen­ty to see in every direction.

Here are our pick of parks to vis­it next time you’re in the region:

1. Sandy Creek Con­ser­va­tion Park

Sur­round­ed by farm­land and vine­yards, Sandy Creek Con­ser­va­tion Park is locat­ed just 7 km from the town of Lyndoch.

Take a walk along one of the many trails through the native pine and pink gum trees and dis­cov­er the rich diver­si­ty of the park.

The park is home to a wide vari­ety of birds, so keep your eyes to the sky and your binoc­u­lars at the ready as you explore.

2. Hale Con­ser­va­tion Park

Locat­ed just 3 km out of Williamstown, Hale Con­ser­va­tion Park boasts breath­tak­ing views of the South Para Val­ley and reservoir.

Set foot along the Hale Walk, a 4 km cir­cuit, and keep an eye out for ter­mite mounds and the short-beaked echid­nas that might be scratch­ing around them.

3. Kaiser­stuhl Con­ser­va­tion Park

Locat­ed 12 km south-east of Tanun­da, Kaiser­stuhl Con­ser­va­tion Park fea­tures diverse flo­ra and fau­na, inter­est­ing rock for­ma­tions and panoram­ic views across the Barossa Valley.

To get a clos­er look at the park’s flo­ra and fau­na, take your­self along the Stringy­bark Hike. It’s a 2 km loop that will take you about 1 hour to complete.

You could also try the Wal­lowa Hike, which is a 4.7 km one-way trail that will take you about 2 hours to complete.

Near the pine for­est, take the short sign­post­ed detour that leads you to a look­out on top of a large gran­ite out­crop, where you’ll be wit­ness to a panora­ma of the ranges to the val­ley floor below.

While you’re in the park, keep an eye out for west­ern grey kan­ga­roos and native birds such as hon­eyeaters, tree-creep­ers, rosel­las and lori­keets that call the area home.

4. War­ren Con­ser­va­tion Park

Locat­ed 10 km south of Williamstown, War­ren Con­ser­va­tion Park is the per­fect park for expe­ri­enced bushwalkers.

The park has four chal­leng­ing walk­ing trails and cov­ers a sec­tion of the icon­ic long-dis­tance walk­ing trail, the Hey­sen Trail.

With­in the park you’ll find a rich diver­si­ty of plant life, includ­ing mess­mate stringy­bark and long-leaved box trees, as well as orchids and lilies.

5. Para Wirra Con­ser­va­tion Park

Para Wirra Con­ser­va­tion Park is locat­ed 13 km south of Williamstown, so an easy 50-minute dri­ve from Adelaide’s CBD, and is the per­fect place to immerse your­self in nature.

The park fea­tures sev­er­al dif­fer­ent walk­ing and hik­ing trails, at easy, mod­er­ate and hard levels.

If you’re look­ing to keep the kids enter­tained, the 1 km Gawler View Nature Loop takes you through the shared-use paths of the Nature Play Forest.

On your way, you might spot bush birds and lizards, and you might even be lucky enough to see an emu or kangaroo.

There’s also the Lake Dis­cov­ery Loop, a 1 km-long trail that loops around the lake and is acces­si­ble to wheel­chairs and prams. The trail itself is well-sign­post­ed and is made of hard, packed grav­el, with a few slight ris­es that may require some assistance.

If the idea of camp­ing tick­les your fan­cy, the Wirra camp­ground has 19 camp­sites, six of which are suit­able for small camper­vans and camper trail­ers. An acces­si­ble toi­let can be found in the Wirra pic­nic area.

Look­ing to explore more of region­al South Aus­tralia? Check out these parks to vis­it in the River­land.

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in Feb­ru­ary 2019.