5 national parks to have a BBQ in Adelaide

Does an after­noon among the gumtrees, maybe see­ing a kan­ga­roo or two and hear­ing the laugh of a kook­abur­ra, with the smell of a bar­bie and the taste of a tin­ny, sound glorious?

Then look no fur­ther than these nation­al parks in Ade­laide, where you can spend an arvo cook­ing some bangers on the bbq in the bush – and still have easy access to a dunny.

So pack your pic­nic gear, food and drinks and head to one of these 5 spots:

1. Cob­bler Creek Recre­ation Park – north

Cob­bler Creek Recre­ation Park Recre­ation Park, 19 km north of Ade­laide, has all the facil­i­ties you’ll need for a great day out. 

There’s bar­be­cues, shel­ters, toi­lets, drink­ing foun­tains, and bike tracks, and the kids will love the rap­tor-themed Kites and Kestrels Play­space with its sand­pits, fly­ing fox, climb­ing struc­tures and tra­di­tion­al play equipment.

Enter via the cor­ner of Bridge and Smith roads, Sal­is­bury East, and set up your pic­nic for the day.

2. Onka­paringa Riv­er Recre­ation Park – south

Ven­ture 35 km south of Ade­laide to Onka­paringa Riv­er Recre­ation Park. Enter via the main entrance on Riv­er Road and you’ll find a bar­be­cue set-up with pic­nic tables and toilets.

Remem­ber to bring along your kayak or canoe – there is a launch nearby.

3. Mori­al­ta Con­ser­va­tion Park – east

Mori­al­ta Con­ser­va­tion Park Con­ser­va­tion Park is just 10 km east of the city and has lots of areas with bar­be­cues and toi­lets, plus the ever-pop­u­lar Mukan­thi Play­space.

Head to the Strad­broke Road Pic­nic Area to set up for a relax­ing after­noon with friends and family.

4. Belair Nation­al Park – south

There are lots of pic­nic areas with bar­be­cues and near­by toi­lets in Belair Nation­al Park, 13 km south of Ade­laide. Many of the pic­nic areas can even be booked online, as well as ten­nis courts, ovals and pavil­ions for group events. 

There are also free bar­be­cues and pic­nic tables next to the Adven­ture Play­ground at Play­ford Lake, along­side the Wood Duck Walk and between Wil­lows and the Kar­ka Pavilion.

5. Para Wirra Con­ser­va­tion Park – north

About an hour’s dri­ve north­east of Ade­laide is Para Wirra Con­ser­va­tion Park.

The park has the huge Gawler View Pic­nic Area, which has bar­be­cues, toi­lets and shel­ters and Adelaide’s only Nature­play Forest. 

The young and young-at-heart will find plen­ty to explore, includ­ing climb­ing trees, the dry creek bed, rope and sand play, a tun­nel run, a rocky amphithe­atre, and the ever-pop­u­lar and long fly­ing fox. 

The Lake Pic­nic Area is also a great spot to set up for the day – with its bar­be­cues, tables and beau­ti­ful lake view, what’s not to love? 

If you’re plan­ning a sum­mer bar­be­cue in a nation­al park, always check theNation­al Parks web­sitefor fire restric­tions and the CFS web­site forfire ban infor­ma­tion.

You might also like to lap up the warm weath­er by ven­tur­ing fur­ther afield and vis­it­ing a park along the coast. Check out6 parks per­fect for beach-loversfor our top picks.

Main image: Belair Nation­al Park

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in Jan­u­ary 2018.