5 ways to spend time in nature in and around Adelaide this Easter

Stay­ing put in Ade­laide for East­er doesn’t have to be bor­ing. It can also be a won­der­ful oppor­tu­ni­ty to get out and about in nature at one of our state’s beau­ti­ful nation­al parks.

Here are some rec­om­men­da­tions for fam­i­ly friend­ly activ­i­ties in nature this Easter:

1. Take a trip to the beach

The East­er long-week­end is the per­fect oppor­tu­ni­ty to make one last fam­i­ly trip to the beach before the cool­er win­ter weath­er set­tles in. 

Beach­comb­ing can be a great way to get to know your local beach. Check out our guide on beach­comb­ing to learn about some of the weird and won­der­ful crea­tures you might find washed up on our shores.

Or if you pre­fer to enjoy the coast with­out get­ting your feet wet, why not hike and take in the views of the ocean instead?

Make a day of it and head down south to the Fleurieu Penin­su­la where you can walk the Blow­hole Beach Hike at Deep Creek Nation­al Park (3.4 km, 2.5 hours return) or tack­le one of the hikes at New­land Head Con­ser­va­tion Park, where you’ll see stun­ning views of Encounter Marine Park.

2. Dust off the pad­dles and go kayaking

Kayak­ing can be a real­ly relax­ing fam­i­ly activ­i­ty and a great way to enjoy Adelaide’s coasts and rivers.

With a res­i­dent pod of dol­phins that can be spot­ted all year round, the Ade­laide Dol­phin Sanc­tu­ary (20 min­utes’ dri­ve from the Ade­laide CBD) is a pop­u­lar spot to go kayak­ing close to Adelaide.

The man­groves at Port Gawler are also a love­ly, peace­ful spot for kayak­ing with the kids. The man­groves are a part of the Ade­laide Inter­na­tion­al Bird Sanc­tu­ary Nation­al Park — Winaity­i­naityi Pangkara, so they’re a great spot to look for water­birds in their nat­ur­al setting.

Check out our sto­ry on 7 parks in South Aus­tralia to go kayak­ing for more ideas, and if you’re new to kayak­ing, take a look at kayak­ing for begin­ners.

3. Spend a day at Cle­land Wildlife Park

Cle­land Wildlife Park in the Ade­laide Hills is open every day of the long week­end from 9:30 am to 5 pm, includ­ing Good Fri­day, although you may want to avoid the crowds and vis­it lat­er in the weekend.

Vis­it­ing Cle­land Wildlife Park can be an excit­ing expe­ri­ence for the whole fam­i­ly. With plen­ty of bush walk­ing trails, close encoun­ters with friend­ly wildlife and amaz­ing views of Ade­laide, Cle­land has some­thing for everyone.

Cle­land has plen­ty of facil­i­ties like free car park­ing, acces­si­ble paths, wheel­chairs and prams for hire, gas bar­be­ques and pic­nic tables, so you can make the most of your time when you’re there.

There are also some spe­cial ani­mal expe­ri­ences you can take part in, includ­ing the ever-pop­u­lar koala expe­ri­ences, but just be aware that if the tem­per­a­ture is too warm (fore­cast to be 32 degrees and above at the near­by weath­er sta­tion at Mount Bark­er) some of these will be cancelled.

Check out our Cle­land Wildlife Park itin­er­ary to spend a bliss­ful day explor­ing the park’s many wonders. 

4. Take the kids to an adven­ture playground

There are plen­ty of play­grounds to choose from in Ade­laide, but at some of our nation­al parks there are adven­ture play­grounds that have been cre­at­ed with nature in mind.

In Adelaide’s east, the adven­ture play­ground at Mori­al­ta Con­ser­va­tion Park – Mukan­thi Nature Play Space – sprawls over an area almost the size of Ade­laide Oval and is a delight for kids and adults alike.

About 13 km south-east of the city there is Belair Nation­al Park’s adven­ture play­ground, which is very well-loved by kids for its wood­en fort and maze of tun­nels. Check out our Belair itin­er­ary to make the most of your day at the park.

The rap­tor-themed nature play­ground at Cob­bler Creek Recre­ation Park, 19 km north of the city, was inspired by the kites and kestrels that fly over­head look­ing for prey in the open grasslands.

Why not make a day of your vis­it to Cob­bler Creek and enjoy the BBQs, pic­nic shel­ters, toi­lets and near­by bike trails.

Also worth men­tion­ing is the nature play for­est at the Gawler View Pic­nic Area at Para Wirra Con­ser­va­tion Park, 41 km north of Adelaide.

While the nature play area will be an absolute hit with the kids with its rope bridges, creek line and fly­ing fox, adults too can get their moment in the sun by enjoy­ing the hik­ing and bar­be­quing facil­i­ties at Para Wirra.

Check out our sto­ry 5 trea­sures at Para Wirra for great ideas on how to make the most of your day there.

5. Get your wheels dusty at a nation­al park

Make the most of the last burst of warm weath­er this East­er and head out with the fam­i­ly on a moun­tain bik­ing adven­ture in our nation­al parks.

A great option is the 7 km-long Steub trail at Cle­land Nation­al Park, which runs from Cle­land Wildlife Park to Mount Lofty Sum­mit in the stun­ning Ade­laide Hills.

It climbs gen­tly through the for­est wood­land in most places, but has some inter­me­di­ate sec­tions in spots too.

If you’d like to take the kids moun­tain bik­ing, then try one of our begin­ner moun­tain bik­ing trails: Kids zone at Shep­herds Hill Recre­ation Park (11 km south of Ade­laide), Begin­ners’ cir­cuit at Cob­bler Creek Recre­ation Park (19 km north of Ade­laide), or one of the easy trails on the north­ern side of Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­mai­it­pin­na Yarta (16 km south of Adelaide).

We hope you have a great East­er and get a chance to get out in nature.

Check out our blogs onautumn gar­den­ingandlast-minute East­er camp­ing avail­abil­i­tyfor even more ideas for nature-based activ­i­ties this season.

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in April 2021.