Friends’ tips: Friends of Coorong National Park

The best way to explore a place like Coorong Nation­al Park is with advice from the peo­ple who know it best. We caught up with Saman­tha (Sam) Blight, Pres­i­dent of the Friends of the Coorong, to hear her tips, favourite spots and what keeps this pas­sion­ate vol­un­teer group busy.

Meet the Friends of the Coorong

Can you tell us about the Friends of the Coorong?

The Friends of the Coorong formed in Novem­ber 1987. We’re a com­mu­ni­ty-based vol­un­teer group work­ing close­ly with the Nation­al Parks team to help main­tain, pro­tect and enhance the park’s nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al heritage.

Over the years, we’ve built strong com­mu­ni­ty appre­ci­a­tion for the Coorong through hands-on projects, research and sto­ry­telling. We were hon­oured to be named Friends of Parks ​“Friends Group of the Decade 1996 – 2006”.

What are you work­ing on right now?

We’ve always got some­thing on the go. Here’s what’s hap­pen­ing now.

• Clean Up Aus­tralia Day – 15 March 2026 at Noon­ameena Look­out. Every­one is wel­come to join us!
• Nation­al Tree Plant­i­ng Day – 26 July 2026. We’re con­tin­u­ing work at 42 Mile Cross­ing camp­ground to pro­vide more shade and shel­ter for vis­i­tors and local wildlife like emus, kan­ga­roos, wom­bats and birds.
• Upgrad­ing inter­pre­tive signs along the Lakes Nature Trail near Salt Creek.
• Cre­at­ing a new inter­pre­tive sign for the his­toric hand-pull fer­ry at Parn­ka Point.
• Pub­lish­ing a fourth book shar­ing sto­ries of women from the ear­ly set­tle­ment of the Coorong and Lakes area.

A pas­sion for heritage

You’ve done sig­nif­i­cant restora­tion work. What stands out?

One high­light is our long involve­ment with His­toric Can­tara Home­stead. Over the years, we’ve:

• Held reg­u­lar clean-up work­ing bees
• Helped secure grants for a Con­ser­va­tion Plan
• Fund­ed replace­ment slate front steps
• Sup­port­ed restora­tion of the his­toric meat safe building
• Installed a rain­wa­ter tank
• Pro­vid­ed his­tor­i­cal inter­pre­ta­tion for visitors
• Host­ed pub­lic open days
• Tak­en part in stonework restora­tion workshops

We’ve also worked exten­sive­ly on the his­toric Mark Point mill and tank — main­tain­ing the struc­ture, installing a pro­tec­tive well cov­er and reveg­e­tat­ing the sur­round­ing area.

Shar­ing sto­ries is anoth­er pas­sion. We’ve pub­lished sev­er­al books, includ­ing Tales of the Coorong, More Tales of the Coorong, Tales of the Lakes and Coorong, and Key Bird Species of the Coorong, along with per­son­al his­to­ries such as Nel’s Diaries and Out of the Dreaming.

Inspir­ing the next generation

We also cre­ate activ­i­ties for chil­dren, avail­able on our web­site, includ­ing:

• Coorong Kids Bingo
• 42 Mile Cross­ing Adven­ture Sheet
• I Heart Coorong, Colour­ing-in pages
• Jig­saw puzzles
• A bird-themed board game

Help­ing young peo­ple con­nect with nature builds the next gen­er­a­tion of park stewards.

Hid­den gems of the Coorong

What’s one walk you’d recommend?

The Lakes Nature Trail near Salt Creek is a favourite. This loop walk show­cas­es the diver­si­ty of the Coorong — from ephemer­al Pipe Clay Lake to tea-tree and mallee scrub, low sand dunes and a halite lake once used for salt harvesting. 

In spring, wild­flow­ers bloom along the trail and in sum­mer, birdlife shifts as lakes dry. You might spot west­ern grey kan­ga­roos, wom­bats, echid­nas, emus or even a rufous bristlebird.

The trail also tells the sto­ry of the salt min­ing indus­try. From the 1870s, salt was har­vest­ed here and trans­port­ed to Kingston SE. 200 – 400 tons were har­vest­ed each year, until the area was incor­po­rat­ed into the Coorong Nation­al Park in 1966! Today, pond­ing lev­ees and rust­ed equip­ment remain as reminders of that era.

Anoth­er must-see spot?

Parn­ka Point, a nat­ur­al divi­sion between the north and south lagoons offers sweep­ing views and fan­tas­tic birdwatching.

The 5 km Parn­ka Ngop­pun walk­ing trail (about 1.5 to 2 hours) was devel­oped in con­sul­ta­tion with local Ngar­rind­jeri com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers. ​‘Parn­ka’ means sandy beach and ​‘Ngop­pun’ means walk.

It’s a great place for a pic­nic, with shel­ters and tables, and you can still see rem­nants of the his­toric hand-pull fer­ry once used to access the Younghus­band Peninsula.

Keep an eye out for migra­to­ry waders such as band­ed stilts and sharp-tailed sand­pipers, and, if you’re very lucky, the endan­gered Orange-bel­lied Par­rot. With only around 100 – 200 indi­vid­u­als remain­ing, it’s one of Australia’s rarest birds. Each win­ter, they migrate from Tas­ma­nia to south-east­ern Australia’s coasts to feed.

What would you say to some­one think­ing about joining?

Vol­un­teer­ing con­nects you to the land­scape in a deep­er way. You meet won­der­ful peo­ple, learn new skills and see the direct results of your efforts — whether that’s restored her­itage, thriv­ing reveg­e­ta­tion or bet­ter expe­ri­ences for visitors.

Most of all, you become part of the Coorong’s story.

Get involved

If you’d like to get involved, join a Friends of Parks group near you. Every small action helps pro­tect this remark­able land­scape for future generations.

You can also learn more about Coorong Nation­al Park at the park’s page.

Park of the Month

Through­out March, Coorong Nation­al Park is being high­light­ed as the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice’s Park of the Month. There are lots of events and activ­i­ties to get involved in, find them here!

Stay in the know: Sign up to get updates from Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice and Friends of Parks and Nature Inc. straight to your inbox!