Insider guide: Mount Remarkable National Park

Lisa Tay­lor – Ranger in Charge at Mount Remark­able Nation­al Park

How would you describe your job to some­one at a BBQ?

My job is quite var­ied. It includes mak­ing sure vis­i­tors are enjoy­ing their time in the park, but also respect­ing the envi­ron­ment at the same time. I also man­age projects with­in the park like the cur­rent Sum­mit Walk­ing Trail extension.

There’s some event plan­ning and man­age­ment for activ­i­ties like Parks Week and Park of the Month and most impor­tant­ly, main­tain­ing and improv­ing the con­ser­va­tion val­ue of the park for future generations.

How did you get into this line of work?

I’m a local girl and vis­it­ed the park fre­quent­ly as a child. When I was about five years old, my fam­i­ly was hav­ing a pic­nic in Alli­ga­tor Gorge and I told them I want­ed to be a ​‘bush ranger’. Every­one laughed because that’s what Ned Kel­ly was, but I knew what I meant and it didn’t change my mind.

I went on to study Bio­di­ver­si­ty, Envi­ron­men­tal and Park Man­age­ment at Uni SA and land­ed my first job in nat­ur­al resource man­age­ment, which I worked in for sev­er­al years in var­i­ous capac­i­ties. Look­ing for a new chal­lenge, an oppor­tu­ni­ty came up as Ranger-in-Charge for Mount Remark­able Nation­al Park and here I am.

What do you encounter in a ​‘nor­mal’ day on the job?

There isn’t real­ly a nor­mal day. A work day can include meet­ings, project plan­ning or being out in the field help­ing vis­i­tors with infor­ma­tion, and mak­ing sure they have the cor­rect book­ings and permits.

I can also be work­ing on projects in the park with the Friends of Mount Remark­able vol­un­teer group or work­ing with the com­mu­ni­ty at local events.

Dur­ing school and pub­lic hol­i­days, I organ­ise and run fam­i­ly-friend­ly activ­i­ties in the park like scav­enger hunts and guid­ed walks.

What’s the most amaz­ing thing you’ve seen at Mount Remark­able Nation­al Park?

It would have to be the view across the Spencer Gulf from the Bat­tery Track. It real­ly cap­tures the links between land and sea, and makes you realise how con­nect­ed the two land­scapes are. You can access this track from the walk­ing trails in the Mam­bray Creek Day Vis­i­tor Area.

What are your insid­er tips about Mount Remark­able Nation­al Park?

When you vis­it, allow more time than you think you’ll need. There’s so much to see.

Don’t head home with­out enjoy­ing the Mam­bray Creek Day Vis­i­tor Area. It’s a great spot for a BBQ, pic­nics and a unique place for an event.

Alli­ga­tor Gorge is breath­tak­ing any­time of the year, but is espe­cial­ly nice when there’s water flow­ing. There’s lots of explor­ing to do here. My sug­ges­tion would be to have a pic­nic and enjoy the beau­ti­ful back­drop of the sur­round­ing red cliffs. It’s a great spot to escape. This spot is so serene, you can sit back, relax and lis­ten to the water trick­le and wildlife call.

Through­out the month of May Mount Remark­able Nation­al Park is being cel­e­brat­ed as Park of Month– an ini­tia­tive betweenNature Play South Aus­traliaand DEW.

Get a taste of our Park of the Month by check­ing out the list ofeventsbeing held there in May. Try Pilates or a guid­ed walk, or dis­cov­er trea­sure in Alli­ga­tor Gorge.

Want to know more? Check out our post on5 Trea­sures in Mount Remark­able Nation­al Parkor down­load Nature Play SA’s list of20 things to dis­cov­er.

Main image cour­tesy of Jason Tyn­dall, Nature Play SA