Your guide to visiting the revamped Naracoorte Caves

The mag­i­cal Lime­stone Coast in South Australia’s south-east is known for the vivid turquoise Blue Lake, the under­ground oasis of Umpher­ston Sink­hole, the crys­tal clear waters of Pic­canin­nie Ponds and its many deli­cious winer­ies.

But a trip to the Lime­stone Coast wouldn’t be com­plete with­out a vis­it to Australia’s icon­ic Nara­coorte Caves Nation­al Park.

Why not take a step back in time – like 500,000 years, put your palaeon­tol­o­gist hat on and take a road trip (about 3.5 hours from Ade­laide) to view first-hand the impres­sive Aus­tralian Megafau­na remains and find out why the Nara­coorte Caves are one of only 19 UNESCO World Her­itage-List­ed places across Australia.

Here are four ​‘must dos’ for your visit:

1. Stroll the new Rooftop Loop Walk

The new Rooftop Loop Walk pro­vides uni­ver­sal access for peo­ple of all ages and abil­i­ties to enjoy the fas­ci­nat­ing under­ground world of Nara­coorte Caves.

The 850-metre rooftop walk has strate­gi­cal­ly-placed view­ing plat­forms to pro­vide a glimpse inside the caves, and even lets you wit­ness bats fly­ing in or out of their under­ground home.

The walk links the caves’ Won­am­bi Fos­sil Cen­tre with the Bat Obser­va­tion Cen­tre, Bat Cave and Blanche Cave, with plen­ty of his­to­ry and fun facts for you to learn along the way.

2. Wit­ness the colony of endan­gered south­ern bent-wing bats

The Bat Cave is the per­fect spot to check out the 30,000-odd south­ern bent-wing bats that call Nara­coorte home.

These bats are crit­i­cal­ly endan­gered, and the Bat Cave is one of only two known breed­ing places for the species in the world.

3. Learn first-hand why the site is UNESCO World Heritage-Listed

The Nara­coorte Caves Nation­al Park is the state’s only UNESCO World Her­itage-List­ed site. The caves date back over 500,000 years when giant ani­mals called Megafau­na roamed the landscape.

There are 28 known caves in the park, and four are open to the pub­lic. Why not go under­ground and check them out on a tour – you’ll soon see why they deserve this spe­cial accolade.

4. Vis­it the Won­am­bi Fos­sil Cen­tre and Vic­to­ria Fos­sil Cave

Megafau­na, mean­ing big ani­mal, became extinct about 50,000 years ago – around the same time as the first humans arrived. These giant ani­mals fell into open­ings at the Nara­coorte Caves, and their fos­silised skele­tons were left behind. You can now take a tour and see first-hand these amaz­ing rem­nants of a past era.

Get to know SA’s amaz­ing pre­his­toric ani­mals by drop­ping in to the Won­am­bi Fos­sil Cen­tre and Vic­to­ria Fos­sil Cave.

These are our top tips, but there’s lots more to dis­cov­erabove the groundandunder the groundat the Nara­coorte Caves, includ­ing a café serv­ing great cof­fee and food – check it out yourself.