Ranger Tips: Naracoorte Caves National Park

Nara­coorte Caves Nation­al Park is locat­ed rough­ly 350 km south-east of Ade­laide, in the Lime­stone Coast region of South Australia.

There’s so much to explore both above and below ground in the park. From learn­ing about the cave’s crit­i­cal­ly endan­gered res­i­dents, the south­ern bent-wing bat. To explor­ing the incred­i­ble fos­sil records that date back sev­er­al ice ages, includ­ing the arrival of humans in the area.

There’s a rea­son why Nara­coorte Caves Nation­al Park is cur­rent­ly South Aus­trali­a’s only World Her­itage site. It is also one of only eleven fos­sil sites glob­al­ly, list­ed as a World Her­itage site.

Senior Ranger Bri­an Robins has pro­vid­ed his top tips for explor­ing this icon­ic park.

Best-kept secret?

I think the best kept secret at Nara­coorte Caves Nation­al Park is the emer­gence of the south­ern bent-wing bat from Bat Cave in the ear­ly evening dur­ing the warmer months of the year. Bat Cave is one of only three mater­ni­ty sites for the species and has close to 30,000 bats present in the cave over sum­mer. In the evening thou­sands of bats emerge from the cave with­in a short peri­od of time which makes for quite an impres­sive expe­ri­ence. The Bat Cave entrance can be viewed from the very acces­si­ble Roof Top Loop Walk, mak­ing this an expe­ri­ence suit­able for everyone.

How many days should vis­i­tors spend at the park?

While the tours are sched­uled so vis­i­tors can do all avail­able guid­ed expe­ri­ences back-to-back in half a day, we rec­om­mend set­ting aside a full day to enjoy all the dif­fer­ent activ­i­ties the park has to offer. 

What is involved with the cave tours?

Guides at Nara­coorte Caves con­duct three dif­fer­ent guid­ed tours at the park. These include the Alexan­dra Cave, Vic­to­ria Fos­sil Cave and the Blanche Cave & Bat Obser­va­tion Cen­tre tours, although the Blanche Cave & Bat Obser­va­tion Cen­tre tour is run sea­son­al­ly based on what the bats are doing. Each tour focus­es on dif­fer­ent aspects of the caves, from fos­sils to geol­o­gy and every­thing in between. 

Two self-guid­ed options are also avail­able, with Stick-Toma­to Cave being the only self-guid­ed cave on the park and the dio­ra­ma in the Won­am­bi Fos­sil Cen­tre show­ing what the Nara­coorte area looked like 200,000 years ago based on the fos­sil research under­tak­en in the caves. Book­ings for these tours can be made online or over the counter in the Won­am­bi Vis­i­tor Centre.

The park also offers some spe­cial­ty tours, includ­ing adven­ture cav­ing where you crawl through sec­tions of the cave, but these must be booked direct­ly with staff at the park pri­or to vis­it­ing as there are a few impor­tant pieces of infor­ma­tion we must pass on to groups inter­est­ed in these tours. 

Best way to expe­ri­ence the caves with kids? 

The Alexan­dra Cave is pop­u­lar as it is 30 min­utes long and cov­ers most top­ics that can be dis­cussed in the caves. While each tour is suit­able for all ages, the Vic­to­ria Fos­sil Cave and Blanche Cave & Bat Obser­va­tion Cen­tre tours do involve being seat­ed for 20 to 30 min­utes so may not be suit­able for ener­getic chil­dren. If they are inter­est­ed in learn­ing more about fos­sils or bats then these are still great tours to take part in and we rec­om­mend dis­cussing what might be the most suit­able option for you with Nara­coorte Caves staff. 

Activ­i­ties with­in the park, out­side of the caves?

The fan­tas­tic Fos­sil Hunters Play­ground is locat­ed in the main vis­i­tor precinct adja­cent the Won­am­bi Vis­i­tor Cen­tre and pro­vides an oppor­tu­ni­ty for chil­dren to explore in a nature play set­ting. The Caves Café also pro­vides park vis­i­tors with an oppor­tu­ni­ty to pur­chase food, drink and sou­venirs dur­ing their vis­it. The great thing with Nara­coorte Caves Nation­al Park is that entry to the park itself is free, so the café and play­ground can be enjoyed by every­one even if they aren’t tak­ing part in a cave tour. 

Your favourite tour?

My favourite cave tour is Alexan­dra Cave. The cave has some quite spec­tac­u­lar dec­o­ra­tion, par­tic­u­lar­ly towards the end of the tour where my favourite spot in the cave is. 

Best time to visit?

The best time of the year to vis­it and enjoy the full range of options at the park is when the bats are active between mid-Sep­tem­ber and late April each year. In say­ing that, vis­it­ing the park dur­ing win­ter is still worth it as the Alexan­dra and Vic­to­ria Fos­sil Caves remain at around 17 degrees all year round, so feel nice and warm even if it is a bit cold outside.

How do I get involved in vol­un­teer­ing with­in the park?

Nara­coorte Caves Nation­al Park has a won­der­ful Friends group that is active around the park and help with a range of tasks. If you are inter­est­ed in vol­un­teer­ing at the park or join­ing the Friends of Nara­coorte Caves, check out their web­site for con­tact details or for­ward any enquiries onto staff at Nara­coorte Caves who can pass it on to the group. 

Park of the Month

Through­out August, Nara­coorte Caves is being cel­e­brat­ed as Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Service’s Park of the Month.

There are plen­ty of activ­i­ties on offer. Check out the web­site for all the details.