Best National and Conservation Parks of the Limestone Coast
Ten protected places that show the South East as it was
Most of the lower South East was cleared, drained and turned to farms - which makes its protected remnants all the more precious. The region's parks preserve everything from mobile dunefields to crystal sinkhole springs like Ewens Ponds, ancient stringybark woodland and wetlands that fill with birds, a world we explore further in Wings over the Wetlands.
Entry to most is free, facilities are generally simple, and the rewards scale with the effort. Here are ten parks and reserves that justify a detour, whatever the season - and if you prefer your nature through a windscreen, several feature on our list of the best coastal walks and drives.
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1
MillicentCanunda National Park
The big one: a wild barrier of dunes, cliffs and beaches running for some 40 kilometres between Southend and Carpenter Rocks.
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2
Mount GambierPiccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park
A conservation park around a legendary spring system - snorkel the First Pond and peer into the Chasm's impossible clarity.
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3
RobeLittle Dip Conservation Park
Robe's backyard wilderness of calcified dunes, salt lakes and lonely beaches, threaded with 4WD tracks and walks.
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4
NaracoorteBool Lagoon Game Reserve
A vast seasonal lagoon system south of Naracoorte - boardwalks, bird hides and brolgas at one of southern Australia's great wetlands.
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5
BeachportBeachport Conservation Park
Dunes, freshwater soaks and wildflowers between Beachport and Robe, with Lake George's shallows alongside.
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6
Kingston SE
Butcher Gap Conservation Park
Salt lake, swamp and coastal scrub near Kingston SE, with an easy interpretive loop and rare winter parrots.
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7
Kingston SEMount Scott Conservation Park
Inland stringybark country east of Kingston SE where malleefowl build their mounds and wallabies graze the clearings.
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8
NaracoortePadthaway Conservation Park
Tall blue gum and stringybark woodland on the edge of Padthaway wine country, with the gentle Banksia Loop walk.
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9
Port MacDonnellDingley Dell Conservation Park
A pocket of coastal scrub at Port MacDonnell wrapped around the preserved cottage of poet Adam Lindsay Gordon.
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10
PenolaPenola Conservation Park
Red gum flats and heathy woodland west of Penola - an easy taste of the upper South East's original country.
Check the National Parks SA website for closures before travelling in summer: several of these parks close on days of catastrophic fire danger.
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Image credits
- Mounce & Battye Rocks. Canunda National Park. South Australia.JPG by Trotts , CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons