Onkaparinga River National Park
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| Onkaparinga River National Park | |
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IUCN Category II (National Park)
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| Nearest town/city: | Adelaide |
| Coordinates: | 35°09′38″S 138°33′14″E / 35.16056°S 138.55389°E |
| Area: | 13.8 km² |
| Established: | 1993 |
| Managing authorities: | Department for Environment and Heritage |
| Official site: | Onkaparinga River National Park |
Onkaparinga River National Park is in South Australia (Australia), 32 km south of Adelaide and incorporates the Onkaparinga River Recreation Park.
The hills that make up the eastern part of this park serve to block off the sights and sounds of the nearby suburbs, also conveniently making this place fairly unknown and people-free. The vegetation of the park has been greatly perturbed by human activity, but remnant patches remain. The most intact area is the Hardy's Scrub section of the reserve. A history of grazing has cleared most of the reserve of native understorey species and in many areas invasive grasses are the main vegetation type. Remnant Eucalypts are the most noticeable native species in the reserve. Eucalyptus microcarpa (Grey Box), Eucalyptus fasciculosa (Pink Gum), Eucalyptus porosa (Mallee box), Eucalyptus Cameldulensis (Red Gum), and Eucalyptus leucoxylyn (Blue Gum) all occur in the reserve. The European Olive (Olea europaea) is a noxious weed in South Australia and has invaded the park, although generally individuals are not as large as in older parks in the Mount Lofty Ranges like Belair NP but will continue to be a problem unless managed. Over the last twenty years accessible areas of the gorge have been revegetated by contractors working for National Parks SA. The oldest area of revegetation in the park was conducted with tubestock, predominantly of Eucalypts. Recent efforts have focused on the direct seeding method where seed of native species is ploughed into a scraped trench. The reserve features good views and some spectacular insect activity, notably butterflies (Lepidoptera)and dragonflies (Anisoptera), kangaroos are common among the open hillsides with abundant grasses although they are fairly people-shy. Onkaparinga Gorge has some very steep terrain, following the car trail on foot leads to very steep inclines, the river at the bottom of the ravine makes such walks worthwhile (see picture).
Bushwalker's Miraculous Fall In the early hours of November Thirtieth 2008, a twenty two year old man fell approximately thirty metres from the top of a ravine into waters only a metre or two in depth and containing many boulders. His fall was interrupted on the way down by an outcrop which failed to prevent his fall, caused his right foot to fracture slightly and bruised a few vertebrae in his spine. He was airlifted by the local emergency services, after one of his companions ran to find a phone, chancing upon a local surgeon (who remains anonymous) who was likewise bushwalking. Once in hospital the man was found to have only the most minor of injuries and remarked that even the slightest change in direction of the fall, lower amounts of rain or higher temperatures could all have killed him as recent rains had left the regularly shallow water slightly deeper than would be expected at that time of year.
Directions: It's usually listed on maps as Onkaparinga River Recreation Park, entrances can be found on the dirt section of Piggott Range Road, Onkaparinga Hills.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Postcards Feature with Keith Conlon
- A blog of a bush walk in the Onkaparinga River National Park by SA-hiker
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