17 national parks in Adelaide where you can walk your dog

Dogs are wel­come at many of South Australia’s nation­al parks – but own­ers must take the lead.

When explor­ing SA’s parks pop a leash (no longer than 2 metres long) on your four-legged friend and pick up their poo – our native wildlife will thank you.

Why take the lead? Check out our blog Every­thing you need to know about tak­ing dogs in SA’s nation­al parks for more.

Here are 17 dog-friend­ly parks for you to vis­it in met­ro­pol­i­tan Adelaide:

North of Ade­laide CBD:

1. Anstey Hill Recre­ation Park

Be sure to vis­it Anstey Hill Recre­ation Park in spring when the wild­flow­ers and orchids are in bloom.

2. Para Wirra Con­ser­va­tion Park

Para Wirra Con­ser­va­tion Park offers a beau­ti­ful bush­land set­ting, as well as recre­ation­al facil­i­ties and a sports oval ide­al for a lazy after­noon game of cricket.

3. Cob­bler Creek Recre­ation Park

Nes­tled between Gold­en Grove and Sal­is­bury, Cob­bler Creek Recre­ation Park is an oasis in the sub­urbs. If you are vis­it­ing with the kids be sure to check out the mag­nif­i­cent Kites and Kestrels Play­space. Some of the trails in the park are bike trails only, so be sure to check out a map before you head off.

4. Wara Way­ing­ga-Ten­nyson Dunes Con­ser­va­tion Reserve

If you’re head­ing to Wara Way­ing­ga-Ten­nyson Dunes Con­ser­va­tion Reserve don’t for­get to down­load the Ten­nyson Dunes Dis­cov­ery Trail app. You can learn about this unique dune sys­tem by lis­ten­ing to the audio walk­ing tours.

South of Ade­laide CBD:

5. Mari­no Con­ser­va­tion Park

Explore Mari­no Con­ser­va­tion Park along the des­ig­nat­ed walk­ing trail and fire access tracks and take in the stun­ning scenic views over Brighton, Glenelg, Grange and the Mari­no Rocks Lighthouse.

6. O’Halloran Hill Recre­ation Park

Explore O’Halloran Hill Recre­ation Park along its net­work of walk­ing trails, horse rid­ing trails and fire tracks. Shade from the regen­er­at­ed grey box euca­lypts and riv­er red gums pro­vide the per­fect spot for a picnic.

7. Shep­herds Hill Recre­ation Park

Shep­herds Hill Recre­ation Park fea­tures an old rail­way tun­nel, the remains of a viaduct and a 360 degree view of the sur­round­ing Ade­laide plains, coast­line and hills.

8. Sturt Gorge Recre­ation Park

Sturt Gorge Recre­ation Park con­serves the nation­al­ly threat­ened Grey­box Grassy Wood­land veg­e­ta­tion and is home to a rock for­ma­tion known as Sturt tillite, believed to have formed 800 mil­lion years ago.

9. Onka­paringa Riv­er Recre­ation Park

There is lots to do at Onka­paringa Riv­er Recre­ation Park, wan­der along the wet­land board­walks, ride a bicy­cle on the shared use trails, kayak the calm waters or just be at peace with nature.

10. Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­mai­it­pin­na Yarta

Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­mai­it­pin­na Yarta is Adelaide’s newest nation­al park, locat­ed 16 km south of the CBD in O’Halloran Hill.

While the trail net­work is being con­struct­ed, vis­i­tors can enjoy a tem­po­rary loop trail and the great news is, it’s dog-friendly.

The rest of the park is still under con­struc­tion and is not quite open for vis­i­tors just yet. You can access maps and open­ing hours on the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice South Aus­tralia web­site and also find out more about the cre­ation of Glen­thorne.

East of Ade­laide CBD and Ade­laide Hills:

11. Belair Nation­al Park

With beau­ti­ful nat­ur­al bush­land and fea­tur­ing numer­ous pic­nic areas, ten­nis courts and walk­ing trails, Belair Nation­al Park is an ide­al place to get active outdoors.

12. Brown­hill Creek Recre­ation Park

A pop­u­lar bush­land area, Brown­hill Creek Recre­ation Park cov­ers 51 hectares and is locat­ed just eight kilo­me­tres from Adelaide.

13. Green­hill Recre­ation Park

A small park bor­der­ing Cham­bers Gul­ly and Cle­land Nation­al Park, Green­hill Recre­ation Park has reward­ing views over the Ade­laide Plains.

14. Tot­ness Recre­ation Park

Tot­ness Recre­ation Park is a hid­den gem. The trails are easy to walk and includes a board­walk and space for pic­nics at the water’s edge.

15. Mori­al­ta Con­ser­va­tion Park

Take your pooch on a fam­i­ly pic­nic at Mori­al­ta Con­ser­va­tion Park and sit back while the kids explore Adelaide’s biggest nature play­ground. Dogs are only allowed in the Mori­al­ta pic­nic area and along Mori­al­ta Falls Road to the Mori­al­ta Falls car park.

16. Mount George Con­ser­va­tion Park

A pop­u­lar park for bush­walk­ers and bird­watch­ers, Mount George Con­ser­va­tion Park boasts superb views of the sur­round­ing hills. Your dog is wel­come with­in the recre­ation zone between Mount George Road and Cox Creek.

17. Black­wood For­est Recre­ation Park

Last but not least is Black­wood For­est Recre­ation Park. As long as your dog remains under effec­tive con­trol its wel­come to explore this park off lead. There are plen­ty of paths to fol­low and some great his­tor­i­cal build­ings to discover.

Vis­it­ed a nation­al park with your dog late­ly? Leave a com­ment below and share your expe­ri­ences, tips, pho­tos and rec­om­men­da­tions for oth­er dog own­ers. For more info about dogs in nation­al parks, go to the nation­al parks web­site.

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in Novem­ber 2015 and has been updat­ed with cur­rent information.