Top 5 things to do with dad in parks this Father’s Day

1. Go botanical

Adelaide’s stun­ning botan­ic gar­dens are the per­fect place to con­nect with fam­i­ly and nature this Father’s Day. 

Ade­laide Botan­ic Garden

All you need is dad, some sand­wich­es and a pic­nic blan­ket to enjoy the beau­ty and diver­si­ty of plants from around the world in the heart of the city. With 50 hectares of mag­nif­i­cent­ly main­tained gar­dens and stun­ning archi­tec­ture, the Ade­laide Botan­ic Gar­den is the per­fect place to soak up some sun­shine and enjoy some of Australia’s finest plant collections. 

Wit­tun­ga Botan­ic Garden

Nes­tled with­in sub­ur­ban Black­wood, the 13-hectare Wit­tun­ga Botan­ic Gar­den is a hid­den oasis. Father’s Day is the per­fect time to see the emerg­ing dis­plays of Eri­c­as and Pro­teas, two spec­tac­u­lar South African vari­eties that form part of the exten­sive col­lec­tion of water-wise plants from Aus­tralia and abroad. See if you can also recog­nise some of the more famil­iar plants from Kan­ga­roo Island and the Fleurieu Penin­su­la and roll out a pic­nic rug near the entic­ing But­ter­fly Garden.

Mount Lofty Botan­ic Garden

Encour­age dad to lace up his walk­ing shoes, pack the cam­era and get ready to explore! Mean­der along the mul­ti­tude of paths that sprawl across 97 hectares and immerse your­selves in the spec­tac­u­lar colour and diverse fau­na and flo­ra of Mount Lofty Botan­ic Gar­den.

2. Get on your bike 

If dad is more the active type, there are so many moun­tain bik­ing trails to explore in South Aus­tralian parks. From leisure­ly cruis­ing to chal­leng­ing routes and pump tracks, there is a trail to suit every lev­el of rid­er. Find out more about moun­tain bik­ing in SA’s parks and check out these fam­i­ly-friend­ly options.

Remark­able Epic Trail

If dad is seek­ing a thrilling adven­ture a lit­tle fur­ther afield that takes the fam­i­ly off the beat­en path, South Australia’s newest moun­tain bike trail at Mount Remark­able Nation­al Park is ide­al. The Remark­able Epic Trail , near Mel­rose, approx­i­mate­ly 3 hours’ dri­ve north of Ade­laide, is an expe­ri­ence for those rid­ers who want a chal­lenge! This 39km closed-loop trail mean­ders through the Park’s rugged beau­ty, lead­ing you through pre­vi­ous­ly unex­plored regions, reveal­ing hid­den gems along the way.

Cob­bler Creek

Cob­bler Creek Recre­ation Park, 19km north of Ade­laide, is the per­fect place for dad and the kids to have some fun. Try the Begin­ners’ Cir­cuit or Easy Does It moun­tain bik­ing trails. The KARNAR­FA Cir­cuit fea­tures easy and option­al trail obsta­cles and is a good intro­duc­tion to Cob­bler Creek’s inter­me­di­ate trails. The pump track is per­fect for kids and is right next to the Kites and Kestrels play­ground, which offers a shel­tered pic­nic area and toilets.

Shep­herds Hill

Shep­herds Hill Recre­ation Park, just 11km south of Ade­laide, con­tains 16km of moun­tain bike trails. The fam­i­­ly-friend­­ly green cir­cle loops are great to start on, before pro­gress­ing to the short but tough cross-coun­try loops and fun inter­me­di­ate down­hill runs. Shep­herds Hill Recre­ation Park even has a safe and easy area where the fam­i­ly can prac­tice and expe­ri­ence rid­ing on dirt. 

Belair

Belair Nation­al Park, locat­ed 13km south-east of Ade­laide, has a great range of trails for begin­ners through to more expe­ri­enced rid­ers. Belair is eas­i­ly acces­si­ble via train from North Ter­race in the city so dad and the fam­i­ly can load up their bikes and arrive at this recre­ation mec­ca with­out rais­ing a sweat or fuss­ing with bike racks. Among the fam­i­ly-friend­ly rides are the fire trails from Play­ford Lake to the adven­ture playground.

3. Vis­it a play­ground – every­one wins

Hap­py kids = con­tend­ed dads on Father’s Day. If keep­ing the kids occu­pied is the secret to some down­time for dad on Father’s Day, then an adven­ture play­ground in a beau­ti­ful set­ting could be just the ticket.

Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­mai­it­pin­na Yarta

This new nation­al park in Adelaide’s south­ern sub­urbs is locat­ed 16km south of Ade­laide on Majors Road in O’Halloran Hill. Its adven­ture play­ground fea­tures three slides, a see­saw, spin­ner, fos­sil dig area and Kau­r­na carv­ings and sculp­tures set across 7000 square metres, mak­ing it one of the State’s biggest nature-play spaces. There are rope and log climb­ing ele­ments, a pen­du­lum swing, cub­by build­ing, a 25m long fly­ing fox and a wide range of acces­si­ble equip­ment to ensure chil­dren of all abil­i­ties can enjoy the Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­­mai­it­pin­­na Yarta.

The adven­ture play­ground is sur­round­ed by a pur­­pose-built vis­i­tor hub that includes shel­ters, BBQs, toi­lets and pic­nic areas and is adja­cent to 8km of bike trails in the for­mer O’Halloran Hill Recre­ation Park

Mori­al­ta nature-play space

Mori­al­ta Con­ser­va­tion Park offers a range of fam­i­ly-friend­ly activ­i­ties – includ­ing the brand new Mukan­thi nature play space. Cre­at­ed out of nat­ur­al mate­ri­als, the play­ground encour­ages fam­i­lies to con­nect with nature while climb­ing the Birds Nest, vis­it­ing Frog Island, find­ing the secret tun­nel at Great Snake, and reach­ing the peak at Eagles Perch. After all that adven­ture, dad can enjoy a pic­nic on the lawn near Strad­broke Road and make use of the free bar­be­cue facilities. 

Cob­bler Creek Recre­ation Park 

Cob­bler Creek gets anoth­er men­tion ahead of Father’s Day thanks to its imag­i­na­tive Kites and Kestrels Play­space and pic­nic area which fea­tures BBQs, pic­nic shel­ters and a near­by bike pump track. Inspired by the kites and kestrels that fly over­head, the play­ground at Cob­bler Creek Recre­ation Park has sand­pits designed to look like bird-nests with giant eggs in the mid­dle and there’s a fly­ing fox and tra­di­tion­al play equip­ment to enjoy as well.

4. Get Inspired — wan­der to a waterfall

There’s noth­ing quite as relax­ing and inspir­ing as a water­fall and there’s no bet­ter time to enjoy SA’s won­drous water­falls than Father’s Day.

Mori­al­ta Con­ser­va­tion Park

Mori­al­ta is great to vis­it all year round, but spring is an ide­al time to see the falls at their best and the wild­flow­ers at their bright­est. Just 10 kilo­me­tres from the city, Mori­al­ta Con­ser­va­tion Park offers superb views of three water­falls linked by hik­ing trails that make it easy to get from one to the oth­er. The rel­a­tive­ly flat and acces­si­ble First Falls Walk mean­ders along­side the bub­bling Fourth Creek. Walk­ers will be reward­ed with stun­ning gorge views and a grand, 30m high water­fall. The Sec­ond Falls are approx­i­mate­ly 25m high and require some more stren­u­ous hik­ing. If you want to see all the falls, pre­pare for a 7.5km hike, which will take approx­i­mate­ly four hours.

Deep Creek Nation­al Park

Deep Creek is perched on SA’s Fleurieu Penin­su­la and, as the name sug­gests, is a good place to vis­it if you enjoy being close to water. The Deep Creek Water­fall is tru­ly spec­tac­u­lar after rain and has a large rock pool at the bot­tom that pro­vides an entic­ing lunch spot. You can enjoy it by tak­ing walk­ing trails from either the Tapanap­pa Look­out carpark or Trig camp­ground carpark.

Sturt Gorge Recre­ation Park

One of the less­er-known parks with a pic­turesque three-tiered water­fall is Sturt Gorge Recre­ation Park, 13 km south of Ade­laide. The Riv­er Trail mean­ders along­side this unex­pect­ed, relax­ing, urban oasis, which rewards walk­ers after rain. Geol­o­gy buffs will mar­vel at the rock for­ma­tions sur­round­ing the water­fall, which are believed to be 800 mil­lion years old. Fol­low the path that leads to the water­fall but watch your foot­ing near its base – they can be slippery. 

Cle­land Nation­al Park

Cle­land Nation­al Park is home to sev­en water­falls and three of these are easy to access includ­ing First Falls at Water­fall Gul­ly – the most mag­nif­i­cent of them all. Sec­ond Falls is a lot small­er than First Falls, but it’s still breath­tak­ing. Sit on the stone bench and enjoy the views from afar or head down the path and let the kids splash at its base in their gumboots. 

5. Get up close and personal 

If Dad’s a wildlife lover, why not con­sid­er these gift ideas:

Cle­land wildlife experiences

Dad can get up close with a koala, cock­a­too, rep­tile or even an echid­na with a per­son­al encounter with one of Australia’s most beloved native icons. Explore Cle­land wildlife expe­ri­ences here. You can also hand feed ani­mals like kan­ga­roos, emus and potoroos with no bar­ri­er between you at Cle­land Nation­al Park

Koala num­ber plates

Would dad like to dri­ve to help koalas sur­vive? This unique Koala State num­ber plate is a great gift for con­ser­va­tion-mind­ed motorists, with $50 from each plate sale going toward South Australia’s wildlife res­cue and reha­bil­i­ta­tion sec­tor. Find out more and order today by vis­it­ing Ezy Plates. For more infor­ma­tion on how to pur­chase a num­ber plate as a gift, vis­it Ezy Plate’s FAQs.