Cleland National Park

Where is it?: The park extending from Mount Lofty Summit in the east to Waterfall Gully in the west is in the highest part of the Mount Lofty Ranges. Greenhill Road forms the northern boundary and Mount Barker Road the south-eastern boundary.  It includes the Cleland Wildlife Reserve (entry fee payable), Mount Lofty Summit and Waterfall Gully. Access via Waterfall Gully Road is 11km and via Mount Lofty Summit Road 18-20m depending on route. Public transport is very limited with only two or three services during the day to/from Crafers Interchange (Bus Route 823).

Owner: Department for Environment and Water

Property summary: Total area 1032 hectares. Hundred of Adelaide – Allotments 10 (Deposited Plan 50942), 40 (Deposited Plan 6616), 51 (Deposited Plan 56301), 57 (Deposited Plan 56056), Sections = 608, 637, 641, 642, 729, 741, 920, 989, 990, 6034, Hundred of Onkaparinga – Section 535, 568, 579. Allotment 23, and Pieces 24, 25 and 26 forming an Allotment, in Filed Plan 38942 (formerly delineated as Section 424, Hundred of Onkaparinga and Section 500, Hundred of Adelaide)¹.

Landscape Management Region: Hills and Fleurieu

History: In 1856, at the time of subdivision of the foothills^{2, 3, 4} one block, which included the first fall at Waterfall Gully, was retained as a Government Reserve. On 14 February 1884 Section 920, Hundred o0f Adelaide was proclaimed a Recreation Reserve under the control and management of the Burnside District Council of Burnside⁵. The area remained under the control of the Burnside Council until 1912, when it became the State’s first National Pleasure Resort under the administration of the National Resorts Advisory Board and later in 1915, the Tourist Bureau.

Mount Lofty Reserve had been established as early as 1867. The obelisk, Flinders Column was built near the summit in 1902 as a trigonometrical station. Like Waterfall Gully, the Mount Lofty Summit Reserve was also a National Pleasure Resort under the control of the Tourist Bureau.

In 1945 the Government purchased at auction the Obelisk Estate that now comprises the bulk of the Cleland Conservation Park. In 1965 the development of the Native Fauna Zone got underway and was officially opened to the public in April 1967. This is now the Cleland Wildlife Park. The scenic areas of Mount Lofty Summit and Waterfall Gully were added to the park in 1972.

On 25 November 2021, Section 535, Hundred of Onkaparinga i.e. Eurilla Conservation Park was abolished and added to Cleland Conservation Park and renamed Cleland National Park^{6, 7}

Habitat: The higher slopes of the park are mainly Messmate Stringybark (Eucalyptus obliqua) and Brown Stringybark (E. baxteri) woodland with a complex understorey of small trees and shrubs. The lower woodlands on the northern side of the park contain significant stands of South Australian Blue Gum (E. leucoxylon) and Manna Gum (E. viminalis) which give way to open grasslands.

More information: NPWS

Total Species Recorded to Date: 95 (non-passerine 46, passerine 49)

Common Species: Common Bronzewing, Laughing Kookaburra, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Striated Thornbill, Brown Thornbill, White-browed Scrubwren, White-throated Treecreeper, Eastern Spinebill, Australian Golden Whistler, Grey Fantail

Less Common Species: Australian Hobby, White-plumed Honeyeater, Chestnut-rumped Heathwren, Rufous Whistler, Spotted Pardalote

References:
 ¹  Government of South Australia (2021).National Parks and Wildlife (Cleland National Park) Proclamation 2021 South Australian Government Gazette 76:4131. (15 November 2021).  

 ²  Government of South Australia (1856).District of Burnside. First publication. South Australian Government Gazette 26:510. (12 June 1856).  

 ³  Government of South Australia (1856).District of Burnside. Second publication. South Australian Government Gazette 27:542. (19 June 1856).  

 ⁴  Government of South Australia (1856).District of Burnside. Third publication. South Australian Government Gazette 28:561, 562. (26 June 1856).  ,  

 ⁵  Government of South Australia (1884). District of Burnside. South Australian Government Gazette 5:538. (14 February 1884).  

 ⁶  Government of South Australia (2021).National Parks and Wildlife (Cleland Conservation Park) Proclamation 2021 South Australian Government Gazette 76:4130. (15 November 2021).  

 ⁷  Government of South Australia (2021).National Parks and Wildlife (Eurilla Conservation Park) Proclamation 2021 South Australian Government Gazette 76:4135. (15 November 2021).  

Updated: 15/06/2022