Onkaparinga River National Park
Onkaparinga River National Park
Onkaparinga River National Park
4.3
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience Onkaparinga River National Park and nearby attractions
Are you currently on your trip?
Help us find experiences available for you.
The area
Address
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
152 within 5 kms
Attractions
74 within 10 kms
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.3
23 reviews
Excellent
11
Very good
9
Average
2
Poor
1
Terrible
0
Liisa and Dave B
Adelaide, Australia4,247 contributions
May 2024 • Family
Fantastic hiking destination offering a variety of trails. My GPS led us to various starting points, adding to the adventure. If you appreciate Australia's stunning landscapes and wildlife and enjoy exploring beyond the city, I highly recommend visiting this National Park.
Written 5 May 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rush T
Adelaide, Australia142 contributions
Sept 2023 • Friends
This park has many walking trails suitable for people with different fitness levels. We chose the punchbowl lookout trail, which is a 2km return loop starting at Gate 9.
We went at the start of spring, so there were lots of wildflowers blooming along the paths. The view from the top was great- we could see the river gorge 500m down below, as well as the sea in the distance (on the other side). We also saw some wild kangaroos and lots of birds on our way back. It's a great place for a picnic. There was a table & benches quite close to the lookout, as well another close to the car park.
We went at the start of spring, so there were lots of wildflowers blooming along the paths. The view from the top was great- we could see the river gorge 500m down below, as well as the sea in the distance (on the other side). We also saw some wild kangaroos and lots of birds on our way back. It's a great place for a picnic. There was a table & benches quite close to the lookout, as well another close to the car park.
Written 25 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KHillery
Meadowbrook, Australia442 contributions
Apr 2023
Had a great morning walk thru this National park, there were so many different tracks and options to take for all levels of hikers. Really impressed with the well kept tracks and lots of wildlife about. Easy parking, however be aware there are no toilets in some areas. Not that it concerned us, but good to know prior to getting there. For our chosen track (Punchbowl lookout) it was about a 2km round trip, which was very easy. The lookout over the Gorge was lovely and there are little picnic tables as well to sit and enjoy.
Written 28 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
kpiddy
Brisbane, Australia14,646 contributions
Nov 2020
The Onkaparinga River National Park is located south of Adelaide, best accessed by car, the park offers a good range of walking tracks. Starting at Gate 11 on Piggott Range Road, we picked up the trail for the Sundrews Lookout Hike, at the entrance to the park the signage seemed reliable to point us in the direction of the lookout but we never found it. At a fork in the path we had the choice of two trails, to the lookout or Sundews Ridge, we ended up taking both, still no lookout, I don't know where we went wrong. Regardless our time in the park was refreshing, we enjoyed the landscape with glimpes of the Onkaparinga Gorge and some birdlife. Along the way we discovered ruins of old buildings from the 1800s, in years gone by sections of the park were used for farming. Our hike took a little over an hour, roughly a four kilometre trail, much shorter than we had intended. Time saved was spent somewhere else in this beautiful part of Australia. In the carpark there were toilet facilites.
Written 9 March 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Liisa and Dave B
Adelaide, Australia4,247 contributions
Aug 2023 • Couples
Wow! Not only are the views stunning but the steep walk down to the bottom of the punch bowl is definitely worth it if you are at a reasonable fitness level to climb back up again. We hiked 8km here and still didn’t cover all of it. We encountered many kangaroos near the end as we approached our car which was such a treat to get quite close to them.
Written 29 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
PurpleLadybird
Adelaide, Australia8 contributions
July 2020
We started out at Gate 22 in Old Noarlunga, where there is a board describing an old pub that burnt down in 1987. The river was brown and there were large amounts of dead reeds that had been growing in it. The paths were poorly marked and we got to a point where there was no sign telling which way to go. Parts of the path were very narrow and made of hardened sloping mud. which wasn't easy to walk on. There were weeds everywhere, it was incredible for a National Park. Most of what we could see on one side for the beginning of the path was grass and tall weeds. I didn't see any interesting wildlife there, so we went back to the car.
Has the government been making so many budget cuts that they are not maintaining the park any more?
It was disappointing.
Has the government been making so many budget cuts that they are not maintaining the park any more?
It was disappointing.
Written 30 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Cybergate9
Mount Gambier, Australia62 contributions
Sept 2017 • Couples
I live near here so I might be biased.. but, this river reserve is over 2 and a half square kilometres of varied river, wetland, bushland and ex-pastoral land habitat with well established (and mostly flat) walking tracks throughout.
There are at least four car parks to choose from at various points around the perimeter (3 on river road, one on commercial road) so you can be fairly precise about which walks you choose. Cycling is also allowed throughout most of the park.
The wildlife here regularly includes pelicans, kangaroos, egrets, ibis, moorhens, magpies, kookaburras, cormorants, herons to name but a few..
There are at least 4 groups ('mobs') of kangaroos who live in the park - each in its own 'sector' as the park is naturally broken into 4 sections by its boundary + the river running through the middle of it. Obviously post-dawn and pre-dusk are best times for viewing/photographing roos.
The recently upgraded canoe/kayak launching spot + larger carpark on river road (35°09'21.1"S 138°29'44.8"E) makes access to the river for paddlers very easy.
There's a little history here with the (somewhat disappointing) remains of Pingle farm and other evidence in the park that this use to be pastoral land.
This is a big, varied, natural space providing 'Southern Adelaidians' with easy grade walking/cycling/paddling right on their door-step.
There are at least four car parks to choose from at various points around the perimeter (3 on river road, one on commercial road) so you can be fairly precise about which walks you choose. Cycling is also allowed throughout most of the park.
The wildlife here regularly includes pelicans, kangaroos, egrets, ibis, moorhens, magpies, kookaburras, cormorants, herons to name but a few..
There are at least 4 groups ('mobs') of kangaroos who live in the park - each in its own 'sector' as the park is naturally broken into 4 sections by its boundary + the river running through the middle of it. Obviously post-dawn and pre-dusk are best times for viewing/photographing roos.
The recently upgraded canoe/kayak launching spot + larger carpark on river road (35°09'21.1"S 138°29'44.8"E) makes access to the river for paddlers very easy.
There's a little history here with the (somewhat disappointing) remains of Pingle farm and other evidence in the park that this use to be pastoral land.
This is a big, varied, natural space providing 'Southern Adelaidians' with easy grade walking/cycling/paddling right on their door-step.
Written 22 October 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andy and Lola
London, UK65 contributions
Nov 2022 • Friends
Great place to visit for a walk and soak up the Australian flora and fauna , Kangaroos and Koalas , bird watchers paradise nice and quiet and peaceful , a must do if visiting Noarlunga
Written 15 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
FCEEBY
Port Noarlunga, Australia41 contributions
Aug 2019
Terrific park for recreational activities - walk, run, ride or canoe along the Onky!
Great natural scrubland & wildlife. Lots of kangaroos to be seen if you’re in the right spot at the right time.
Several trails to choose from & they’re signposted.
Great to have a good size park of this quality in suburbia.
Great natural scrubland & wildlife. Lots of kangaroos to be seen if you’re in the right spot at the right time.
Several trails to choose from & they’re signposted.
Great to have a good size park of this quality in suburbia.
Written 6 August 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
madams2456
Emerald beach44 contributions
July 2018 • Business
Visited the park in July, close to McLaren Vale but dramatically different. Had a number of walk options. We did the ridge
walk about 4kms, with a nice lookout. Paths are clearly marked. The ridge walk was pretty easy until the end which was about 500 metres uphill. Not as bad as it sounds if you take your time. Views along the walk are well worth it. There are easier and harder walks just check the websites or the information boards when you arrive.
walk about 4kms, with a nice lookout. Paths are clearly marked. The ridge walk was pretty easy until the end which was about 500 metres uphill. Not as bad as it sounds if you take your time. Views along the walk are well worth it. There are easier and harder walks just check the websites or the information boards when you arrive.
Written 20 July 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing