Avenue of Gums, Belair National Park

Set within beautiful natural bushland and featuring numerous picnic areas, tennis courts and an array of walking trails, Belair National Park is an ideal place to go blipping.

The park was the first to be dedicated in South Australia back in 1891 and is home to some of the Adelaide Hills significant heritage attractions, including Old Government House and the State Flora Nursery.

One of my favourite parts of the park is the Avenue of Gums. Here you can see Tasmanian Blue Gums, local red gums and sugar gums, and other varieties unknown to me. Seen much better in LARGE.

Approximately 250,000 visitors enjoy the Belair Park each year. It is regarded as one of Australia's 15 biodiversity hotspots, and remains one of the few relatively undisturbed areas of native vegetation in the region, making it an important refuge for native animals.

If you are lucky you may even catch a glimpse of the shy Southern Brown Bandicoot scratching about in the undergrowth. These marsupials truly are a special feature of Belair's wildlife. We have seen kangaroos a few time and koalas dozens of times. The bird life is extraordinary around the lake.

To give you a rough idea as to size, the parklands contain around 40,000 hectares of lands managed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, ForestrySA, SA Water and Planning SA.

The roadway is only used by the park rangers and their vehicles, and can also be used by fire trucks if needed. This end of the park is not open to vehicles.