Top 10 Fleurieu picnic spots
Riverside parks, shaded reserves and beach lawns - all free and public
A good Fleurieu day out
Every one of these is free, public, and has enough shade or grass for a proper rug-and-thermos afternoon. Some are kid-chaos playgrounds (Bristow Smith, Soldiers Memorial Gardens); some are quieter reserves where you will likely hear more birds than people (Aldinga Scrub, Myponga Reservoir). A handful are built around a genuine wow - a waterfall, a river bend, a rock pool - and the rest are about slow time under good trees.
Our advice: pack a thermos, a rug, something to read, and don't try to do more than one in a day.
-
1
StrathalbynSoldiers Memorial Gardens
A riverside park along the River Angas, shaded by old gums, with picnic tables, a band rotunda and a short loop across an iron footbridge. The quiet heart of Strathalbyn.
See place → -
2Goolwa
Bristow Smith Reserve
Goolwa's premier riverside park - an award-winning nature playscape built around a 10-metre river bend, with BBQs, a water play area and good shade. The best family picnic spot on the Peninsula.
See place → -
3
Normanville & Yankalilla
Ingalalla Falls
A short stroll from the carpark to a tiered waterfall and rockpool fringed by gums. Flat ground under the trees above the falls is perfect for a quiet lunch.
See place → -
4Myponga & Second Valley
Myponga Reservoir Reserve
A 250-hectare SA Water reserve opened to the public in 2020 for walking, kayaking, fishing and picnics. The foreshore lawn is the most peaceful lunch spot in the Inman Valley.
See place → -
5
WillungaKuitpo Forest
A 3,600-hectare ForestrySA reserve at the top of the Peninsula with picnic grounds under softwoods, marked trails, and more shade than you will find anywhere else on the Fleurieu in summer.
See place → -
6
McLaren ValeOnkaparinga River National Park
Picnic grounds at the Sundews Lookout and the estuary end of the gorge, both with tables under gums and sweeping river views. Kangaroos often graze right up to the tables at dusk.
See place → -
7Aldinga & Port Willunga
Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park
One of the last remnants of original Fleurieu coastal scrub, with sandy walking trails and quiet grassy clearings that make a good hide-from-the-world picnic on a warm day.
See place → -
8
Normanville & YankalillaCarrickalinga Beach
Three kilometres of safe, gently shelving white sand with a long foreshore lawn, picnic tables and a playground. A standard-issue good Fleurieu family beach day.
See place → -
9Normanville & Yankalilla
Normanville Beach
A broad arc of sand with a foreshore park, shaded tables and a kiosk on the main road. One of the easiest drive-up picnics on the Peninsula.
See place → -
10
Cape JervisRapid Bay
A sheltered bay with a grassed foreshore, picnic tables, the old T-shaped jetty for rockpool exploring, and the ruins of the quarry jetty at the far end. Tuck away for a full afternoon.
See place →
More like this
Story
The lost jetties of the Fleurieu
Port Willunga, Second Valley, Yankalilla, Rapid Bay, Normanville — the Fleurieu coastline is dotted with the stumps, pylons and ruined decks of jetties that once loaded slate, grain, wine and passengers for Port Adelaide. Some are still half-standing. Some you can swim or dive through. Here is a photo-trail of what survives.
Story
The Fleurieu in July: almond blossom, whales and winter fires
Mid-winter is the Fleurieu Peninsula's quietest month and also, quietly, its best. Almond blossom at Willunga, southern right whales in Encounter Bay, cellar-door fires lit from lunchtime, waterfalls at full flow and almost nobody on the roads. Here is the July case.
Story
The wild south coast drive
The Main South Road between Yankalilla and Cape Jervis is one of South Australia's great scenic drives - windswept pastures, hidden coves, a 170-year-old flour mill, and the southernmost tip of the peninsula where the Heysen Trail begins.
Top 10
Top 10 Fleurieu walks and trails
From a half-day on the Heysen Trail to a 250-metre stroll out across the Goolwa Barrage, here are the ten Fleurieu walks we send people on most often.
Top 10
Top 10 free things to do on the Fleurieu
The Fleurieu Peninsula is one of the most affordable parts of South Australia for travellers on a budget. Here are the ten best things you can do without spending a cent.
Top 10
Top 10 Fleurieu lookouts
Ten free, public lookouts across the Fleurieu Peninsula - from the 97-metre granite dome of The Bluff to the quiet cliff edge above Horseshoe Bay.