Horsnell Gully Conservation Park (formerly Horsnell Gully National Park) is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

in the locality of Horsnell Gully located about east of the state capital of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and about southwest of Norton Summit. It contains several small gorges feeding the

Adelaide Plains The Adelaide Plains (Kaurna name Tarndanya) is a plain in South Australia lying between the coast (Gulf St Vincent) on the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east. The southernmost tip of the plain is in the southern seaside suburbs of Ade ...

, a small seasonal

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

and a number of walking trails including one that is part of the

Heysen Trail The Heysen Trail is a long distance walking trail in South Australia. It runs from Parachilna Gorge, in the Flinders Ranges via the Adelaide Hills to Cape Jervis on the Fleurieu Peninsula and is approximately in length. Route summary From no ...

. It adjoins the

Giles Conservation Park Giles Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located approximately east of the state capital of Adelaide. It was declared in 2007 and has an area of . Previously, the land was the eastern portion of t ...

which was formerly the conservation park's upper eastern section. The conservation park consists of land in sections 609 and 618 in the cadastral unit of the

Hundred of Adelaide The Hundred of Adelaide is a cadastral hundred in the city of Adelaide spanning all the inner suburbs south of River Torrens. It is one of the eleven hundreds of the County of Adelaide, and was one of the first hundreds to be proclaimed. Like the ...

. Land within the conservation park having an area of first gained protected status as a national pleasure resort during 1947 and prior to 6 August 1947. On 7 March 1963, section 609 was dedicated as part of a wildlife reserve proclaimed under the ''Crown Lands Act 1929''. On 9 November 1967, all of the land was proclaimed under the ''National Parks Act 1966'' as the ''Horsnell National Park''. The national park was re-proclaimed under the ''

National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 Protected areas of South Australia consists of protected areas located within South Australia and its immediate onshore waters and which are managed by South Australian Government agencies. As of March 2018, South Australia contains 359 sepa ...

'' as ''Horsnell Conservation Park'' on 27 April 1972. On 28 November 1985, land in sections 1118 and 1119 of the Hundred of Adelaide was added to the conservation park. On 30 August 2007, the land added in 1985 was separately constituted as the

. As of 2018, it covered an area of . The entirety of the conservation park is now leased from the government on a monthly basis for industrial purposes by the neighbouring White Rock Quarry, owned by the German based multinational company,

Heidelberg Cement HeidelbergCement is a German multinational building materials company headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany. It is a DAX corporation and is one of the largest building materials companies in the world. On 1 July 2016, HeidelbergCement AG complet ...

Group. 10 acres of conservation park land have been cleared and used for stockpiling and dumping of old machinery and vehicles. The water from Horsnell Conservation Park Dam is also used by the company for the manufacturing of concrete. There is a community group, Residents Against White Rock Quarry who are campaigning for the termination of this lease. In 1980, the park was described as follows:

Covering the western slopes of the Mount Lofty ranges due east of Adelaide, Horsnell Gully Conservation Park encompasses an area of rugged terrain. It forms part of the watershed of Third Creek, one of the five main tributaries of the
River Torrens The River Torrens , (Karrawirra Parri / Karrawirraparri) is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains. It was one of the main reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the ...
. Plant communities are represented by stringybark associations with
Sclerophyllous Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...
understories and the smoothbark (''
Eucalyptus camaldulensis ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...
'', '' E viminalis'' and '' E leucoxylon'') associations on more fertile soils at lower elevations. A Savannah understorey of alien pasture plants with some shrubs is a feature of this area.

It is classified as an

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

Category III protected area. In 1980, the conservation park was listed on the former

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

. Flowering Allium on the Horsnell Gulley walk.jpg, Flowering Allium on the Horsnell Gulley walk File:Unknown butterfly on the Horsnell Gulley walk.jpg, Unknown butterfly on the Horsnell Gulley walk File:Unknown orthopteran on the Horsnell Gulley walk.jpg, Unknown orthopteran on the Horsnell Gulley walk

References

External links

Horsnell Gully Conservation Park official webpageFriends of Black Hill and Morialta Incorporated Horsnell Gully Conservation Park webpage on the Protected Planet website

Horsnell Gully Conservation Park webpage on the BirdsSA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horsnell Gully Conservation Park Conservation parks of South Australia Protected areas established in 1947 1947 establishments in Australia South Australian places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate

See also

References

External links