Mount Magnificent Conservation Park (formerly Mount Magnificent 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 ...

located in the

Mount Lofty Ranges The Mount Lofty Ranges are a range of mountains in the Australian state of South Australia which for a small part of its length borders the east of Adelaide. The part of the range in the vicinity of Adelaide is called the Adelaide Hills and ...

about south 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 ...

. It is located within the gazetted locality of Mount Magnificent. The conservation park consists of land in section 293 in the cadastral unit of the

Hundred of Kuitpo The Hundred of Kuitpo is a cadastral unit of hundred in the Adelaide Hills. It is one of the 11 hundreds of the County of Adelaide. It was named in 1846 by Governor Frederick Robe and is presumed to be derived from an indigenous term ''ku-it-po' ...

. It came into existence on 10 August 1967 as a ''national park'' by proclamation under the ''National Parks Act 1966'' as the ''Mount Magnificent National Park''. On 27 April 1972, it was reconstituted as the ''Mount Magnificent Conservation Park'' upon the proclamation of 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 ...

''. Its name is derived from the mountain called ''Mount Magnificent'' which is located within its boundaries. As of 2016, it covered an area of . The conservation park is bounded to the west by the Blackfellows Creek Road and to the east by the Mount Magnificent Road. 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 ...

, the long distance walking trail, passes through the middle of the conservation park entering from the east via Mount Magnificent Road and exiting in the north-west corner onto Blackfellows Creek Road. In 1980, it was described as follows:

Mount Magnificent Conservation Park comprises the north-western slopes of Mount Magnificent which rises to 380m above sea level. The relatively flat land along the western boundary of the park carries stringybark low open forest (''
Eucalyptus baxteri ''Eucalyptus baxteri'', commonly known as brown stringybark, is a medium-sized tree that is endemic the south-east of Australia. It has rough, stringy bark to the thinnest branches, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, green to yellow flower bud ...
'', '' E obliqua''). With increasing gradient in an easterly direction, trees of '' E fasciculosa'', '' E leucoxylon'' and '' E huberana'' form a woodland formation with a grassy understorey. Walking tracks provide access for visitors to the park. The stringybark association which occupies the lower elevations of the park contains a great variety of
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 ...
shrubs including the two species of ''
Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. ''Banksias'' range i ...
'' which occur in South Australia.

The conservation park 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, it was listed on the now-defunct

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 ...

References

External links

Mount Magnificent Conservation Park webpage on protected planetMount Magnificent Conservation Park webpage on the BirdsSA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount Magnificent Conservation Park Conservation parks of South Australia Protected areas established in 1967 1967 establishments in Australia South Australian places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate

See also

References

External links