Cleland Wildlife Park - Adelaide - Review
Before the world changed in 2020, we spent the school holidays in Adelaide in July 2019 to see family and visited one of our favourite places in the Adelaide Hills: Cleland Wildlife Park. Little Miss visited Cleland Wildlife Park when she was really little but I wanted to show her this sanctuary again and show her brother and my mum.
Photo credit: @busycitykids
Set 20 minutes from the CBD or even closer if you are staying in the Adelaide Hills, Cleland is located in the hills near Crafers. You can either get there by car or public transport with free parking available onsite. Open rain or shine (except on Xmas day or in the event of a bushfire), Cleland is perfect to spend a morning or afternoon at. Allow 2 hours to enjoy yourself amongst nature, stop and feed the animals, listen to one of the keeper talks and stroll at a leisurely pace.
Photo credit: @busycitykids
We did just that and more, we spent almost three hours there as the kids loved hanging out with the animals so much. They really loved seeing the Kangaroo Island Kangaroos and feeding them. Grab a couple of bags of feed at the front desk and they will be your best friends ha!
Photo credit: @busycitykids
Photo credit: @busycitykids
Even though, they love being fed, the Kangaroo Island Kangaroos have their own feeding area and enjoy roaming around everywhere and jumping last second so watch out and make way and keep an eye out for little joeys in pouches - so cute! Some kangaroos don’t like to be approached others are more friendly, just be safe just in case.
Photo credit: @busycitykids
There’s lots of animals to see from the marsupials family with koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, bettongs and potoroos to dingoes. Native, Water and Forest birds as well as snakes reptiles and echidnas.
Map credit: Cleland Wildlife Park
The kids also liked the Swamp Wallabies and large Grey Kangaroos and stayed clear of the Emus and Cape Barren Geese just in case.
Photo credit: @busycitykids
Photo credit: @busycitykids
Photo credit: @busycitykids
The Yellow-footed Rock-Wallabies were very shy but very cute and their little hangout was great for hiding.
Photo credit: @busycitykids
We also some Tasmanian Devils, Wombats and Koalas. Some were hiding away as it was raining when we first arrived. Little Miss loved getting up close to the resident Potoroos, something she loved doing when she was little.
Photo credit: @busycitykids
The kids and I really enjoyed visiting the Cleland Wildlife Park, a must do if you are visiting Adelaide. There is little areas to visit close to the entrance as well as a café and gift store. You can book special experiences with animals as well as school holiday activities so keep an eye on their website. It was so beautiful to be amongst Australian animals and nature in the Adelaide Hills. Pop in to Mt Lofty Summit after and Mt Lofty Botanic Garden as they are both close by. We saw big Kangaroos at the Garden before but those were very wild.
Our tips:
The Cleland Wildlife Park is located at 365 Mount Lofty Summit Road in Crafers. 20 minutes from Adelaide CBD. Take the South Eastern Freeway to the Crafers exit, then follow Summit Road to the Cleland turn off. Otherwise public transport is also available.
Free parking onsite.
Admission to the farm is $30 per adult, $15 for children 4 to 15 years old. Concession available. Family ticket $74. Memberships available.
The Park is wheelchair and pram friendly. Prams can be hired onsite.
Grab some animal feed at reception.
Enjoy a coffee or other treats at the café while you're there.
Toilets are located at the entrance.
CovidSafe measures are now in place.
Busy City Kids were hosted at the Cleland Wildlife Park for the purposes of a review. All opinions & feedback are genuine & truthful. Travel and food were self funded.
For more ideas on what to do with the kids in Adelaide, head to our blog or our Adelaide daily spots lists.