Brookfield Conservation Park

Brookfield Conservation Park exists because a Chicago zoo decided the southern hairy-nosed wombat — South Australia's faunal emblem — deserved a stronghold. In 1971 the Chicago Zoological Society, operators of Brookfield Zoo, bought this stretch of bluebush plain and mallee west of Blanchetown with a donation from the Forest Park Foundation, ran it as the Brookfield Zoo Wombat Reserve, and in 1977 gifted the whole 5,515 hectares to the South Australian Government. Wombat research has continued here ever since.

The wombats are the headline act, and their engineering is everywhere — sprawling warren systems mounded across the open flats. The animals themselves keep cool underground through the heat of the day, so time your visit for dawn or dusk and scan the bluebush edges; mild winter days are kindest to your odds. Western grey kangaroos, emus and a strong cast of mallee birds — from apostlebirds to red-capped robins — fill in the daylight hours.

The park sits just off the Sturt Highway about 14 kilometres west of Blanchetown, making it an easy detour on the Adelaide run. Pair it with Lock 1 on the river for a half-day that spans the region's two worlds — wet and dry.