Finniss Conservation Park
Finniss Conservation Park is a small protected area in South Australia’s Mount Lofty Ranges, about 43 kilometres south of Adelaide and seven kilometres west of Ashbourne, in the locality of Mount Magnificent. It covers about 1.23 square kilometres and is managed by the Department for Environment and Water. The park was proclaimed on 29 January 1976, with land added in 1985 and 2005.
The Heysen Trail runs along the park’s western edge, from Ridge Road in the south to Mount Magnificent Road in the north. The landscape includes a high rocky plateau, ridges, steep valleys, and a short stretch of the Finniss River. The western end features Eucalyptus leucoxylon and E. fasciculosa woodland over regenerating pasture, while the eastern end has dense scrub with Eucalyptus cosmophylla, Hakea prostrata, Hulcina, Allocasuarina muelleriana, Leptospermum juniperinum and Tetratheca pilosa. Finniss Conservation Park protects a natural remnant of open forest and scrub, including one of the best-preserved Eucalyptus cosmophylla scrubs in the South Mount Lofty Ranges, and offers good views of the coast.
The park is classified as IUCN Category III (natural monument or feature). In 1980 it was described as a small park preserving the region’s native forest and scrub and was listed on the now-defunct Register of the National Estate.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:32 (CET).