Morialta Conservation Park

Story

Morialta Conservation Park is a protected area 10 km north-east of Adelaide city centre, in the state of South Australia, Australia. The park is in a rugged bush environment, with a narrow gorge set with three waterfalls, bounded by steep ridges and cliffs. The park caters to many activities, including bushwalking, bird watching and rock climbing.HistoryThe land which now constitutes the Park was originally the land of the Kaurna people. Morialta is said by many to derive its name from a Kaurna word, moriatta, meaning "ever flowing" or "running water", however some linguists suggest it comes from the Kaurna words mari yertalla, meaning "eastern cascade". It is said that the area was used as a hunting ground, and to collect firewood, during the winter months when the Kaurna would retreat from the coast to the hills. It is also said that they practised fire-stick farming here. The area's religious significance appears to be lost to time. For in 1839, only three years after the proclamation of the British colony of South Australia in 1836, the area was granted by the new South Australian Government to pastoralists. In 1847, John Baker bought the land and built the grand Morialta House and Morialta Barns on Fourth Creek, near the head of the gorge. John Smith Reid was also a major landholder in the area, and in 1911, he offered to donate part of his land as a national reserve.