Parnka Point
The best of both lagoons.
The Coorong NP
1
Trip reports
11
Photographed
About this location
The Coorong National Park protects more than 140 kilometres of long, shallow lagoon, saline wetland and coastal habitat between the Murray mouth and the south east, separated from the Southern Ocean by the narrow Younghusband Peninsula. Its waters range from estuarine to hypersaline and support extensive mudflats, saltmarsh and aquatic vegetation, including Ruppia beds that are important feeding habitat for waterbirds. The park forms part of the internationally significant Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Ramsar wetland and is one of the most important waterbird habitats in the Murray-Darling system, supporting major populations of resident and migratory shorebirds.
The health of the Coorong is closely tied to flows reaching the end of the Murray–Darling system. Decades of upstream water extraction and river regulation, compounded by drought, reduced freshwater inflows and contributed to severe ecological decline, particularly during the Millennium Drought. Environmental water recovery and restoration programs aim to rebuild a healthier salinity regime, maintain an open Murray mouth and improve habitat for fish and waterbirds, but the system remains highly sensitive to how much water reaches it from upstream.
- Country
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- Habitat types
- Wetland, Salt lake, Estuary, Coastal, Shrubland
- First visit
- 22 March 2026
Recent trip reports
1 report
Map
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