Some of these natural wonders last for weeks. Others last a single night – and one of the strangest is out right now. Here are 10 worth chasing before they’re gone.
Switch your torch off and wait for your eyes to adjust. After a moment, a faint green glow lifts off a rotting pine stump on the forest floor, like something radioactive left a light on.
That’s a ghost mushroom – and right now, in the cold and dark of an SA winter, is exactly when to go looking for one.
From glowing forests to technicolour lakes and a flower that smells like death, South Australia is full of natural wonders that feel almost fake until you see them yourself.
Some last for weeks. Some for a single night. Some appear once every few years – or even decades – before vanishing again.
Our national parks, conservation parks, marine parks and botanic gardens are home to ancient survivors, seasonal spectacles and short-lived freaks of nature that reward good timing (and sometimes a bit of luck).
Some are easy to catch. Some you’ll have to chase. All are worth knowing about – because once they’re gone, they’re gone.
1. A glowing forest floor
Where: Glencoe Forest near Mount Gambier (and, increasingly, the Adelaide Hills)
After wet weather, ghost mushrooms cluster on pine stumps and old eucalypt roots, growing as big as 20cm across. Creamy white by day, they glow green after dark – the same bioluminescent trick fireflies and glow worms pull off.
Your best bet is Glencoe Forest near Mount Gambier, where Walk the Limestone Coast runs guided tours (keep an eye on the site for dates – they drop a few days out from each tour). After good rain they also turn up closer to town – they’ve been spotted in Para Wirra and Scott Creek conservation parks in the Hills, Padthaway in the South East, and even on Eyre Peninsula.
Keen types log their finds on iNaturalist, so check it for recent sightings before you head out – and add your own if you get lucky.
One rule: look, don’t taste. Ghost mushrooms are poisonous and will make you seriously ill.
More info here.
2. The southern lights over SA skies
Where: Kangaroo Island, Fleurieu Peninsula, Yorkes and more
Yes, you really can see the Aurora Australis from South Australia – but only when the conditions line up.
Also known as the southern lights, the Aurora Australis is a natural light show caused by solar storms. Charged particles from the sun hit Earth’s magnetic field and collide with gases in our atmosphere, producing streaks and waves of colour – usually green, pink, red or purple – across the night sky.
Your strongest chances of seeing them are from May to August, but they can appear year-round when solar activity, dark skies and new moons overlap. You’ll need a clear night, distance from city lights and a bit of luck.
More info here.
3. Bats pouring out of caves at sunset
Where: Naracoorte Caves National Park
Every dusk, thousands of tiny southern bent-wing bats stream out of Bat Cave in a chaotic, slightly unsettling swarm.
It happens daily during summer – but still feels like something out of a David Attenborough doco. Bring someone who doesn’t mind bats.
More info here.
4. The corpse flower (when it blooms)
Where: Adelaide Botanic Garden
It blooms for a day or two, smells like rotting flesh, and pulls crowds who’ll queue for hours just to stand near it.
Also known as the titan arum, the corpse flower is one of the rarest flowering events in the world. When the Botanic Garden’s specimen – affectionately nicknamed “Smellanie” – opened earlier this year, thousands turned out to see, and smell, a bloom that collapses almost as fast as it appears.
It doesn’t flower on a schedule. Months, sometimes years, of anticipation build toward a brief, dramatic payoff – and if you miss it, that’s it until next time. But when the next bloom comes, trust us: you’ll know.
More info here.
5. Megafauna fossils still in the ground
Where: Naracoorte Caves National Park
Forget museum cases – these fossils are still embedded in the cave floor, exactly where the animals died tens of thousands of years ago.
You’ll see bones from extinct giant kangaroos, marsupial lions and wombat-like creatures … all inside an underground World Heritage site. It’s like stumbling into a prehistoric crime scene.
More info here.
6. When Kati-Thanda-Lake Eyre fills
Where: Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park
Most of the time, it’s dry white salt stretching to the horizon. But after rare inland rain, Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre fills – and becomes a shallow inland sea, complete with fish and frogs.
Birds arrive in their thousands, the water turns mirror-flat, the colour shifts – and then, just as quickly, it’s gone. It doesn’t happen often, and when it does, it’s so worth the trip.
More info here.
7. The giant cuttlefish gathering in winter
Where: Upper Spencer Gulf Marine Park, near Whyalla
Right now, in the shallow reefs off Whyalla, giant Australian cuttlefish are gathering to breed – and they peak in June and July, so the season’s near its best.
It’s the only known mass breeding gathering of its kind anywhere in the world, and it happens right here in South Australia.
Males outnumber females by as much as 11 to one, so the water becomes a flickering, shape-shifting contest: they flash colours, change textures and float past like aliens.
You can snorkel or scuba dive among them in the shallows off Point Lowly. The water’s cold (think 10 to 16°C), so pack a thick wetsuit, or book a guided tour out of Whyalla that sorts the gear for you.
Want to stay dry? Watch the underwater disco from a glass-bottomed boat on a tour.
More info here.
8. Desert wildflowers going off after rain
Where: Ikara–Flinders Ranges & SA’s desert parks
Some years, the desert feels empty. Other years, it turns psychedelic.
After rain, native wildflowers, wattles and Sturt desert peas erupt across the Flinders and other arid parks – creating weird, colourful carpets that fade just as fast.
More info here.
9. Salt lakes turning technicolour
Where: Lake Bumbunga, Lake MacDonnell & Lake Hart
Algae, salt levels and sunlight can all shift the colour of SA’s salt lakes – from pale pink to hot coral to deep crimson.
You’ll find dramatic scenes (and occasional pink bubbles) at Lake MacDonnell, pastel tones near Port Augusta, and cotton candy colours just outside Lochiel. The lakes don’t always look this wild – which makes it better when they do.
More info here.
10. A prehistoric tree that survived extinction
Where: Adelaide & Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens
The Wollemi pine was known only from fossils – until a few living trees were discovered in a secret canyon in the ’90s.
Today, this “dinosaur tree” is quietly growing in both the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens. With its melted-chocolate bark and fern-like foliage, it looks like it walked out of Jurassic Park. And honestly? It kind of did.
More info here.
Want to discover more?
South Australia’s parks and gardens have plenty more going on – from seasonal wildlife to rare plants, cultural sites and family-friendly trails. You can explore what’s in bloom, what’s migrating, and what’s popping up next here:
- Find out what’s happening in SA’s national and conservation parks
- See what’s on in Adelaide, Mount Lofty and Wittunga Botanic Gardens
