Ngak Indau Wetland Trail SA (3.2 km)
SA
Nearest Town
Loxton
Starting Location
Ngak Indau Wetland trail head
Finish location
Ngak Indau Wetland trail head
Ngak Indau Wetland Trail Review
Recently we headed to Loxton in South Australia for a family function and always one to take advantage of the opportunity for a hike we headed off to the Murray River National Park to do the Ngak Indau Wetland Trail. I don’t know what it is but anytime we do wetland trails (particularly in South Australia) it seems to be during the hotter months of the year and the wetlands are, well ‘dry’. In the case of the Ngak Indau Wetland Trail it was during the drier months of the year but there was still a good amount of birdlife and it ended up being a very nice walk that shows real promise if undertaken in the higher rain months.
Getting to the walk was relatively easy as this walk shows up on Google Maps. It is a bit of convoluted trek from the township of Berri on an unsealed road to the trail head but the road condition is excellent so no need for a 4WD. This trail can be approached from one of two road directions but on the day, one of the roads was closed off. Having said that we drove past the park entry point which provided an overview of the area to which we were heading.
The trail head car park crept up on us quickly, was well signposted and once we arrived it was very obvious which way we needed to head. In fact the trail marker signs were some of the most numerous I have seen on any trail anywhere.
Once we headed off we followed the well marked trail and information signs to the the bird hide. Even though it was a dry month, there was still plenty of bird life across the river to view. Friends who have done this walk in wetter months say it can be a bit wet underfoot at times.
Continuing on, the trail looped around and took us towards the main section of the River Murray and even with the occasional camper and speed boat on the river, this was still a nice part of the walk. The trail loop took us back to the bird hide before returning to the car park.
Neither of us had high expectations of this walk before we started due to the dryness but it is quite a good walk and one we would happily do again.
The distance for this walk is a bit confusing – the map we downloaded from the park website indicated it was 2.6 km long but the trail head signage indicated we had a 4.8 km walk ahead of us. In reality, our GPS measured a 3.2 km. This reinforces why we only do hike reviews for hikes we have actually hiked!
Trail Head signage
Start of walk
Trail signage
Wattle in flower on the trail
Bird hide. On the day we visited there was a lot of birdlife on the other side of the river
Example of interpretive signage on the trail
River Murray
Trail example
Dry clay on the trail
Water control weir
Emu bush
River view 2
Returning back to the car park
Getting There
Google Map to Ngak India from central Loxton in South Australia. The trip is about 29km by road
Leaving town onto the dirt road
Park Entry
Entry into the trail head car park
Things to know
- Phone signal is good on the Telstra network
- Bring you own water
- Peak time or birdlife will be in late winter Spring with the rains however locals warn this walk can be a bit wet underfoot
Disclaimer
This walk was undertaken by the team from Australian Hiker