Lenger Reserve
Open daily excluding total fire ban, no camping permitted
Lenger reserve, 95 hectares in size is just to the west of the River Murray corridor near Mannum. Its steep limestone/calcrete hills straddle the Saunders Creek.
The Reserve was donated to the National Trust of South Australia in 1978 by Rudolph Gustav Lenger to be used as a bird sanctuary. The best time to visit the Reserve is outside the hottest summer months. Saunders Creek has cut a narrow valley through this plain and a number of permanent spring-fed waterholes separated by reed beds and dotted with River Red Gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) are found in the Reserve.
The vegetation is primarily mallee with shrub and chenopod understoreys. There have been 208 indigenous flora species identified within the reserve, 26 of these are of Particular Conservation Significance including Rohrlach’s bluebush (Maireana rohrlachii ), which is nationally significant. Of the 85 birds sighted on the reserve 9 have conservation status at the state or regional level. A 100-year-old pug and pine and stone rubble cottage on the property is also of local heritage interest.
Grassland species are regenerating in previously cleared and cropped areas. This has accelerated since the removal of sheep grazing, fencing, and rabbit control. Volunteers have also stabilised the cottage, repaired fencing, cleared rubbish, established the marked hiking track and helped to develop an interpretive brochure.
***The Reserve is signposted from Punthari and is at 884 Springs Road, Mannum
