Towns in Australia

Exploring Australia, town by town

Clarendon SA

Clarendon

Postcode: 5157

Clarendon is a small town in the Adelaide Hills, about 30 km south of the Adelaide CBD. The Clarendon Weir is located in the town area on the Onkaparinga River.

Clarendon, a picture postcard village on the Onkaparinga River, began as a ford connecting the coach routes from Adelaide to McLaren Vale, Meadows and Strathalbyn.

The town’s older buildings represent typical South Australian colonial architecture of the 1880s. The centrepiece is the Old Clarendon Inn which has been restored, where you can bask in panoramic views of the river valley while you sip on the local wine.

A home bakery and restaurants cater for the travellers’ food needs while the local craft shops in Clarendon and the nearby communities of Cherry Gardens, Angel Gully and Dorset Vale are rewarding grounds for the browser-shopper.

Clarendon is not only rich in regional history, but it is also central to some of most popular parkland in the City of Onkaparinga. The local Clarendon Recreation Ground which flanks the riverbend, is a favourite family picnic retreat, while the Onkaparinga River National Park offers nature trails through the gorge wetlands which stretch eastwards from the estuary to the village.