Elizabeth Accommodation, Hotels, Tours & Information

Elizabeth

The South Australian Housing Department raised eyebrows in 1950 when it announced it was planning a purpose built town on a treeless plain to the north of Adelaide.

The boffins believed the town was the only answer to absorb a population surge fuelled by the Commonwealth immigration program. And because the majority of those migrants were of British stock, Premier Thomas Playford decided in 1955 that the fledgling town should be called Elizabeth.

Almost half a century on, Elizabeth has outgrown its treeless beginnings to become known as the Garden City. Because major manufacturers such as General Motors Holden, Pinnocks and James Hardie decided to set up plants in the town, Elizabeth is also an important industrial centre.

Just to the east of Elizabeth lies one of metropolitan Adelaide"s major recreation parks, Parra Wirra. Conserving 1410ha of the northern Mt Lofty Ranges, Parra Wirra offers a wide range of facilities, including gas barbecues, picnic tables, playground, tennis courts and sports ovals.

The most obvious of the 100 species of resident birds are scavenging emus, which haunt the kiosk and picnic areas. Western grey kangaroos, the occasional echidna and a variety of lizards interact with visitors.