Chadinga Conservation Reserve is a public reserve in the Chadinga Dunes on the western side of Lake MacDonnell, near Penong, South Australia

Penong, South Australia

Penong is a small South Australian town, located on the Nullarbor Plain. Its location on the Eyre Highway makes it a popular rest-stop for travellers....

. The park covers 8125 hectares (31.4 sq mi) of coastal dunes, containing a lake and areas of Mallee

Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands

Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands is a Major Vegetation Group which occurs in semi-arid areas of southern Australia. The vegetation is dominated by mallee eucalypts which are rarely over 6 metres high...

 scrub. It is commonly called "Tuckamore" by local people. The dunes exend up to 3 km inland and form a habitat for the spinifex hopping mouse

Spinifex Hopping Mouse

The Spinifex Hopping Mouse , also known as the Tarkawara or Tarrkawarra, occurs throughout the central and western Australian arid zones, occupying both spinifex-covered sand flats and stabilised sand dunes, and loamy mulga and melaleuca flats.The population fluctuates greatly: in normal years it...

. The park has no visitor facilities, although bush camping is permitted.

Within the reserve is found the Dinosaur Ant (Nothomyrmecia macrops), noted as a "living fossil". The lake is the largest of several salt lakes in the area - others include Red Lake (a small section of Lake MacDonnell cut off by the Penong to Point Sinclair/Cactus Beach road) and Blue Lake, a smaller lake to the south of Lake MacDonnell.