Hallett Cove is named after John Hallett and is a southern suburb of Adelaide. He discovered the area in 1837 while searching for loss stock. In 1877 Professor Ralph Tate discovered that South Australia had been part of the Ice age when he discovered the smoothed and striated glacial pavement. Professor A.R. Alderman recommended to the national trust of South Australia that the glacial pavements along the cliff tops should be preserved. To protect the features of geological and historic interest, premier Don Dunstan worked to protect the area. The park was declared a conservation park in 1976 to allow future generations to see the Earth's history that can be found in the sedimentary rocks and eroded land that has taken millions of years to form. Schools use this destination to study geology as it is one of Australia's best geological sites. 280 million years ago an ice age occurred and the history is there to be discovered. 1700 Aboriginal artifacts are also to be found in this incredible conservation park. Aboriginal groups inhabited this area for thousands of years before European Colonization.