Walking Adelaide and the ‘burbs
From the foothills and coast to the CBD and North Adelaide, there are plenty of places around town to stretch your legs.
1. City Parks
Adelaide is not only famous for an abundance of churches and pea soup-sodden pies, it’s also renowned as a city within a park.
The brainchild of South Australia’s first surveyor-general, Colonel William Light, the Adelaide Park Lands cover a whopping 760 hectares – that’s more than double the size of New York’s Central Park. There are six city squares, and 29 parks that wrap around the CBD and North Adelaide.
This extensive green zone is a mix of sports fields, bushland, manicured gardens, playgrounds, picnic areas and shared-use pathways.
Highlights include the roses at Veale Gardens, the mighty Moreton Bay fig trees in Botanic Park, the Bunyip Trail story boards dotted through woodland in John E. Brown Park, and the wetlands in Victoria Park/Pakapakanthi, which opened in 2022.
Walkers and cyclists can visit nearly all the parks on the Park Lands Trail. Most of this route is flat to gently undulating with a more significant climb towards the Aquatic Centre in North Adelaide.
If you’d like to explore this urban gem with those in the know, Adelaide Park Lands Association offers a range of guided tours.
Access
- Find a parking spot in the city and head off.
- Guided tours have starting points specific to each tour.
2. Waterfalls, koalas and kookaburras
Crisscrossed by several walking trails of varying degrees of difficulty, Morialta Conservation Park has long been a South Australian favourite.
Spring and autumn are considered the best times to catch the falls in full roar, while kookaburras, koalas, scenic views and elevated heart rates can be expected year-round.
The relatively easy 1.6km hike along Fourth Creek to First Falls is a good tester, and a great way to check if the family is really into bushwalking. A side track and staircase lead to the cliffside Giant’s Cave.
Trails to the other two waterfalls are more challenging and lead to spectacular views of Morialta Gorge and the city and suburbs.
Before, after – or instead of – hiking, the kids will likely enjoy the expansive Mukanthi Morialta Playground, complete with barbecues and picnic tables. The playspace equipment is made mostly of wood and provides plenty of activities to burn off picnic sugar.
RAA members receive a discount on a Morialta Wilderness and Wildlife Hike.
Access
- Access to the Morialta Conservation Park car parks is via Morialta Falls Road, from the corner of Stradbroke Road and Morialta Road, Rostrevor/Woodforde.
- Mukanthi Morialta Playground car parks are off Stradbroke Road and Morialta Falls Road.
3. Sea views and glacial grooves
Perched high atop sea cliffs, the Hallett Cove Boardwalk provides stunning views north and south along the coast. The boardwalk is in the Hallett Cove Conservation Park, which is home to features that reveal the region’s turbulent geological past.
Deep scratches in clifftop rocks tell a tale of ancient glacial activity, while massive boulders on the beach were left behind when the ice flows thawed.
A pastel-coloured landform known as the Sugarloaf (main photo), resembling a giant dollop of gelato, can be reached from an uphill sidetrack that leads from the southern access trail to the boardwalk. A little further inland, a natural amphitheatre displays colourful sedimentary layers laid down over many millions of years.
Enthusiastic walkers can stroll beyond the conservation park on the Marion Coastal Walkway – a 7.2km trail connecting Marino to the Hallett Headland Reserve.
Access
- Most visitors reach the boardwalk from the south, via the Boatshed Café.
- The boardwalk is about 1km long, plus a 500m walk through bushland from the café carpark. If this car park’s full, there’s street parking along Heron Way.
- From the south, there’s a stairway up to the boardwalk and some ups and downs along the way.
4. Harbour town
If Governor Hindmarsh’s persistent lobbying had been successful, Port Adelaide (or Victor harbor or Port Lincoln) would’ve become South Australia’s capital city.
However, the port site had limited fresh water and was considered too marshy for a large urban settlement. Tellingly, it acquired the alluring moniker Port Misery due to poor landing conditions.
Port Adelaide – know colloquially as ‘the port’ – eventually became a bustling harbour. But increasingly large ships, and the long trip up the Port River, eventually saw most of the maritime activity relocated to Outer Harbor, which was constructed in the early 20th century.
Fortunately, much of the Port Adelaide infrastructure remains and the port precinct can be easily explored on foot. The Walk the Port Heritage Trail reaches most of the main attractions.
Among the many historic sites, the Port Admiral Hotel, built in 1849, is the oldest building in Port Adelaide.
Located on the wharf, the imposing lighthouse was originally situated at the mouth of the Port River. It was then relocated to South Neptune Island, off southern Eyre Peninsula, before being restored and moved to its current location in 1986.
Fun fact: The strip of land in the middle of Port Road was originally intended for a canal to connect the port to the CBD by barge. The plan spent some time in the too-hard basket before the advent of rail saw it abandoned.
RAA members receive a discount on a Port Adelaide Walking Tour.
Access
Drive to the end of Port Road or catch a train to Port Adelaide Railway Station.