From here you can see the Pound spread out beneath you, with the Elder Range beyond in the west, and the Flinders and ABC Ranges to the north. If you are lucky you will see wedge tail eagles and tourist planes circling below you.
From here the track descends the outside of the Pound. You need to use hands almost as much as feet for quite some distance until it gradually drops to the scrub below. Eventually you reach the camp site five or more hours after you left.
The walk is a great experience, and the colours of the hills and sky at different times of day are fantastic.
Another very scenic walk is on the Heysen Trail from Waitpinga Beach to Kings Beach. It takes in the popular surfing beach at Waitpinga, and continues along mostly cliff tops with great views of the ocean and the coast west of Victor Harbour. The walk is outstanding on a sunny day, and you may see whales from the cliffs during winter. See my blog post for more details.
While great, at about 24 kilometres return this walk is possibly a bit longer than many people will want to do. At 8 kilometres return, Kings Beach going west along the trail might suit many. This takes in some of the best scenery in this coastal section of the trail. The turn-around point is marked by a wonderfully placed picnic table facing west back along the coast. See here for more details.
For years I enjoyed day walks on short trails, but decided I would like to start day walks on sections of long-distance trails in the state. Yes, that means in many cases my walks are there and back again, but the different views and times of day usually keeps the return interesting.
The 54 kilometre Yurrebilla Trail in the Adelaide Hills from Belair Railway Station to Ambers Gully on the Torrens was my introduction to longer trails. It goes through Belair National Park, Brownhill Creek, Waite Arboretum, Cleland Conservation Park, Horsnell Gully Conservation Park, Morialta Conservation Park, and eventually Blackhill Conservation Park. Depending on desired walking time and fitness, it can be done in 5 to 10 trips.
The Lavender-Federation Trail goes from Murray Bridge past Truro and might eventually reach Clare. It goes through lots of farming areas, but also has a short walk along the Murray River, a wetland, and climbs to some hilltops with great views such as Mt Beevor. It also passes Monarto Zoo, so you can see giraffes and other exotic animals in the distance. I have done about one and a half stages of this walk in eight day walks.
I have also completed a respectable chunk of the Heysen Trail – from Cape Jervis to Melrose (except a section leading into the Wirrabara forest), and some miscellaneous bits in the Flinders Ranges National Park. So far it’s taken about 85 day or part day walks on the trail. Can I get the whole way with day walks? Unlikely, but fun to consider!
Bushwalk
