7 national parks you can get to on public transport

Many of Adelaide’s nation­al parks and reserves are cycle­friend­ly, mean­ing you can ride to the trail­heads to enjoy your bush­walk, or tour the park in two-wheeled style on the paved roads and shared-use trails.

There are also plen­ty of options if you trav­el by pub­lic trans­port, so why not get out your Metro­card and hit the parks?

Here’s how to get to sev­en of our favourites with pub­lic transport:

1. Cle­land Nation­al Park

Cle­land Nation­al Park takes in Cle­land Wildlife Park, but also Water­fall Gul­ly and Mount Lofty Sum­mit. Just 20 min­utes from town, it has some of Adelaide’s pop­u­lar walk­ing trails, includ­ing the Water­fall Gul­ly to Mount Lofty Hike, and some great moun­tain bik­ing trails.

Take an 863 or 864 bus from the city or Mount Bark­er to the Crafers Inter­change. Look for the trail­head signs on the north side of the free­way off-ramp near the inter­change. These trails lead all over the park, with a new link trail con­nect­ing to Mount Lofty Summit.

If you want to go to Cle­land Wildlife Park, but you’d rather save your feet for vis­it­ing the ani­mals, take the 823 bus from the Crafers Inter­change right to the front gate.

2. Belair Nation­al Park

With its ovals, ten­nis courts, bar­be­cue, play­ground and great trail net­work, Belair Nation­al Park has been pop­u­lar with Ade­laide fam­i­lies for generations. 

Take the Belair train from Ade­laide and get off at the Belair sta­tion at the north-west cor­ner of the park. On the park side of the train plat­form, walk under the her­itage sign that reads, ​‘The Nation­al Park’, go down a step and you’ll find a trail­head with maps and oth­er information.

Many of the trails, includ­ing the fire trails and sealed roads, are shared use and avail­able for bike rid­ing, so why not put your bike on the train too?

3. Mori­al­ta Con­ser­va­tion Park

Mori­al­ta Con­ser­va­tion Park has so many options for a great day out, whether you’re keen to walk the beau­ti­ful Three Falls Hike, spend some time rock climb­ing, let the kids go wild at the amaz­ing Mukan­thi nature play space, or just relax under the trees and lis­ten to the birds.

Take the H30 bus, which runs all the way from West Lakes to the Par­adise Inter­change, and get off at Stop 27 on Strad­broke Road.

4. Hal­lett Cove Con­ser­va­tion Park

Hal­lett Cove Con­ser­va­tion Park, at the beach south of Brighton and Hove, is home to some amaz­ing rock for­ma­tions dat­ing back as far as the last ice age, 260 mil­lion years ago.

The walk up to the look­out at Black Cliff has the reward of a gor­geous view, and fol­low­ing a recent upgrade, it is acces­si­ble to assist­ed wheel­chairs and prams.

What’s on at Hal­lett Cove Con­ser­va­tion Park: new access trails 

To get there, take the Seaford trainto Hal­lett Cove Beach Sta­tion. The main park entry is a 15‑minute walk away, and the best part is you pass by the Boat­shed Café, so you can for­ti­fy your­self for your walk with a cof­fee or a snack.

5. Shep­herds Hill Recre­ation Park

Not far from Flinders Uni­ver­si­ty, Shep­herds Hill Recre­ation Park is great for bush­walk­ing, walk­ing the dog and moun­tain bike rid­ing. Good options for a walk are the Seav­iew Loop, which, as the name sug­gests, offers sweep­ing views of the ocean, or the Red Gum Loop, which fol­lows Viaduct Creek.

Take the 200 bus, which runs between North Ade­laide and Mar­i­on Cen­tre via the city, and get off at Stop 24 on Ayliffes Road.

6. Anstey Hill Recre­ation Park

Anstey Hill Recre­ation Park is a hid­den bush­land gem in the north-east­ern sub­urbs, with beau­ti­ful native wildlife, Abo­rig­i­nal and Euro­pean her­itage, and spec­tac­u­lar views of Ade­laide from the ridgetops. Moun­tain bikes are wel­come on some trails, so rid­ing to the park is also a great option.

Take the 557 bus from the city or Tea Tree Plaza Inter­change and get off at stop 47 on Per­se­ver­ance Rd, Vista, then enter the park by gate 3.

From the near­by Bound­ary Track, you can join the Water Gul­ly Track to walk the pop­u­lar 6.2‑kilometre Yel­low-Tail Loop, a pop­u­lar trail that leads past the ruins of the old Newman’s Nurs­ery. If you’re look­ing for a short­er walk, take the Ridgetop Track and try the 3km Pink Gum Loop.

7. Cob­bler Creek Recre­ation Park

The Kites and Kestrels nature play­ground at Cob­bler Creek Recre­ation Park in the north­ern sub­urbs is prov­ing to be a big hit with fam­i­lies with young chil­dren, and the recent­ly-expand­ed trail net­work is going down a treat with moun­tain bik­ers and walk­ers alike.

Ride your bike to the park for a great day on the trails, or hop on the bus to enjoy a walk, a vis­it to the play­ground and a pic­nic with the family.

Take the 502 bus from the city or Sal­is­bury Inter­change and get off at stop 45a on Bridge Road at Sal­is­bury East and enter the park through the main entrance on Smith Road.

Did you know…

Many of South Australia’s parks and reserves are on Aven­za Maps. Reduce your chances of tak­ing a wrong turn by down­load­ing the app to your phone, then down­load­ing indi­vid­ual park maps before you head out. Switch on your phone’s GPS to see your­self as a mov­ing blue dot on the trail. Easy!

Have you made your way to any of these parks – or any oth­ers – on pub­lic trans­port? Give us your tips for an easy jour­ney in the com­ments sec­tion below.

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in Octo­ber 2017.