How to spend a day in Sturt Gorge Recreation Park

Sturt Gorge Recre­ation Park is inter­na­tion­al­ly recog­nised as an area of con­ser­va­tion and geo­log­i­cal significance. 

Just 13 kilo­me­tres south of Adelaide’s CBD, the park boasts a large net­work of shared-use moun­tain bike and walk­ing trails that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Dogs are also allowed in the park, so bring along your fur­ry friend to be part of the fun, but remem­ber to keep them on a lead no more than 2 metres in length, and stick to the des­ig­nat­ed walk­ing trails.

To help you plan your vis­it to Sturt Gorge Recre­ation Park, Grad­u­ate Ranger Beth Reid has put togeth­er this itin­er­ary for a great day out:

Morn­ing

Start your day with an easy walk along the Mag­pie Creek Trail. Take the trail to where it meets the Riv­er Trail and head down to the Sturt Riv­er Flood Con­trol Dam wall for some spec­tac­u­lar views.

Alter­na­tive­ly, if you’re up for a longer, more chal­leng­ing hike, try out the Riv­er Trail. The Riv­er Trail takes in the rugged beau­ty of the park and pass­es through a vari­ety of veg­e­ta­tion communities. 

The trail is a one-way, 9.8 km track and is a Grade 4 Hard Hike with steep sec­tions, so be sure to wear appro­pri­ate cloth­ing and footwear and take plen­ty of water. The trail will take you 4 to 5 hours to com­plete, but if you’re short on time, you can com­plete short­er sec­tions of the hike instead.

Top tip: If you’re walk­ing with a friend, take two cars and leave one at each end of the trail to save the trek back to your car. If you’re walk­ing solo, there are also pub­lic trans­port options available.

Lunch

By now, you prob­a­bly would have worked up an appetite for some­thing tasty. Make your way over to Lake­view, which is a part of Craig­burn Farm, for a scenic pic­nic lunch.

Lake­view is a great spot for bird­watch­ing, so pack your binoc­u­lars to get a glimpse of some of the wood­land birds that are native to the area.

If you’re up for more walk­ing, take a leisure­ly stroll along the 1.2km Lake View Trail and soak up the seren­i­ty of the lake.

After­noon

After lunch, get your wheels a bit dusty along a moun­tain-bik­ing trail.

If you’re new to moun­tain-bik­ing and still need to find your feet, try out the 1.2 km Surf and Turf Trail and the 3 km Gun­ners Run Trail.

If you’ve got a lit­tle more expe­ri­ence behind you, check out the de Rose Trail or the Loman­dra Trail. 

The de Rose Trail offers views of the coast and the city while the Loman­dra Trail takes you through sheoak and grey box woodland. 

Both of these trails are 4 km long and are shared-use, so if moun­tain bik­ing isn’t your thing, walk­ing is also an option.

Inter­est­ed in find­ing out more about this hid­den gem of a park? Check out these tips from Park Ranger Kur­tis Madigan.