Let's start with the mother of all Adelaide hiking trails... Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty Summit is definitely the Adelaide trail that newbie hikers aspire to conquer, and seasoned hikers aim to master.
If you haven't downloaded one yet, I'd recommend downloading a GPS tracking app on your phone, to track your hike, times, and get some stats to get an idea of height climbed and calories burnt. You can use this info to track your performance over time, compete against friends, or just to prove you did it... Feel free to post your times in the comments. A heart rate monitor is also a fun way to check how far you're pushing yourself.
Waterfall Gully is about 11kms from the city, and it takes around 2 - 3 hours to complete the return trip to Mount Lofty Summit. Remember your water bottle or to fill the hydropack, and maybe a snack. This hike is rated hard on www.southaustraliantrails.com and they aren't joking... It seems to go up and up and up... Thankfully, the park and trails are well maintained and there's plenty of benches to have a rest along the way, they're often placed so you can admire some view of the city. But wait till you get to the top, that view is so worth the effort! Directions from the city are at the end of this post.
Try not to think about the rating, it's still an achievable endeavour for many fitness levels, and ages. It's a great way to spend a few hours on a weekend with friends or family, and on your way there, you can try to spot the white obelisk at the summit... Where you're headed...
The car park at the bottom is pretty large and on a Saturday or Sunday morning, it fills up quick. Don't worry! There's heaps of parking along the road before you get to the the car park. And for the evening hike you'd best park outside the gate just incase you take too long and get locked in. It's never a fun hike if you're absolutely stuffed, and all you can think about is how you'll get your car out if you get locked in...
There is a restaurant at Waterfall Gully and they serve breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea, Wednesday to Sunday, and it makes a great start to an enduring hike, or a more than welcome reward for your efforts. It is located to the left hand side of the car park, as you head towards the big waterfall.
Mount Lofty holds 2 beautiful waterfalls, and as you read on, I like waterfalls... Whether it's the sound of the water crashing onto the rocks and into the pool below, or the sight of hundreds of litres of water cascading down the cliff face, I don't know, but I love them. They're at the start of this trail, so if you're not so keen on conquering the whole mountain, you can still enjoy the tranquility of the falls, and get a few selfies while you're there.
This one is a linear trail, which I don't usually like, but as this hike looks and feels so different going up than it does going down, it works for me, it's one of my favourites. Because it's such a popular trail, you don't often see as much wildlife as some of the other trails, but the view outweighs that. On your way up the hill you can stop to see the Chinaman's Hut ruin on the left, follow a trail to Cleland Wildlife Park to the left, Eagle on the Hill to the right, or continue on to Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens, just follow the signs.
You'll almost feel like you'd be better off crawling up parts of this trail, and there are enough plateaus on the way up for a bit of relief on the legs. It's also common practice for the fit folk to run down, stick to the left and you'll be okay.
As the trail climbs to such a height, and faces many different directions, you'll notice a big difference in the kinds and population of plants as you get to the top. My favourite is the little fern wall about half way up.
About a kilometer before you cross a road, the trail gets hard and you might just want to turn around and go home, but take a swig of your drink bottle and push on, you're nearly there.
Get your camera ready! You've reached the top! Un-interrupted views of Adelaide, from the South East to the North West. Oh, and there's the obelisk you may have spotted from the streets. There's some information boards with some history and sights of Adelaide, have a read while you're there. There's a restaurant and information centre at the summit, conveniently placed, for a well deserved treat! There's also a drinking fountain if you've drained your last drop from your water bottle, it's over to the southish end of the building.
Ahh, now for the descent. Walk, or run if you feel you are coordinated enough. It would be a decent injury if you fell at full speed on the way down... It is fun tho...
If you time it right, you might get to see the Monarch Butterflies that crowd a section near where the trail crosses the creek at a certain time of year, I think it was around Autumn we last saw them. It is a beautiful distraction having hundreds of orange butterflies fluttering around you while you're huffing and puffing, trying not to give up.
I hope you just enjoyed your Lofty Hike, now you just need to set aside a few hours, commit to the whole 7kms, grab a few friends and get out there and do it!
This hike is unfortunately not suitable for wheelchairs, due to the gradient of the paths. If you do have accessibility issues, take a drive to the summit via the signs up Greenhill Road, you can't miss out on this view!
To get to Waterfall Gully from the city, head East up Greenhill Road, over Port Rush Road, right at the Glynburn Road roundabout, first left and first right, then follow the signs.
Happy hiking and please comment with your experiences.
Next I think I'll share my second favourite, Morialta Falls.
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