Step into bushwalking this autumn

Walk­ing is one of the eas­i­est ways to be phys­i­cal­ly active. You can do it almost any­where, with very lit­tle equip­ment. It’s great for both your body and your mind — and even bet­ter when you’re walk­ing in parks, with the addi­tion­al proven health ben­e­fits (check them out at the Pre­ven­ta­tive Health page).

If you’re new to bush­walk­ing, there are a few things to think about before you set off to help you stay safe and get the most out of your walk.

Choose your group

It’s always best to bush­walk with oth­ers. If your group has more than four peo­ple, con­sid­er nom­i­nat­ing some­one to take the lead and help keep things organised.

Your group will move at the pace of the slow­est walk­er, so plan your dis­tance and tim­ing around that. South Aus­tralia also has plen­ty of walk­ing clubs worth join­ing if you’re keen to explore new trails. Many offer a cou­ple of tri­al walks so you can see if it’s the right fit.

Pre­pare and plan

Do a bit of research before you go so you know what to expect — from ter­rain to key points of inter­est. Check out each indi­vid­ual park’s web­page to ensure you have the most up to date infor­ma­tion on the park your explor­ing, plus don’t for­get to check if there are any park alerts. 

Take a map with you — ide­al­ly both a paper copy and one down­loaded to your phone. Apps like Aven­za Maps are use­ful for offi­cial park maps and offline navigation.

Tell an emer­gency con­tact where you are going, includ­ing where the car is going to be parked, what time you expect to return and what to do if you do not come back in time. 

In autumn, you nev­er know what weath­er you’ll get, so be sure to check the pre­dict­ed weath­er con­di­tions to help you choose the right gear, plus check out our hot or cold weath­er hik­ing blogs for more spe­cif­ic tips. 

Pack your bag

Make sure you are well equipped, have appro­pri­ate cloth­ing and car­ry enough food and water. Car­ry your gear in a small, stur­dy, com­fort­able back pack. Tak­ing a lunch box will ensure you can take your rub­bish home. Be sure to car­ry 2 litres of water (more in warm weath­er). Oth­er essen­tials include a first aid kit, map, whis­tle, torch, your per­son­al med­ica­tions, tis­sue or toi­let paper and a trow­el, plus a rub­bish bag and some­thing water­proof to sit on or hide under.

What to wear

Choose com­fort­able, enclosed walk­ing or sports shoes and clothes that are com­fort­able, light and loose. Con­sid­er sun and rain pro­tec­tion and car­ry a hat, sun­screen and light weight rain jack­et. In the cool­er weath­er, wear lay­ers that can be removed as you warm up and con­sid­er water-proof shoes and some spare socks! 

Emer­gen­cies

If some­one is injured or can­not walk, call 000 and ask for the police. Stay togeth­er in a group. Be pre­pared to change your plans to suit your con­di­tions. Con­sid­er down­load­ing the Emer­gency Plus app to pin point your loca­tion if needed.

Leave no trace

Look­ing after our parks starts with sim­ple actions. Remem­ber to stick to the des­ig­nat­ed trails, leave wildlife alone, be respon­si­ble with pets and clean your boots to keep phy­toph­tho­ra at bay. Remem­ber there are no bins in parks so take all of your rub­bish home.

Walk­ing etiquette

Be con­sid­er­ate of oth­ers on the trail. Keep noise to a min­i­mum so every­one can enjoy the nat­ur­al surroundings.

If you like lis­ten­ing to music, keep the vol­ume low or use head­phones so it doesn’t dis­turb others.

Acces­si­ble walks

Walk­ing in South Aus­tralia can be enjoyed by every­one, regard­less of age, fit­ness or mobility.

Walk­ing SA has over 50 fan­tas­tic acces­si­ble walk­ing routes to explore that are wheel­chair, pram and mobil­i­ty friend­ly. You can also explore South Aus­trali­a’s acces­si­ble nation­al park trails on the park’s web­site. The walks can also be great for chil­dren to ride their bikes along with their par­ents walk­ing beside them. 

Walk­ing SA also pro­vide edu­ca­tion­al train­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties and resources, as well as a list of great bush­walks acces­si­ble by pub­lic trans­port if you don’t have access to a car.

Plan­ning on stay­ing longer after your hike? Check out our Camp­ing in nation­al parks pagefor every­thing you need to enjoy a camp­ing trip in our parks. 

Stay in the know: Sign up to get updates from Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice South Aus­tralia straight to your inbox!