4 walks in South Australia’s national parks you might not have tried

Sourth Aus­trali­a’s nation­al parks are more pop­u­lar than ever, pro­vid­ing peo­ple with a peace­ful place to con­nect with nature dur­ing a time filled with a lot of uncertainty.

It’s no secret that walk­ing in nature is a great activ­i­ty to reduce stress lev­els, clear your head, con­nect with fam­i­ly and friends and stretch your legs.

But if you feel like you could walk your favourite trail with your eyes closed, it might be time to try a new loca­tion and keep your­self motivated.

Check out these four trails in South Aus­trali­a’s nation­al parks that you might not have tried before:

1. Glen­thorne Loop Trail, Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­mai­it­pin­na Yarta

You might not have vis­it­ed Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­mai­it­pin­na Yarta in Adelaide’s south­ern sub­urbs, so a stroll on its loop trail is a great way to learn more about one of Adelaide’s newest nation­al parks. It’s a good oppor­tu­ni­ty to watch the cre­ation of the park unfold over the com­ing months and years.

You can even bring your dog with you, pro­vid­ed they are on a leash (no longer than 2 m), they don’t stray from the trail and you pick up their poo.

Here’s a taste: 

Come and explore Glenthorne’s new loop trail 

2. Steub Trail, Cle­land Nation­al Park

This 3.8 km shared-use trail in Cle­land Nation­al Park recent­ly opened to bikes, prams and walkers.

It’s been designed with acces­si­bil­i­ty in mind, and pro­vides peo­ple with reduced mobil­i­ty or fam­i­lies using prams with a com­fort­able option to trav­el between Water­fall Gul­ly and Mount Lofty Sum­mit in the Ade­laide Hills, as the trail is less steep than the pop­u­lar Water­fall Gul­ly to Mount Lofty Trail.

This trail is a great spot for a relax­ing stroll to take in the beau­ty of Cle­land Nation­al Park. Enjoy the views of the peace­ful gul­lies and don’t for­get to keep your eyes peeled for native ani­mals such as bandi­coots, echid­nas, yel­low-tailed cock­a­toos and kan­ga­roos that have all been spot­ted along the trail.

3. Parn­ka Ngop­un Trail, Coorong Nation­al Park

This new walk­ing trail recent­ly opened at Parn­ka Point in Coorong Nation­al Park and is already prov­ing to be high­ly pop­u­lar with visitors.

Locat­ed about 30 min­utes from Meningie, about 150 km south­west of Ade­laide, the 5 km loop trail was devel­oped in con­sul­ta­tion with local Ngar­rind­jeri com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers, who named the trail ​‘Parn­ka’ mean­ing ​‘sandy beach’ and Ngop­pun mean­ing ​‘walk’.

The walk­ing trail allows vis­i­tors to take in the spec­tac­u­lar beau­ty of the Parn­ka Point shore­line and the beau­ti­ful views of the north and south lagoons.

The walk cir­cum­nav­i­gates and con­nects the Avo­cet and Pel­i­can camp­grounds and takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to complete.

The trail is ide­al for bird­watch­ing and absorb­ing the won­der­ful diverse scenery, with many species of migra­to­ry birds able to be spot­ted along the way, such as avo­cets, band­ed stilts, sharp-tailed sand­pipers and red-necked stints.

4. Cypress Hill Trail, Kinchi­na Con­ser­va­tion Park

This 6km mul­ti-use trail in Kinchi­na Con­ser­va­tion Park can be enjoyed by both walk­ers and moun­tain bikers.

The Cypress Hill Trail wasn’t named after the 90’s hip hop band but rather the Cypress or Cal­litris trees which dom­i­nate the area and was vot­ed as the top pick by the local community.

The trail is a Class Three Aus­tralian walk­ing trail and stan­dard MBA green cir­cle moun­tain-bike trail, which means its suit­able for begin­ners but can be a bit ​‘Insane in the Mem­brane’ dur­ing some chal­leng­ing sections.

Less than an hour’s dri­ve from Ade­laide, the 6 km Cypress Hill trail bor­ders the new Monar­to Safari Park expan­sion so after a morn­ing spot­ting lions you can head out for a lit­er­al walk in the park.

This new trail is part of the broad­er Kinchi­na shared-use trail net­work of 20 km, and also links to the Laven­der Fed­er­a­tion Trail, a 325 km walk­ing trail which runs from Mur­ray Bridge to the Clare Valley.

Its most eas­i­ly accessed from Mau­rice Road and is best enjoyed from west to east, with one pos­si­ble return being via the Laven­der Fed­er­a­tion Trail (if you’re just start­ing out, hold on to your visor or hel­met as it’s not rec­om­mend­ed for beginners).

When you try the trail, keep an eye out for Menzel’s wat­tle – there’s more than 4000 plants of this threat­ened plant species found in Kinchi­na Con­ser­va­tion Park.

Look­ing for more places to walk in nature? Check out our blogs onBelair Nation­al Park’s Water­fall HikeandPara Wirra Con­ser­va­tion Park’s Mack Creek Hike.

Main image: Glen­thorne Loop Trail, Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­mai­it­pin­na Yarta