Your guide to bushwalking in parks

Your guide to bushwalking in parks

South Aus­trali­a’s nation­al parks are a trea­sure trove of trails, with a path for every explorer. 

Where can I go for a bushwalk?

Most nation­al parks have trails suit­ed to all fit­ness lev­el. Keen on spe­cif­ic bush­walk­ing adven­tures? Just head to our ​‘Find a Park’ tool and nar­row your search to ​‘Bush­walk­ing’.

Get inspired: Check out the below Good Liv­ing blogs to plan your next adventure.

Where can I down­load trail maps?

Many of our parks offer down­load­able PDF maps so you can choose a trail that’s right for you. Head over to your cho­sen park’s page and tap on the ​‘Maps’ tab.

Got a smart­phone or tablet? Down­load the free Aven­za PDF Map app to keep inter­ac­tive nation­al park maps right at your fingertips!

Walk clas­si­fi­ca­tions

The Aus­tralian Walk­ing Track Grad­ing Sys­tem is a nation­al stan­dard to help you work out if a walk will suit your lev­el of fit­ness and expe­ri­ence. All nation­al parks have been grad­ed using this sys­tem, mak­ing sure there’s a fit for every footstep.

Australian walking track grading system

Australian walking track grading system 1 No bush­walk­ing expe­ri­ence required. Flat even sur­face with no steps or steep sec­tions. Suit­able for wheel­chair users who have some­one to assist them. Walks no greater than 5 km.
Australian walking track grading system 2 No bush­walk­ing expe­ri­ence required. The track is a hard­ened or com­pact­ed sur­face and may have a gen­tle hill sec­tion or sec­tions and occa­sion­al steps. Walks no greater than 10 km.
Australian walking track grading system 3 Suit­able for most ages and fit­ness lev­els. Tracks may have short steep hill sec­tions, a rough sur­face and many steps. Walks up to 20 km.
Australian walking track grading system 4 Bush­walk­ing expe­ri­ence rec­om­mend­ed. Tracks may be long, rough and very steep. Direc­tion­al sig­nage may be limited.
Australian walking track grading system 5 Rec­om­mend­ed for very expe­ri­enced bush­walk­ers with spe­cialised skills, includ­ing nav­i­ga­tion and emer­gency first aid. Tracks are like­ly to be very rough, very steep and unmarked. Walks may be more than 20 km.
National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia

The Hey­sen Trail

The Hey­sen Trail is one of the world’s great walk­ing trails and claims the title of Aus­trali­a’s longest ded­i­cat­ed walk­ing trail. 

Span­ning 1,200 km, the trail kicks off at Cape Jervis, wind­ing along the sandy shores and majes­tic sea cliffs of the south coast. It then rolls through the Fleurieu Penin­su­la’s coun­try­side and the ele­va­tions of Mt Lofty Ranges. And the grand finale? The raw allure of the Flinders Ranges, lead­ing to the stun­ning Parachilna Gorge.

Plan­ning to camp under the stars? Remem­ber most spots with­in nation­al parks need to be booked online before you arrive. 

Look­ing for more info about maps, camp­ing and accom­mo­da­tion? Head over to the Hey­sen Trail web­site.

School or large groups

Head­ing out with a school or large group? Always noti­fy the spe­cif­ic park ahead of your vis­it by com­plet­ing a School Book­ing Form. 

Vis­it­ing a remote area?

Ven­tur­ing into remote areas or under­tak­ing chal­leng­ing activ­i­ties? Keep it safe by inform­ing a trust­wor­thy con­tact about where you’re off to and your expect­ed return.