The Yurrebilla Trail: In the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia

Hop off the train or bus on the edge of Belair National Park and there is a new beginning. It is the start of a visionary way of experiencing the ancient range that defines the look and shape of our capital city. Leaving the trailhead maps and introductory signage, the Yurrebilla Trail snakes into the bush land to reveal that it is going to be a long a lovely string of natural pearls.

Away from the well known picnic grounds and ovals of Belair National Park, the track winds high along a beautiful bluegum gallery to cross a creek above the tall, delicate and occasional Wokunda Waterfall (we were lucky enough to catch it after a good rain, and saw its spectacular drop down the cliff face). After some ridge top views south through the park to the Fleurieu, it cleverly links into Brownhill Creek, with old market garden sheds in genteel decay on its headwaters. As the creek side path meanders through the recreation park at the bottom of the gully, it passes the tree studded Caravan Park and camping ground, offering the first of several opportunities to stay along the Yurrebilla Trail.

After a climb the uphill side of the government owned country house Carrick Hill, a newly cut section scales the hills face in the University of Adelaide’s Waite conservation reserve and emerges from some wafting sheoaks to reveal the first spectacular new panorama below. The city and suburbs stretch between the blue of Gulf St Vincent and the greens of the Adelaide Hills and roll northwards. Here, the meaning of the name of the trail makes physical sense, as Yurrebilla is a warrior and law giver ancestral being of the Kaurna aboriginal people in their Dreaming. His fallen body is represented in the Mt Lofty Ranges.

Stringing together parks, reserves and private land access over more than fifty kilometers has taken years for a team including state Environment Department trail planner, Andy Warner.

“We can see down below us Adelaide’s well known parklands encircling the city,” he explained. “The Yurrebilla Trail links a second generation of parklands along the Mt Lofty Ranges east of the city.” Andy pointed out that it includes attractive natural variety from here, winding up through open bluegum grassland and into smaller and denser gray box eucalypt habitat before heading along a ridge past hills farmland and vineyards.

“We pick up the old bullock track across there,” he noted, pointing across a deep gully to a still clearly etched old passage up into the hills. It was promoted by an early landowner below as the main route through to Melbourne, and it does meet up with the main hills route prior to the South Eastern Freeway and Heysen Tunnels taking the traffic under the ridge that has long been hoe to the Eagle on the Hill Hotel. The landmark pub with famous meals with a stunning view offers a bed, a feed and even a bus stop on the new trail, which is why it acts as the end of the first five very manageable do-it-in-a-day sections. Just up the old highway, a new park beckons way down below.

“We’ve come away from the plains and now from high above Cleland Conservation Park, we can see the suburbs peeping through at the other-end of Waterfall Gully.” Andy waved to the north across the dense bush of Cleland. “We’ll drop down into the cool and damp gully below and then arc through Cleland to connect up with Horsnell and Morialta Conservation Parks.”

Deep below us there is indeed another feel altogether, as I learned on an exhilarating downhill trail story for Postcards a while back. Past the delicate ferns of Wilson’s Bog, I came across Chinaman’s Hut, the ruin of a shepherds’ shelter dating back to a nineteenth century sheep run. On the Yurrebilla Trail, it is a very short detour before heading up to Lady Davenport’s summerhouse in the suburb, now a youth hostel in Cleland, which offers an almost compulsory diversion into its wildlife park section. It could take a while, too, with the chance to wander through open grassland populated by kangaroos and emus, enter a vast aviary devoted to colourful Adelaide Hills birdlife, and cuddle one of the koala colony residents.

Flinders Obelisk, gleaming white above on the summit of Mt Lofty (the highest point in the ranges), signals another potential detour - they are encouraged but the keenest push on towards the halfway mark. Emerging from the park for a short section along Summit Road, walkers use a boot cleaning station to help prevent the spread phytophthera, an introduced root fungus that damages native plants. The Yurrebilla Trail now heads north again, along the spine of the ranges. Marked distinctively with poles bearing its gum leaf and redgum blossom emblem it crosses another bus route that comes up along Greenhill Road to Summertown, winds along a little known old coach road and down into the quiet of Horsnell Gully Conservation Park to emerge close to another end of section, the picturesque ridge top hamlet of Norton Summit. Its well patronized watering hole is aptly named the Scenic Hotel and it’s an excellent after breakfast starting point or thirst-slaking end of a day. The cherry growers and orchardists who mingle with plains-visitors, cyclists and walkers are proud of their famous political family. A statue of Bar Thomas Playford opposite the pub is a reminder that this district produced two state Premiers from one family, the record serving cherry grower depicted was proceeded by his grandfather, “Honest Tom” Playford.

From the intimacy of a rural village, the track leads to the grandeur of great escarpments of the ancient range. The Yurrebilla Trail links into the exhilarating high gorge walking paths of Morialta Conservation Park. It is a spectacular section shared with the Heyson Trail, and an opportunity to experience something of the splendor of the lower Flinders Ranges - yet this is within twenty minutes of the GPO.

The final trek winds ever northward up and over the descriptively named Black Hill, with its precious slaty sheoak natural bush that has suburbs nestling case to its base. This Conservation Parks ridge track offers lingering looks back into the ranges up the Torrens Valley in one direction, while the others, towards the sea, there is another reminder that the north eastern suburbs rise up to the hills, and the Mt Lofty Ranges act as a close and green backdrop to the city. A final, mysterious Amber Gully, with its very unusual “frozen” waterfall in limestone leads the trail down to the Torrens Gorge and its end - or is it?

This new and brave concept strings together and opens up the beauties of some of our best parks and lures us back into them, and after 54 kilometers along the Mt Lofty Ranges, it then joins with another green ribbon that snakes all the way to the gulf, the Torrens Linear Park. That was an inspiration born in the 1980’s, joined now by a twenty first celebration of nature and open space along the hills that create the geography and views of Adelaide… the Yurrebilla Trail.

The Yurrebilla Trail

For further information:
Department for Environment and Heritage
GPO Box 1047 Adelaide, South Australia, 5001.
Phone. (08) 8204 1910

Adelaide Hills Visitor Information Centre
Phone 1800 353 232

South Australian Visitor and Travel Centre
18 King William Street
Adelaide, South Australia, 5000
Phone 1300 655 276

Yurrebilla Trail Bushwalking Map $8. available as above

Yurrebilla Trail Booklet Available 2004

Links
www.yurrebilla.parklands.sa.gov.au
www.visitadelaidehills.com.au