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Published: April 8th 2008
Yacca explosion
A close up of a Yacca at Sturt river Introduction
Not far from Adelaide, just behind Flinders University, is a very special area - the Sturt river. We went there for our Sunday walk and enjoyed a different experience - taking in sea views, a dam, a creek, gorge and waterfall. Quite magnificient.
As there are some steep climbs and creek crossings - we would not recommend if walkers are under 8 or have limited bush experience.
How to get there...
From the city take South Road to Sturt Road. Drive past Flinders and then take a right hand turn a few km further down Eden Avenue. Work your way to Mountbatten road and park in the turning circle at the end of the road. Enter at Gate 1.
There is some info online about Sturt Creek -
See here What happened ...
We started down the Tom Roberts Horse way which is a broad path. About 10 minutes in there is a junction, turn sharp right, almost doubling back. Here we saw several pairs of
Golden whistlers jumping from tree to tree.
We continued up the broad path. Then you get to the steep hill, it means that you are almost at the sea view. Turn
Start
At Mountbatton Road right at the junction and walk the 30 meters to the park bench.
We then backtracked onto the horse trail momentarily, and then followed a bushland track going off to our left. This path stayed in the bush (cooler as it was in the shade), but you could see a fence nearby on your right the whole time and often you could see the cleared paddock beyond the fence. There were many side tracks to the right - but if there is a choice, stay left near the fence.
We eventually got to a gap in the fence and a broader path. This led through bushland and then onto a road and to the top of the dam. We then backtracked a little and then headed down to the creek. Once at the creek we saw a magnificent tree (perhaps it is the same one
drawn here?) and continued to work our way down the creek, past the main clearing, through the gorge, down the waterfall and down into the deep pools at the bottom. There were plenty of lizards (but no snakes spotted - phew).
We then headed overland back to the track we came in on
Path
Dan is on the right path (some steep climbs here) and made our way back to the car.
The whole walk took about 3.5 hours with a few breaks to eat and soak in the serenity.
Dan says ...
Hello readers!
This was one of my least favourite walks - there was lots of danger - but my Dad laughs in the face of danger.
I tried the native apricot and yeeetch - it was awful. Don't be fooled about the pleasant exterior - inside it is red - and it was sour and bitter in taste.
Some of the climbs were absolutely terrifying, yet fun at the same time. When we were coming down to the creek, my only thought was it would be great to get the bottom because it would be safe. But then Dad said - "watch out for tiger snakes" and that crashed my hopes and dreams.
But there were no snakes at all, just tonnes of lizards. One swam in the creek when I tried to chase it. A swimming lizard - now that is a sight that you don't see everyday. And these lizards were very very big - super skinks (dah dah la ah)!
There were lovely glades and good rock-hopping places (I am good at bouldering). It was relaxing in the glades - it made me think of Chinese meditation gardens.
And now for a funny rhyme:
She danced across the ballroom floor,
Her dress was fantastic.
All of a sudden she rushed for the door,
You can't trust Black-and-gold elastic!
If you enjoyed this blog please feel free to leave us a comment - we would love to hear from you. Also, you can check out our complete index of bush walks (and other activities) in our index page
Complete index of our walks/activities by location
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grant
non-member comment
i agree
we followed the creek from the dam and although a little difficult to follow a trail whichwasnt really there until the river turns to solid rock, Iwas completly impressed by what a hidden treasure it is,a least as good as the onkaparinga gorge.