Heysen trail - Kaiser Stuhl Conservation Park

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More frog noises

Froggy friends

This walk is near Tanunda. We have done it at least 3 times now and enjoy it very much. Our favourite approach is to drive up Rifle Range road (which is absolutely magnificent) and enter the park on the nothern corner. We then start the walk on the Heysen trail which goes through private property for a little way before entering the park. At the junction, continue down the Heysen trail until you get to the lookout turn-off. We take this 20 minute detour to the lookout and usually have lunch there. We then continue along the Heysen trail along the pine forest and reenter the park at the end of the forest. There is a loop track (stringbark and wallowa) that go through the park. Take it and traverse many creeks, Wallowa bushland and grassland. Its full of granite boulders, kangaroos, and very, very noisy frogs.

Dan says

At the start you need to walk through private property so stay on the track. The track has shiny stones that you can pick up and collect. I collected 4 on my walk.

The entrance and exit of the walk was a bit tight for short people with back packs on.

We started off down the Heysen trail until we saw a 'horse'. I rode it.

We took a short cut that we didn't know about.

Be careful of the flame heath - it spikes you even if you have long pants.

We had lunch at the lookout - it takes 10 minutes to get there and 10 minutes to return. The sign at the lookout points out where landmarks such as Kaiser Stuhl and Mt Crawford are.

The frogs create a bit of a racket. Dad said they were freaky frogs.

We saw some kangaroos with joeys, we could see many had bulging pouches.

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Photos

Park entrance
From the top of Rifle Range road, there is a short walk along the Heysen trail, to the Northern entrance to the park.

The view on Rifle Range Road
This one is half way up and shows the view to the south.

Beef
We saw some cattle on Rifle Range Road near a rocky valley.

Park sign
Look closely and you can see the map of the park.

This way
Once entering the park there is an early split. You can start the park walk or continue the Heysen trail. Dan is pointing our way - the Heysen trail.

Giddy-up!
One of the more 'famous' granite boulders in the park is "Horse Head Rock". Dan took the opportunity to demonstrate his riding skills.

Lookout
Along the Heysen trail there is a side track that goes to a lookout which is a nice place for lunch (20 minute detour). This is the view.

Kangaroos in the grassland
There were at least 20 kangaroos at this site, and we saw a few others (even long-haired kangaroos) along the way. This group contained many females with very full pouches!

Boulders
The park is full of granite outcrops. This can sometimes mean that the track is sloppy as the granite makes the water pool on the surface (but great for frogs and birds).

Heysen trail into the park
A stream was flowing down the road.

Flame Heath
We have included this photograph as a warning for new walkers. These flame heath bushes hurt if they scratch your skin.

Party guests?
These are small yellow fungi (about 5 mm high) that were popping up all over the path. Dan said "hey I should have invited them to my party!" How come - "well they would be such fun-gis!"

Comments

[David]

Kaiser Stuhl
Great photos. Did you know that there is the remnants of what is reputed to be a 'pagan altar' on the NE side of Kaiser Stuhl? I read about this some years ago in a small pamphlet in the Tanunda Library. The 'altar' is a pile of boulders in a clearing. Personally I think it was probably just a primitive church that was established by the some of the early settlers, or even just an animal pen. The altar, according to the pamphlet, is supposed to have been constructed by the Sorbs, also known as the Wends. This was one of the minority groups of Lutheran people who emigrated to South Australia in the mid 1800s. Let me know if you have any comments.

[SA hiker]

A clearing and a rock altar
Hi David, and thank you for your interesting comment. I hadn't heard/read anything about a pagan alter at Kaiser Stuhl, but next time I go cruising on Google Earth I will try to spot it. I am with you on the alternative hypotheses. I can imagine an early settler, trying to clear some land to grow grass for domestic animals and picking up and piling rocks to grow more grass and have a store of rocks available for later use. I followed your lead and used Wikipedia to read about the Sorbs/Wends ...very interesting. ... On the other hand the boulders in Kaiser Stuhl are eerie (large and scattered) and as there is a supply of water and kangaroos, it made me think it would also have been a significant site for Aboriginals. Perhaps they could have cleared a piece of land for ceremonies? ..... Thanks again, Diana

[Aaron]

walk duration....
Hi Diana, We're heading up to the Barossa this weekend and this walk you describe sounds good but I'm curious to know how long it took you? And would you call it easy, medium or hard walking? And any final advice you have.. Thankyou