An alternate route to hike up to Mount Lofty located within the Cleland National Park in the Adelaide Hills area of South Australia, it is a quieter route than the more popular one via Waterfall Gully and uses parts of other trails. Beginning at the carpark in Chambers Gully, this 10-mile loop hike leads through the cool, green refuge of Chambers Gully with its fern-fringed track and look-out points, in a clockwise direction and makes for a pleasant route. Cockatoos, bandicoots, koalas and kangaroos can all be spotted, in fact, it is one of the best areas of the park to see wildlife, especially in the early morning when wallabies and kangaroos can often be found grazing. Being just over 9 miles from Adelaide city centre, this area is popular with day trippers, hikers and trail runners and is accessible all year round. A tourist attraction, each year over 350,000 people visit the peak which at 2,329 ft gives amazing panoramic views of the cityscape and out to the coast. There is a visitor centre at the summit with informative touchscreens about the summit and surrounding area, plus facilities. There are no facilities on the trail itself though until the visitor centre, so take plenty of water with you. The route will take around 4 to five hours to complete, although caution is advised on trail times as this depends on multiple variables. For more info, click here. This trail is graded as Difficult, it is challenging and steep, with a steady climb to the summit. For information on how we grade trails, please click here. This trail is not accessible for wheelchairs or pushchairs, (although the summit can be driven to). Dogs are not allowed on the trail.
