About the Walking Route

The Hope Valley Reservoir opened to the public on 13 December, 2020, as part of the State Government’s plan to open reservoirs for recreational use. As one Adelaide’s oldest, and smallest, reservoir, the Hope Valley Reservoir is the State’s first metropolitan reservoir to open to the public.

With views across the reservoir and to the hills beyond, step into the reservoir reserve to walk or cycle along the 800 metre dam wall and explore some of the forested picnic areas.

Although 4.9km of shared use trail has been constructed or adapted from service tracks, most of the trails are concentrated on the western side of the reservoir reserve, adjacent to the dam wall.

In 2021 an informal nature play area and outdoor fitness equipment will be developed.

We’ve outlined two walking route options below.

Option 1: 2.3km short walk along dam wall to park

Walking over the dam wall, there are two shelters overlooking the reservoir

Start from the carpark on off Lyons Road, Dernancourt and either walk along the dam wall to the far end, or along a pleasant meandering path through the forest beneath the dam wall, then walk up hill to connect to the far end of the dam wall. Along the dam wall are two shelters looking over the reservoir, with information signs about the history of the reservoir and about the Kaurna people.

At the far end of the dam wall, in the north west of the reservoir reserve, is a pleasant park area in the forest, away from roads but adjacent the busway. There are toilets, picnic shelters and a water fountain, as well as the `HOPE` letter sign, with views across the reservoir to the hills.

The dam wall is wheel friendly, with easy access for wheelchair users and prams. If parking in the Lyons Road carpark, it might be worth avoiding a short uphill walk to the dam southern end of the dam wall by walking back along Lyons Road a short distance to the person gate at the end of the dam wall. Although the trails in the forest beneath the dam wall are also wheelchair accessible, climbing back up along the wider path to the far end of the dam wall may be too steep for some users.

Option 2: 5.2km loop around full reservoir

This suggested walk is a 5.2k circuit, and is marked in green on our map.

Explore the full reservoir reserve by walking a full loop of the reservoir. You could start from any of the access locations listed below, and walk clockwise or anticlockwise.

If undertaking this walk you should note that 2.5km or about half of this walk is on roadside footpaths along Lyons Road, Lower North East Road and Awoonga Road (1.3km) and roadside footpaths along Grand Junction Road, Delray Avenue and Lambert Avenue (1.2km).

Trail and reserve opening hours

The trail is also closed during periods of operational activity (the gates will be closed).

Access conditions

Dog walking is not permitted, as dogs can carry harmful organisms that can easily contaminate the water and present a risk to the safety of the drinking water. Dogs also pose a threat to local native birds and wildlife. Assistance animals are accepted.

Some people may be disappointed that there is no access to the water edge or for kayaking or fishing, and that much of the forested non-operational areas of the reservoir reserve remain off-limits.

It’s an important space to open up to local people, and in time we hope that more of the non-operational forested areas of the reservoir reserve, particularly alongside Lower North East Road and Awoonga Road could be opened up for public access.

Full access conditions, a map and other details can be found at reservoirs.sa.gov.au/reservoirs/hope-valley.

Access/entrance locations

The reservoir reserve can be accessed from four locations:

1. the main entrance to the reservoir reserve is off Lyons Road, Dernancourt, near Reynolds Avenue. There is a carpark (with overflow parking on the road), toilets and water fountain here, and is the best car park to access the dam wall and pleasant trails in the south western corner of the reservoir reserve. This entrance is also served by Adelaide Metro bus, at stop 32 Lyons Road with bus routes 559 and 559S. The bus stop Stop 34 on Lower North East Road is served by bus routes 556, 557 and 922.
2. the north western corner of the reservoir reserve off Armiger Court, Holden Hill, an industrial area. This provides access to the park area in this section of the reservoir reserve, on the northern end of the dam wall which is a short walk away. There are toilets, picnic shelters and a water fountain.
3. nearby, also in the north western corner of the reservoir reserve off the end Lambert Avenue, Hope Valley, adjacent the Georgia Court playground. This provides access to the same park area as Armiger Court, on the northern end of the dam wall. There are toilets, picnic shelters and a water fountain. There is parking along the residential Lambert Avenue.
4. the north eastern side of the reservoir reserve off Awoonga Road, Hope Valley. Parking here is roadside along this busy road. This entrance provides access to the trail that heads along the northern side of the reservoir reserve to the park area in the north western corner off Armiger Court, and then further to the dam wall. There are no facilities at this Awoonga Road entrance. This entrance is also served by Adelaide Metro bus, at stop 34B Awoonga Road with bus routes 559 and 559S.

European history of the reservoir

The Hope Valley Reservoir was constructed between 1869 and 1872 as an off-stream storage reservoir to serve the growing Adelaide. It was the city’s second reservoir, the first being at Thorndon Park which opened in 1860. Originally water was diverted via a 5km viaduct from the Gorge Weir on the River Torrens / Karrawirra Parri. The viaduct was replaced in 2008 with a 3.4km long pipeline. In 1977 the water treatment plant was constructed on the northern side of the reservoir reserve, off Grand Junction Road, to clean and filter metropolitan Adelaide’s water supply.