Main Valley and Rockdale Hill Hike, Horsnell Gully Conservation Park

Walking Trail Facts
Distance
4.7 km circuit
Duration
2 hours
Suitable for
Hiking, Trail Running
Trail Class
Grade 4, Hard Hike
Terrain
Steep
Park (national park, conservation park, forest, reserve)
Horsnell Gully and Giles Conservation Parks
Region
Adelaide City & Suburbs, Adelaide Hills
Download maps & GPS files
  1. 1 map PDF
  2. 2 GPS files
  3. 1 website link
Jump to Downloads section
Photos
25 photos
Travel options
  1. Car
Travel time from Adelaide
1 hour or less
Main Valley and Rockdale Hill Hike, Horsnell Gully Conservation Park

About the Walking Trail

This hike is a hidden gem in the Adelaide Hills close to Adelaide. The circuit trail is 4.7km return, and takes about 2 hours. There is some single track walking trail, fire tracks, forested valleys and some steep trail sections.

The section at the end of Main Valley up on to the fire tracks on Rockdale Hill is very steep with some loose rocks, and involves walking up a waterfall. If walking clockwise, when you reach the waterfall you need to walk down it, and pick up the trail again at the bottom.

alk beneath majestic river red gums and blue gums to the waterfall. Keep an eye out for koalas in the tree tops or listen for sounds of southern brown bandicoots foraging in the undergrowth.

The trail on Rockdale Hill, and leading to it from a clockwise direction, is mainly fire track.

Near the carpark there are 10 numbered posts marking sites of interest, view info about each on the Friends of Black Hill and Morialta’s website.

How to access the park

There are two roads to access the park:

  1. via Old Norton Summit Road, turn up Horsnells Gully Road, or
  2. from the top of the Parade, follow Coach Road, Bishop Street and Haven Road. Haven Road is a steep dirt road.

The park is located near the end of Horsnells Gully Road. The road seems to end at a quarry entrance (no entry), but near the quarry gate there is a small road to the right, with signs and a gate for Horsnell Gully Conservation Park. The road leads to a carpark. Please note that the gate is closed at sunset.

Downloads

Download KML/KMZ file
Download GPX file

Photos