About the Walking Trail

The River Trail follows the Sturt River through Sturt Gorge. It explores the rugged beauty of the river, including waterfalls, flowing creeks and rocky gorges.

The trail can be adventurous, with 9 river crossings and some rock scrambling. After rain expect the river to be higher, and the stepping-stones across the 9 river crossings may be underwater.

Begin on Main South Road and walk through Riverside Reserve, then along Adam’s Orchard Trail from the end of Riverside Drive, Bedford Park. Or begin at Edgar Street, Bedford Park. Follow the trail to the eastern end of Sturt Gorge Recreation Park, where the trail emerges on Coromandel Parade beside Horners Bridge. Built in 1886 Horners Bridge is a large stone arch bridge, and was the first bridge across the Sturt River. It was on the original Adelaide to Goolwa Road, which was superseeded when motor cars became popular (and the road unsuitable for fast travel).

The trail could be walked one-way by using Adelaide Metro public buses to return, from Bus Stop 28 Main South Road to Bus Stop 37B Coromandel Parade.

Options to Extend the Hike

• Continue into the hills and west along the Sturt River Linear Park – Coromandel Valley to Frank Smith Park in Coromandel Valley. As of mid 2015 there is a 900m gap between the end of the River Trail at Horners Bridge, and the start of the Sturt River Linear Park. Plans are underway to construct Stage 3 (to close this gap), in the meantime it is possible to walk the 900m using local streets
• Continue out from South Road towards the coast and east along the Sturt River Linear Park – South Road to Anzac Highway