The Adelaide100®
A loop walking trail of over 100km that takes in the coast, waterways and hills of the capital city of South Australia.
The Adelaide100® is a trail is now open from Norton Summit to Glenthorne National Park-Ityamaiitpinna Yarta. These sections are via the River Torrens, the City and the coast and are marked with trail markers and walkable.
The remainder of the trail, completing the circuit from Glenthorne National Park-Ityamaiitpinna Yarta to Norton Summit is under development. These sections take in Happy Valley Reservoir, Sturt Gorge Recreation Park, Belair National Park, and through the Adelaide Hills via Stirling and Basket Range. Subscribe for section launch updates.
The Adelaide100® is a 100km circuit walk that traverses the city and the suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. It can be started from any point along the circuit, and spans from the beautiful coastline, through the CBD and suburbs, and into the Adelaide Hills. The circuit utilises existing trails, accommodation, and services.
Attractive and enjoyable walking environments are the foundation of healthy communities. The Adelaide100® will enable more people to walk more often.
Trail Sections
View sections of the Adelaide100® below. These are a guide, and the trail offers flexibility to start and end each of your walks at a number of locations.
There are seven trail sections, although you can adjust the start and end points of your walks. Three of the sections are fully open, and two and partially open.
The sections through the Adelaide Hills from Glenthorne National Park-Ityamaiitpinna Yarta to Monument Road Norton Summit are under construction.
You find out other trail information on our FAQ page.
Monument Road Norton Summit to Newton
Section 4B
21km (1 day)
This is the most rugged section of the Adelaide100® sections, with several large ascents and descents. Starting near Norton Summit, on Monument Road, the trail follows road reserves and roadsides before entering Morialta Conservation Park, passing numerous waterfalls and lookouts before descending into a gorge. This undulating section ascends to the summit of Black Hill, before descending back down to suburban Adelaide.
Newton to Adelaide City
Section 5
16.7km (½ day to 1 day)
This section of the Adelaide100® starts near Newton, at Thorndon Park, the first reservoir built to service the residents of Adelaide, and follows the River Torrens / Karrawirra Parri into central Adelaide. Enjoy the majestic gums and birdlife as you follow the meandering river and River Torrens Linear Park.
Adelaide City to West Beach
Section 6
14.2km (1 day)
This section of the Adelaide100® starts on the banks of the River Torrens / Karrawirra Parri in central Adelaide. The trail follows the river down the Torrens Linear Park to the where the river meets the coast, before turning south for a 2km walk along the foreshore to West Beach. A pleasant walk following the meandering river on a mainly downhill gradient.
West Beach to Kingston Park
Section 7
11km (½ day)
This section of the Adelaide100 starts on the foreshore at West Beach, and follows the Coast Park Path south around Holdfast Bay, past Glenelg and Brighton. The trail continues south to the section end and Tjilbruke Monument at Kingston Park, where the Adelaide100® trail heads inland back towards the hills.
Kingston Park to Glenthorne National Park-Ityamaiitpinna Yarta
Section 1A
10.2km (2-3 hours)
This section of the Adelaide100® starts at the beach at Kingston Park. The trail ascends from the beach through sidestreets to reach the first in a series of large reserves and national parks, the O’Halloran Hill Recreation Park. Currently the trail ends near the southern boundary of Glenthorne National Park-Ityamaiitpinna Yarta. The trail will continue east towards Happy Valley Reservoir and Sturt Gorge Recreation Park to Belair National Park.
Glenthorne National Park-Ityamaiitpinna Yarta to Belair National Park
Section 1B Under Construction
This section of the Adelaide100® is under construction, and is not yet marked or open.
Belair National Park to Stirling
Section 2 Under Construction
This section of the Adelaide100® is under construction, and is not yet marked or open.
Stirling to Basket Range
Section 3 Under Construction
This section of the Adelaide100® is under construction, and is not yet marked or open.
Basket Range to Monument Road Norton Summit
Section 4A Under Construction
This section of the Adelaide100® is under construction, and is not yet marked or open.
Trail Map
View detailed trail maps by visiting the pages for each trail section.
Elevation Profile
Kaurna Cultural Sites
View Kaurna Cultural Sites along key sections of the Adelaide100® trail.
You can also view these locations on the interactive map, by selecting the Kaurna Interpretive Sites checkbox.
You can also download and view these sites in a booklet.
River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
Kaurna Burial Site – Tennyson Bridge – Walkerville Terrace
Section 5 Newton to Adelaide City
At the corner of Stephens Terrace and Tenth Avenue, St Peters, near the Tennyson Bridge was an important Kaurna burial ground. It was one of the oldest Kaurna burial grounds in Adelaide. The Kaurna were bound by lore to bury their dead on Country. They believed that after death, the soul would leave and then […]
River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
Karraku – Hackney Ford – SA Company Mill
Section 5 Newton to Adelaide City
Karraku (ochre) was extracted and used by the Kaurna for millennia. Ochre was a sign of all that was sacred, of all that connected the Kaurna to Country and was handed down by the Ancestors. It was an important part of traditional lore and was necessary for ceremony. It was mixed with water, blood, the […]
River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
Botanic Park – Kaurna Camping Place – Karra (Ancient Red Gum)
Section 5 Newton to Adelaide City
This area of the parklands was a camping ground for the Kaurna as it was situated alongside the Karrawirra Pari amid an ancient forest of River Red Gums. The Karra trees were used by the Kaurna for shelters, for implement-making and as cultural markers. Close by, remains one of two ancient River Red Gums in […]
River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
Tarntanyangga – Victoria Square
Section 5 Newton to Adelaide City
Section 6 Adelaide City to West Beach
The Tarntanya clan (Red Kangaroo Dreaming) of the Kaurna people gathered at this significant location, Tarntanyangga. This place’s central position and its unique configuration along north-south and east-west axes on a plateau are integral to Kaurna Dreaming. For thousands of years, cultural knowledge and understanding were shared here through songs, dances, stories, rituals, and the […]
River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
Government House & King William Street
Section 5 Newton to Adelaide City
The story of the Kaurna Nation is a remarkable story of survival given the extraordinary impact of British colonisation on Kaurna Country from 1836. Reconstructing precolonial landscapes is essential in understanding what shaped Kaurna cultural beliefs and practices. It is also a common theme in colonisation that institutions representing the judicial, military, economic and cultural […]
River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
Tarnta Kanya – Festival Theatre
Section 5 Newton to Adelaide City
Section 6 Adelaide City to West Beach
For the Kaurna, The Dreaming or Munaintya translates as a complex set of beliefs that tell of creation, lore, and spiritual relationships and refers to a time when the world was created and came into existence. In the beginning, there was only a flat, featureless plain. Then, the Creator Ancestors began to stir and emerged […]
River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
Tarntanya Wama – Adelaide Oval
Section 5 Newton to Adelaide City
Section 6 Adelaide City to West Beach
The word for Adelaide is Tarntanya, and the word for plain is wama, which is now used for Adelaide Oval. Before colonisation, this was a Kaurna ceremonial site below Montefiore Hill and adjacent to the River Torrens/Karrawirra Pari. It was of particular significance to the Kaurna as a significant camping ground and gathering place. It […]
River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
A Kaurna Cultural Landscape – Montefiore Hill
Section 6 Adelaide City to West Beach
Montefiore Hill as depicted by Colonel Light on his original 1837 ‘Plan of Adelaide’ was part of the North Adelaide plateau which offered distant views across north, south, east and west of Adelaide. The Adelaide Plains were criss-crossed with the Dreaming tracks of ancestral spirits, but only fragments of this rich cultural understanding remain. Before […]
River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
Tininyawardli ‘The Colonial Store’ & The Adelaide Golf Club
Section 6 Adelaide City to West Beach
The Colonial Store was situated on the slope of Montefiore Hill below Strangways Terrace in North Adelaide. It was one of the earliest buildings erected by the South Australian colonial authorities on Pirltawardli. The Colonial Store Manager, William Williams (1803-1858), had acquired some knowledge of the Kaurna language and acted as an intermediary between the […]
River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
Pirltawardli ‘Brush Tail Possum House’ Native Location – Torrens Weir
Section 6 Adelaide City to West Beach
In October 1838, two Lutheran missionaries named Christian Teichelmann and Clamor Schürmann of the Dresden Mission Society arrived in Adelaide. They immediately set about learning the local Kaurna language by living with the Kaurna at their camp at Pirltawardli referred to as the ‘Native Location’. The Dresden Missionaries immersed themselves in Kaurna customs, language and […]
River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
Old Adelaide Gaol – 18 Gaol Road
Section 6 Adelaide City to West Beach
In 1840, Governor George Gawler (1795-1869) called for tenders for the construction of a public gaol on the west parklands in the newly established city of Adelaide. Designed by colonial architect George Strickland Kingston (1805-1880), it was to replace the temporary stockade known as ‘The Stone Jug’ located in the grounds of Government House on […]
River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
Karrauntungga – Hindmarsh Triangle – Adam Street Reserve
Section 6 Adelaide City to West Beach
Triangular Section 353 was the first private town laid out in the Province of South Australia. It was owned by Sir John Hindmarsh (1785-1860), the first Governor of South Australia. On 28 December 1836, Governor Hindmarsh had proudly proclaimed ‘that Aborigines were equally entitled to the privileges of British Subjects’. After a tumultuous fifteen months, […]
River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
The Ancient Red Sand Dunes – Kooyonga Golf Course, Henley Beach Road, Lockleys
Section 6 Adelaide City to West Beach
The Kooyonga Golf Course at Lockleys contains rare remnant native vegetation from precolonial settlement. It is a significant Kaurna site concerning the once ancient red dunes of the Adelaide Plains. This area was once a forest of Native Pines (Callitris preissii), Peppermint Gums (Eucalyptus odorata), Black Tea Tree (Melaleuca lanceolata), and She-oaks (Allocasuarina verticillata). The […]
River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
Breakout Creek West Beach – River Torrens Karrawirra Pari
Section 6 Adelaide City to West Beach
The Kaurna believed that the Karrawirra Pari (Red Gum River) was a sacred river. It was the embodiment of the Rainbow Serpent, the most powerful of all the Creator Ancestors in the Dreaming. Before colonisation, the Karrawirra Pari meandered its way from the foothills to an area known as Witungga or the reedbeds. Of cultural […]
Latest News
New Booklet Celebrates 14 Kaurna Interpretive Sites Along Karrawirra Pari / River Torrens on the Adelaide100®
Walking SA, in collaboration with Preventive Health SA, is proud to launch a new interpretive booklet celebrating 14 culturally significant Kaurna sites along Karrawirra Pari (River Torrens) as part of the Adelaide100® trail. This richly illustrated and culturally sensitive resource was authored by historian Denise Schumann, Schumann and Aunty Lynette Crocker. It offers walkers an immersive experience into the living culture of the Kaurna people — the Traditional Custodians of the Adelaide Plains.
Adelaide100® trail of 70km / 4 days now officially open from Norton Summit to Glenthorne National Park-Ityamaiitpinna Yarta
The Adelaide100® trail is now officially open from Norton Summit to Majors Road, near Glenthorne National Park-Ityamaiitpinna Yarta. These sections traversing 70km / 4 days via Morialta Conservation Park, the River Torrens / Karrawirra Parri, the city and the coast are marked and ready for walking. Download one of the free maps to get started.
A Walk Can Work Wonders – Join us exploring two sections of the Adelaide100® trail
Sun 28 May at West Beach and Sun 18 June at Happy Valley Reservoir. As part of A Walk Can Work Wonders we’re hosting two events to explore sections of the new Adelaide100® trail. Each event will have a short 3km walk and a longer 8km+ walk. The walks are FREE to participate and offer short or long walk challenges. We encourage walkers to bring along a buddy, and introduce someone new to the beauty of walking.
Nine years in the making and almost there, a reflection on the Adelaide100® trail
by Jim McLean As a kid on Sunday School Picnics in the Belair National Park, I was dubbed “Mountain Goat” for the ease with which
Adelaide100® Trail Launch, 7km showcase walk
Sunday 11 October 2020 Pinky Flat, Adelaide. Join us to celebrate the launch of the first section of the Adelaide100® trail. The 7km showcase walk starts from Pinky Flat, following the linear trail along the beautiful River Torrens / Karrawirra Parri. Walking upstream past Adelaide Oval before crossing the river at Hackney Bridge and returning past the zoo and Elder Park. Passing the Festival Centre and Convention Centre, the walk continues under Montefiore Road, crossing the river over the weir before returning to Pinky Flat. Registration is free.
25% of Adelaide100® trail marking completed with new City of Holdfast Bay section
Have you spotted any Adelaide100® posts while out walking? 25% of the trail has now been installed with the recent completion of the 11km through the City of Holdfast Bay, including the marina and lock at the Patawalonga, spectacular coastal views, and the Tjilbruke Monument. Thank you to all the Holdfast Bay staff who helped with the installation of this section!
The next stage of the Adelaide100® trail progresses
Walking SA is currently engaged in negotiating with fourteen property stakeholders along the 100 plus km route of the new walking trail the Adelaide100®. Local government of the north eastern suburbs immediately recognised the worth of the project. The Campbelltown City Council, the City of Tea Tree Gully and the City of Port Adelaide Enfield quickly committed support and resources to the portions of the trail traversing their regions.
Work continues on bringing the vision of the Adelaide100® trail to fruition
We’ve started working through Stage 2 of bringing the Adelaide100® trail to reality. Stage 2 is focussed on the advanced planning of some of the
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