Norton Summit from Morialta

Elevation: 455m
Total Climb: 287m
Duration: 2 1/2 hours return (brisk walk, return) .. (not including time for a pint or two at the Scenic Hotel)
Road Walking: 2km
Views: 180 degrees of Adelaide from Scenic Hotel, and along New Norton Summit Road. Many Great views within the Morialta Gorge.
Travel Time from Adelaide: 26 minutes by car/ 48 minutes by bus (including a short additional walk to the Morialta trail head)
Features:

• Morialta Gorge
• Morialta Falls
• Rock Climbing
• The Scenic Hotel
• Morialta Barns

Mountain number 2 of 10 mountains in 5 weeks!

At 287 metres height difference from base to summit, this has to be one of the best "walks to the pub" in Australia. On mountain ranges with snow and skiing, there's hot chocolate and schnapps. In South Australia, there's pinot gris, cold pints, parmis and gourmet duck pies. This is one of those walks that many people talk about, but unlike the trail from Waterfall Gully to Mt Lofty, not too many people attempt the ultimate pub crawl from the bottom of Morialta Gorge to the Scenic Hotel in Norton Summit. Maybe because you can drive or ride a bike there instead. 

(note: it is still legal to walk along roadsides in South Australia with a blood alcohol concentration over .05).

Morialta Falls are heaps beautiful, especially from the Eagle Nest Lookout

Starting from the Morialta Conservation Park car park, you're greeted by two things, a multitude of helpful signs, and a multitude of people. If you're keeping a check list, be sure to not proceed until you've seen at least three groups of tourists pointing and taking photos of koalas sitting low in trees. This should take little more than 30 seconds. If you'd like to see koalas in the wild, this is one of the easiest places in Adelaide.

If you're keen, the park has some great rock climbing opportunities. BYO ropes and sense of adventure.

On a nice day, quite a few people frequent the park. Don't let this deter you, the majority walk up to the base of first falls, then back to the car park.

 You can take just about any of the trails to eventually wind your way up to Norton Summit Road and on to the Scenic Hotel, I chose the Morialta Plateau trail, which also joins with the Three Falls Hike, and the Yurrebilla and Heysen Trails. Also, this great little bench.

At the Eagle Nest lookout, you get treated to this really, really great view of the first falls.

At the top of first falls, there is another great lookout, which doesn't take you a huge way off of the trail.

From the top of the falls, you have a great view of the people who walk to the bottom of the falls. Also, in this picture you can make out my reflected sense of superiority in the clean waters of the mountain pool down below.

As well as great natural beauty, the lookout at the top of the falls also features this untitled work of white script on weathered iron. The artist is unknown, but the distance they were willing to climb to create this work speaks volumes about the lengths Hills' artists will go to to express themselves.

Beyond the first falls, which trail you take doesn't matter too much, and the signage is great.. but following the trail to the next waterfall is always a good idea. Everyone loves waterfalls.

At second falls, you begin to see the change in the microclimate, as you transition from the dry west facing slopes into the cooler, wetter upper reaches of the gorge. Here the grasses give way to blackberries and other lush, green, introduced species.

On the way to third falls, the creek crosses the trail a few times. This is not usually a problem, but after heavy rain the crossings may become more difficult.

Third falls, probably the most idyllic although small of the three is the final place you're likely to see another sight-seer.

After zig-zagging up the narrow trail from third falls, you have either the easy option, to Norton Summit Road to the right to get to The Scenic Hotel, or to the left via Moore Road to reach the hotel. Going to the right also gives you a chance to check out the rock climbing area which has some more great views if you have time.

As you reach Norton Summit Road, you're treated to some Adelaide Hills street art on the flat concrete surface of a small bridge. BMHR, wherever you are now I hope you're killing it.

Along Norton Summit Road there are a few spots where the space for pedestrians is minimal. It's not a very busy road, with only a few residents along it, however the winding ascent from Magill is popular with cyclists.

Before too long the Morialta Barns and Morialta Vineyard reserve appear on your left.

The barns are of historical significance, but I steer clear as locals assure me they are certainly haunted. The vineyard is great, as it is one of the few Hills vineyards open to the general public. It is also great because the vine rows are ended with agapanthus. At my funeral, I want agapanthus. No other device is more commonly used to define the end, limit, edge, or boundary of something. They are also very appropriate for funerals as the humble aggie is near impossible to kill. Dark times, bright flowers.

Around the corner from the vineyard, you are greeted by the sprawling view of forests and cherry orchards clinging to the steep, western slopes below Norton Summit.

In the bottom of the valley, you can see the Old Norton Summit Road which still carries local fruit to market in often blue canvas sided trucks.

Just before the pub, it's worth chucking a hard left to check out St John's Church.

There is a private residence behind the church, so please be respectful. Popular opinion suggests the church sits on the summit, and is the highest point.. although I'm not so sure. It is probably the highest point the public can access.

The church, unlike many in the small towns of the Adelaide Hills which have long since lost their congregations, is still fully functional with services every Sunday.

Just incase you felt your hot, sweaty self might not be welcome in a little country pub, the 'walkers welcome' sticker should be enough to reassure you.

There are loads of options at the Scenic Hotel, and it's a fantastic old building, cut into the side of the summit. I opted for a bar meal and a few pints down stairs with the locals. 

If you're looking for a meal in the restaurant or on the balcony up stairs bookings are usually required.

Everyday, across the road from the pub Sir Thomas Playford watches over the Hotel and the city of Adelaide with a box of cherries under his arm. These days he is often kept company by the hordes of cyclists who choose his small lawn as a rest stop after a challenging climb.

If after a meal and a few drinks you don't feel you can make the return trip, you can totally get an uber back to the Morialta car park, I won't judge (you did the hard part). 

If you do decide to walk off a few pinot grigios back down into the gorge, perhaps check out a different trail. I chose the Deep View lookout trail, which runs along the top of the cliffs on the north side of the gorge.

Definitely a worth while view. Very steep. A great example of the beauty on Adelaide's doorstep.

Remember! If you do take a few side trials, the park gates are locked around sunset each night.. so if you get too distracted, and parked a car within the park you could be locked in!

Mount George from Bridgewater

Elevation: 520m
Total climb: 130m
Duration: 1 hour run (could be done quicker) 1 1/2 to 2 hours walk (return)
Road Walking: None
Views: 180 degrees from ridge track
Travel time from Adelaide: 30mins by car/ 1 hour by bus
Features:

• Bridgewater Inn
• Bridgewater Mill Restaurant 
• Bridgewater Greengrocer & Cafe
• The Bridgewater Fairy Garden
• Street Art

Mount George, on the Heysen Trail between Bridgewater and Piccadilly is one of the more underrated short walks in the Adelaide Hills. While the section of trail between Bridgewater and the Mt George Picnic Grounds is very popular, less people frequent the little 520m summit.

Start and finish in Bridgewater, there's loads of parking, public transport, the pub, cafe (next to the supermarket) and the Bridgewater Mill restaurant. My personal preference is start with a coffee at the cafe, and finish with a pint at the pub. But do adjust this regime to suit your own personal fitness level.

The trail, heading west follows Cox Creek, and is largely uneventful apart from the two tunnels you pass through, which support some of the better Adelaide Hills street artists.

While most of the Adelaide Hills is known for it's serenity, this section of trail is an exception - passing under both the main rail and road routes linking Adelaide to Melbourne.

One highlight of Adelaide Hills quirkiness is the fairy settlement at the Deanery reserve just before the tunnel under the South Eastern Freeway.

No one is entirely sure how the fairy colonisation began, but many of the mounds of dirt and tree stumps of the area are now fairy habitat. The impact on indigenous fauna is yet to be determined, but for now a healthy balance seems to have been achieved.

On the other side of the freeway tunnel, the Mount George Picnic Grounds provide a large open area to suit a range of recreational activities. The most popular of which is dog walking. Dogs are prohibited within the conservation area that contains the summit, but are permitted on a lead along the trail to the picnic grounds. 

The lake at the picnic grounds is popular habitat for a variety of wildlife. 

If you continue along the Heysen Trail from here, you pass though Mt Lofty Golf Course and Woodhouse Scout Centre before reaching Piccadilly.

The trail to the summit is a little hard to find from here, you need to find this track, up hill across the car parking area from the lake:

And then go through this pedestrian gate (gate 5) beside this little shed:

You are then within the conservation area, remember, no dogs!

After this sign, follow the path around the dam to the left, until you find the start of the Ridge Track, it's all windy and fairly easy from there.

Following the twisting trail zig-zagging across the southern face of Mount George, you are finally rewarded with views like this from a series of weathered rocky outcrops looking across the stringy bark forests toward Aldgate and Stirling, with Mt Lofty and Mt Bonython Summits to the west.

While the view is pleasant, it is not quite serene. At dawn the chorus of birds is beautiful, and at times you can hear Cox Creek flowing down below.. but only in the breaks in the near constant noise of the traffic on the South Eastern Freeway.

The summit proper, like many in the Adelaide Hills is rounded and covered in trees. It's only a few metres higher than the rocky ridge before it, so the lack of view is no big deal.

The summit is accessible via a small side track linking to a fire track on the left not far from the views along the rocky out crop.

To return to the picnic grounds follow the ridge trail along, which joins the Lewis fire track for a section before finding your way back to gate 5.

Once following the Heysen Trail back to Bridgewater, the Inn has a good range of beer wine and cider, as well as a rather nice creekside outdoor dining area. Definitely worth a look after climbing one of the Hills' easiest mountains.

10 Mountains in 5 Weeks

After a not too thorough google search, I discovered no one is yet to assemble a list (or listicle) of Adelaide's most beautiful/interesting/accessible mountains.

Probably because almost all of them can be easily and quickly driven to the top of..
But for Australia's most accessible mainland mountain range from a capital city, this seems a great shame. (You can feasibly land at Adelaide International Airport and climb to the top of Mount Lofty within 2 hours of collecting your bags - weather and fitness permitting, and utilising a bike/bus/hire car to get to the end of Waterfall Gully Road).

The list of Adelaide's 10 mountains has only two loose criteria, be named a mountain, and to be located within the Southern Mount Lofty Ranges (which includes the Adelaide Hills wine region); Adelaide's closest mountain range, visible from Adelaide CBD.

walkingsa.org.au has over 300 great walks across the state. Many of the best of these involve the Heysen Trail, one of the world's longest marked walking trails, which also traverses the Southern and Northern Mount Lofty Ranges, between the Flinders Ranges to the north and Cape Jervis on the Fleurieu Peninsula to the south.

The list focusses on accessible walks, rather than true hikes, although there are many excellent rock climbing and hiking opportunities throughout the region.
Instead the list takes in proximity to other things the region is famous for; food, wine, pubs, small townships, and of course views.

The first of the 10 Mountains of Adelaide is Mount George, from Bridgewater via the Heysen Trail.