The Walk
The Mylor to Cleland section of the Heysen Trail is one of the Adelaide Hills’ most serious single-day walks. Starting from the quiet village of Mylor on the valley floor at 301 metres, the route climbs relentlessly north through conservation land, reservation bushland and the ridge country near Mt Lofty, finishing at Cleland Conservation Park at 616 metres — with a high point of 672 metres in between. Total ascent over the 19.3 km is 925 metres. That’s more vertical than Waterfall Gully to Mt Lofty Summit, spread over more than twice the distance.
This is the section where the Heysen Trail stops being a pleasant walk and starts being a proper long-distance trail. It’s quiet, well-marked with the characteristic white posts and red diamond markers, and passes through genuinely remote conservation land that feels a long way from the suburban Hills towns. Bring it with someone who’ll set a steady pace and not complain about hills.
Setting Off from Mylor
Mylor is a small Hills township about 22 km from the CBD — quiet, residential, with the trail starting at its edge. There’s no dedicated trailhead car park or café; find street parking, fill your water bottles at home, and look for the white Heysen Trail post marking the start.
The first 3 km climbs steadily. Native scrub and eucalyptus close in quickly, and the suburb is behind you within minutes. It’s dense bush with good filtered morning light and, in autumn and winter, the kind of air that makes you glad you started early. The first significant views appear at around 3.3 km on the early ridgeline — south toward Mylor, east over the Hills. This is the first real indication of how far you’re climbing.
The Middle Section — Aldgate and Piccadilly Valley
After the initial ridge the trail moves into more varied terrain around the Aldgate Valley. The route alternates between native bushland and the edges of the settled hills — at one point you’re entirely within conservation land, at another you’re skirting a quiet road or passing through reserve land adjacent to farmland. The vegetation shifts: stringybark and peppermint gum dominate, with native grasses on the drier open slopes.
Around the 7.5 km mark the trail passes through the Piccadilly Valley section — a brief flattening before the main climb resumes. The Piccadilly Valley itself is a significant horticultural area in the Hills (known for cool-climate wine grapes and orchards), though this section of the trail stays mainly within the conservation land on the valley margins. If you’re doing lunch on the walk, this is a reasonable spot for a break — relatively flat, sheltered, and roughly at the halfway mark by time.
The Conservation Park Ascent
From around the 9 km mark, the trail commits to its long sustained climb. The landscape becomes more remote — dense native bush, fewer road crossings, and the elevation gain starts to accumulate seriously. This is Mount George Conservation Park territory, and the contrast with the earlier settled-hills sections is marked. The trail is well-marked throughout but the signage thins to the Heysen Trail posts; there are no interpretive boards or carved feature names.
Over roughly 6 km the route gains nearly 200 metres, reaching 542 m at a high point around the 14.5 km mark. The pace naturally slows. This is where the walk sorts itself out: the reward for the effort is genuine solitude on a well-graded track through intact native vegetation. The birdlife in the conservation park sections is excellent — expect grey fantails, white-throated tree creepers, striated thornbills and, if you’re quiet enough, the occasional glimpse of a Tawny Frogmouth roosting in a fork.
The High Country — Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens Approach
The route hits its high point of 672 metres near the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens — a managed botanical garden set on the Mt Lofty ranges that is worth visiting separately on another trip. From this elevation on a clear day the views west are excellent: the full Adelaide Plains, Gulf St Vincent, and on very clear days the outline of the Barossa ranges to the north.
The trail stays high across the ridge for a few kilometres before beginning a gentle descent toward the Cleland Conservation Park finish. The vegetation here shifts again — more open mixed scrub characteristic of the upper Lofty ranges, with exposed quartzite outcrops. The descent is gradual and the trail surface is good.
The Finish — Cleland Conservation Park
The trail finishes at Cleland Conservation Park, adjacent to the Cleland Wildlife Park entry on Entrance Road. The wildlife park is worth combining with the walk if you have energy remaining — it’s one of the better places in SA to see koalas, wombats and kangaroos in a managed native setting. There are toilets, a café and car parking immediately at the finish.
If you’ve arranged the Route 823 bus, the stop is a short walk from the wildlife park entry. Check the Adelaide Metro website for current timetable — services to the Hills are less frequent than metropolitan routes.
Highlights
- 925 m of cumulative ascent through genuine Adelaide Hills bushland — the Heysen Trail at its Hills best
- Quiet, low-traffic trail with long stretches of undisturbed conservation park
- Wide ridge views at 672 m toward Adelaide, Gulf St Vincent and the Barossa ranges
- Excellent birdlife through the conservation park sections — fantails, tree creepers, thornbills
- Cleland Wildlife Park and Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens at the finish for walkers with remaining energy
Bottom Line
This is the Heysen Trail doing what it’s designed to do — a serious, well-marked, rewarding long-distance section through genuine Hills country. The 925 m of ascent is no joke, and the point-to-point logistics require planning, but the result is a walk that earns its difficulty rating. The conservation park sections in particular feel properly remote despite being less than an hour from Adelaide.
The right audience: experienced day walkers who are comfortable on long hilly routes, prepared for minimal facilities and want something that goes beyond the popular suburban options.
Rating: 4.3 / 5 — One of the most rewarding hard-day walks accessible from Adelaide, held back only by the logistics of a two-car shuttle and the need to carry all your water.
Distance, elevation and surface type are derived from a GPS-recorded track. Figures are a close guide rather than survey-grade data. Surface classification reflects the predominant character of each segment — conditions vary with season and recent rainfall. See How Accurate Is Our Trail Data? for detail.