The Complete Guide to Mount Lofty Summit and the Adelaide Hills Loop Trails

At 727 metres, Mount Lofty is the highest point in the Mount Lofty Ranges, and on a clear morning the summit lookout gives you the Adelaide CBD, the coast, Gulf St Vincent and the ranges rolling away in every direction. You’ll be sharing the climb with fitness walkers using it as a training benchmark, tourists after the view, and at least one person with a pram who’s clearly misjudged the gradient.

Where It Is and What You’re Actually Choosing Between

Mount Lofty sits in Cleland National Park, about 8km from the Adelaide CBD, and there isn’t just one way up.

Depending on your fitness, time and patience for crowds, you’re really choosing between three different experiences:

• Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty Summit — the classic, most direct, most popular climb
• The Steub Trail — a gentle, low-gradient alternative from Cleland Wildlife Park
• The Heysen Trail loop via Piccadilly — the longer, more scenic circuit for people who want a proper half-day out

The one thing to know before picking a route: these aren’t interchangeable versions of the same walk. Waterfall Gully is a genuine leg-burner. The Steub Trail is deliberately built for accessibility. The Heysen loop is a different day out entirely. Pick based on what you actually want, not just which one’s closest to your hotel.

Route 1: Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty Summit

This is Adelaide’s signature hike, and the one most people mean when they say “the Mount Lofty walk.” It’s a 4.4km climb one way (8.8km return), gaining around 450m in elevation on a fully sealed track that holds up even after rain.

What you’ll pass: First and Second Falls early in the climb — good spots to catch your breath and listen to the water before the trail steepens — and the Chinamans Hut ruins further along, where kangaroos are often grazing nearby.

Keep an eye up into the stringybark gums too; koalas are regularly spotted dozing in the branches along this route.

Difficulty: Genuinely challenging, not a casual stroll. Several sections are steep enough that this doubles as a proper fitness test for locals. Budget 2.5–3.5 hours return if you’re stopping for photos and a coffee at the top.

Parking: Fills quickly on weekends. Arrive early, or look at public transport into Waterfall Gully if you’d rather not compete for a spot.

Route 2: The Steub Trail (For an Easier Summit)

If the idea of a 450m elevation gain doesn’t appeal, the Steub Trail is the better call. It runs 3.8km from Cleland Wildlife Park to the summit (7.7km return), climbing gently through heathy woodland with a consistent, low-gradient path.

This one’s built for accessibility — it’s genuinely suitable for prams, wheelchairs with assistance, runners and casual walkers alike, not just marketed that way. You’ll get views over the park’s southern ridges and out to the Adelaide plains, and a real chance of spotting bandicoots, echidnas, yellow-tailed black cockatoos and kangaroos along the way. Allow around three hours return at an easy pace.

Route 3: The Heysen Trail Loop via Piccadilly

For a longer, more varied day, the Heysen Trail circuit runs about 7.5km and takes 3–5 hours, graded as moderate with prior bushwalking experience recommended. It winds through the village of Piccadilly, past a handful of picturesque cottages, then through the Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens and Cleland Conservation Park before finishing at the summit.

This is the route to take if you want more than a there-and-back climb — it’s a genuine change of scenery throughout rather than a single sustained ascent.

What’s Actually at the Summit

• The summit lookout — 360-degree views taking in the CBD, suburban sprawl, Gulf St Vincent, and the ranges to the north and south. On a clear day you can pick out Glenelg, Port Adelaide, and even Kangaroo Island.

• Summit Café — coffee and food for anyone who feels they’ve earned it, which after Waterfall Gully, you have.
• Cleland Wildlife Park — nearby, worth combining with your visit if you want close encounters with native animals rather than just spotting them on the trail.
• Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens — 97 hectares below the summit, including a rose garden, magnolia gully, woodland garden, and sculptures dotted throughout — a genuinely different pace if you want to wind down after the climb.

Best Time to Visit

• Time of day: Early morning gets you cooler temperatures for the climb and a quieter trail before the crowds arrive, particularly on Waterfall Gully.

• Season: Spring is worth planning around if you’re into wildflowers — orchids, wattles, pea flowers and other native blooms are out along the trail.
• Fire danger days: The trail is open year-round but can close on days of extreme fire danger — worth checking conditions before you head out in summer.

What to Bring

• Water, particularly in warmer months — there’s no shade relief for long stretches on the Waterfall Gully route
• Proper walking shoes for any of the three routes, even the “easy” Steub Trail has enough distance to matter
• A jacket if you’re heading up early — the summit is noticeably cooler and windier than the base

Nature and Landscape

The ranges sit on the traditional lands of the Kaurna and Peramangk people, for whom this country holds deep cultural and spiritual significance. The trail moves through native stringybark forest and fragrant eucalypt woodland on the way up, a genuinely different landscape to the manicured garden beds around the summit itself — worth noticing the contrast as you climb from one into the other.

Is It Worth the Climb?

Yes — but match the route to what you actually want out of the day. If you want a fitness challenge with a view as the reward, Waterfall Gully delivers exactly that. If you want the summit without punishing your legs, the Steub Trail gets you there just as surely. And if you’ve got half a day to spare and want variety over intensity, the Heysen loop through Piccadilly is worth the extra time.

Quick Facts

Parking at Waterfall Gully fills quickly on weekends — arrive early, or start from Cleland Wildlife Park via the Steub Trail instead.