Year: 2022

The Friends Office Closure

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Office Closure

The Friends of the Heysen Trail office will close over the Christmas and New Year period at 2.30pm on Friday, December 9th 2022.

Office Volunteers will return for an Information Day on Monday, February 6th 2023 with normal office operations commencing the following day, Tuesday, February 7th 2023 from 10.30am.

If you contact the office (by email or telephone) over the closure period, it is unlikely that we will respond to your enquiry until the office reopens. We recommend that you refer to the website for any information you may need.

The 2023 Heysen Trail calendars are still available for purchase on-line or for collection at the office. If you ordered one for collection but haven’t yet done so, don’t forget to pick it up before the office closes.

Online Shop Sales

While the office is closed, the online shop will remain open for business and we will endeavour to despatch shop orders within 5 working days of being received. If you want to shop for last minute Christmas purchases, we undertake to dispatch any orders received by midday on Wednesday, December 14th on that day.

Please note that Australia Post has advised that for parcel delivery by Christmas (within Australia exc. WA / NT) the following timeframes will apply:

  • Send Parcel Post by Monday, 12th December 2022 (WA / NT – send by Wednesday, 7th December 2022)
  • Send Express Post by Monday, 19th December 2022 (WA / NT – send by Wednesday, 14th December 2022).

For Regular Post (cards / letters) within SA, send by Monday, 19th December 2022 (interstate – send by Thursday, 15th December 2022).

Walk Registrations

Although the office is closed you can still register for Summer and other walks online during the closure period.

Merry Christmas

The Office Volunteers wish all members and supporters a Merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year.

The Heysen Trail is currently closed due to the Fire Danger Season

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Most of the Heysen Trail is currently closed due to the Fire Danger Season, however sections through parks, reserves and road reserves remain open. The Wild South Coast Way on the Heysen Trail between Cape Jervis and Victor Harbor remains open, but is closed on days of Catastrophic fire danger. The rest of the Heysen Trail will reopen at the end of the Fire Danger Season, between 15 and 30 April 2023.

The Fire Ban Season dates for 2022/2023 are:

  • between Cape Jervis and Tanunda in the Barossa Valley: The Fire Danger Season in the Mt Lofty Ranges will commence on 1 December 2022 and end on 30 April 2023. The Wild South Coast Way on the Heysen Trail between Cape Jervis and Victor Harbor remains open, but is closed on days of Catastrophic fire danger.
  • between Tanunda in the Barossa Valley and Wirrabara Forest: The Fire Danger Season in the Mid North will commence on 15 November 2022 and end on April 30th 2023.
  • between Wirrabara Forest and Parachilna in the Flinders Ranges: The Fire Danger Season in the Flinders ends on April 15th 2023.

Heysen Trail Calendar 2023 available now. Only $12!

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The Friends of the Heysen Trail Calendar 2023 is now available.

Just a reminder that copies of the Heysen Trail Calendar 2023 are in the Office and available for immediate pick up or delivery.

The calendar offers beautiful photographic images taken by our members and, at $12 a copy, offers great value and an opportunity to support the work of The Friends. Get one for your wall at home or work. They also make excellent Christmas gifts for family and friends, both here in SA or interstate and overseas.

Order from our On-line shop for delivery by post.

By ordering the calendar from our On-line shop you can request postage to an address in Australia or overseas. Postage charges to any address within Australia (for a single copy) will be an additional $4.80.

Order online now

Save postage – pick your calendar up from the Office.

If you prefer, save the cost of postage by picking up your calendar from the Office. The volunteers there would love to see you.

Fire Danger Season closes some sections of the Heysen Trail north of Tanunda

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Fire Danger Season has closed sections of the trail in the Mid North fire danger district

In the 2022/23 Fire Danger Season news item issued earlier, we advised walkers that restrictions would commence in the Flinders fire danger district on Nov 1 and in the Mid North district on Nov 15.
This means that some sections of the Heysen Trail north of Tanunda are now closed.

Over the fire danger season, the Heysen Trail is closed in the sections that traverse private property. However, apart from broadcast fire ban days, you can still access some sections of the trail. Those sections include national parks, conservation parks, forest reserves and public roads.

We recommend that you check more detailed information about those sections on our Fire Danger Season page.

 

 

 

Feral animal control program affects Heysen Trail at Jupiter Creek – Nov 14th to 18th 2022

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Temporary exclusion area at Jupiter Creek

SA Water has issued a temporary trail re-route notification for a section of the Heysen Trail at Jupiter Creek.

The trail re-route will occur during the week of Monday 14th – Friday 18th November, 2022.

The reason for the re-route is because an aerial operation to control deer and goats will be undertaken in the Mount Bold Reservoir Reserve

During the operation publicly accessible areas of the Mount Bold Reservoir Reserve will be closed to the public. The adjoining ForestrySA Jupiter Creek and McIntyres forest reserves will also be closed to the public.

Temporary trail re-route

A temporary re-route will be in place during the operation, so walkers are not greatly inconvenienced. Signs will be in place to direct walkers onto nearby public roads.

The map of the temporary re-route is shown here

The affected section of the Heysen Trail is between the following points:

  • from the southern access to McIntyres forest reserve (Gate MI2, Razorback Rd) – Grid Reference 936 088,
  • to the northern access to Jupiter Creek forest reserve (accessed via Long Gully Rd) – Grid Reference 945 123.

You can find the Jupiter Creek section of the Heysen Trail on Heysen Trail Sheetmap 2A and Southern Guidebook Maps 2.10 & 3.1.

Signage will be in place to assist walkers

To prevent access by members of the public, signage providing information about the area closures will be erected at all main access points, including the Heysen Trail access points to the ForestrySA forest reserves.

A sign will be placed at the northern access point to Jupiter Creek forest reserve, directing walkers along the northern boundary of the forest reserve to Pocock Rd, where they will continue south to re-join the trail on Razorback Rd.

A similar sign will be placed at the southern access point.

A helicopter will fly over but not shoot in the forest reserves. Mobile patrols will be present to prevent access to closed areas.

Friends of the Heysen Trail 2023 calendar now in store. Only $12!

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The Friends of the Heysen Trail 2023 calendar is here now.

Make sure you order your copies of the calendar early to get in on the low price of $12.00.

Get one for your wall at home or work or buy some as Christmas gifts for family and friends.

The calendar was delivered to the Office in early November.

Order from our On-line shop for delivery by post.

By ordering the calendar from our On-line shop you can request postage to an address in Australia or overseas. We will be posting out the first orders within the next week.

Postage charges to any address within Australia (for a single copy) will be an additional $4.80.

Order online now

Any orders made through our On-line shop will have the shipping charge added to the cost.

Save postage  – pick your copy from our Office or the Christmas Bash.

You can also order the calendar for pick up from the Office.  If you can get into the Office you can take delivery yourself – we will let you know when they’ve arrived.

If you are attending the Friends Christmas Bash at Karka Pavilion, Belair National Park on Sunday November 13th, you can also collect your ordered calendar there.

To order a ‘pick up’ copy without paying postage, you need to call into or phone the Office to order and pay.

Fire Danger Season closes some Flinders sections of the Heysen Trail

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Fire Danger Season has closed sections of the trail in the Flinders fire danger district

In the 2022/23 Fire Danger Season news item issued earlier this week, we advised walkers that fire restrictions have commenced in the Flinders fire danger district.
This includes sections of the Heysen Trail north of Wirrabara.

Over the fire danger season, the Heysen Trail is closed in the sections that traverse private property. However, apart from broadcast fire ban days, you can still access some sections of the trail. Those sections include national parks, conservation parks, forest reserves and public roads.

We recommend that you check more detailed information about those sections on our Fire Danger Season page.

Animal control programs are also planned soon for reserves in the Flinders district

In addition to these closures, we have been advised of a number of feral animal control programs commencing this weekend that may also affect walkers in this district.

The Mount Brown & Dutchman Stern Conservation Parks

During the Fire Danger Season, walkers are still able to walk the Heysen Trail through conservation parks, provided  it is not a broadcast fire ban day.
However, both the Dutchman Stern & Mount Brown Conservation Parks will be closed for pub­lic safe­ty while a pest con­trol pro­gram is car­ried out from 6am on Saturday November 5th to 2pm on Friday November 11th 2022.

Mount Brown Conservation Park is just south of Quorn. You can find it on Heysen Trail Mapsheets 6C and Northern Guidebook Maps 3.7 & 3.8. There is further information about this park closure on the Parks Closure & Alerts page.

Dutchman Stern Conservation Park is just north of Quorn. You can find it on Heysen Trail Mapsheets 6D & 7A and Northern Guidebook Maps 4.1 & 4.2. There is further information about this park closure on the Parks Closure & Alerts page

 

 

Buckaringa Sanctuary

Buckaringa Sanctuary will be closed from the evening of Friday November 4th to the morning of Wednesday November 9th 2022.
Australian Wildlife Conservancy, the managers of Buckaringa, will also be conducting feral animal control works.

Buckaringa Sanctuary can be located on Heysen Trail Mapsheets 6D & 7A and Northern Guidebook Maps 4.6 & 4.7.

As Buckaringa is on private property, the Heysen Trail through the sanctuary is closed at this time of the year as a matter of course.  We are providing this notice as an additional warning to walkers.

 

 

 

Heysen Trail closure dates over the 2022-2023 Fire Danger Season

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The Country Fire Service  (CFS) has announced the dates for the 2022/23 Fire Danger Season.

Many sections of the Heysen Trail are closed during the Fire Danger Season. As the trail passes through several fire ban districts, the trail closures commence progressively from Tuesday November 1st.

Flinders District Fire Danger Season to commence on 1st November 2022.

The Flinders District covers the Heysen Trail north of Wirrabara.  The trail in this section includes Melrose, Wilmington, Quorn, Hawker, Wilpena Pound, the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park through to the northern end of the trail at Parachilna Gorge.

This section of the trail will be closed between November 1st 2022 and April 15th 2023.

Mid North District Fire Ban Season to start on 15th November 2022.

The Mid North District includes the trail between north of Tanunda  and south of Wirrabara. The Heysen Trail between these locations will close on November 15th 2021 and reopen on April 30 2022.

Mount Lofty Ranges Fire Ban Season to commence on 1st December 2022

The CFS has also announced the fire danger season for the Mt Lofty District will commence on 1st December 2022 and continue through until midnight on 30th April 2023.

As indicated above the Heysen Trail will reopen during April/May 2023. The re-opening dates vary across the three Fire Ban Districts the Trail passes through.

Some sections of the trail remain open over the Fire Danger Season

During the declared fire danger season some sections of the Heysen Trail remain open to walkers. They are principally the sections of the trail that are not on private land. These include public roads, Conservation Parks and Reserves, Forests and vacant land.

Please note that Conservation Parks and Reserves and Forests are closed on days of Total Fire Ban. The CFS publishes these bans, as does the Bureau of Meteorology. In addition, the media also broadcast weather reports including fire ban information.

If you want to walk on the trail, check which Fire District you will be in. The Fire Districts are listed on the Fire Danger Season page and shown on the Interactive Map on the Friends website.

New Heysen Trail Map 1, including the Wild South Coast Way.

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Release of the new Heysen Trail Map 1, incorporating the Wild South Coast Way

The Friends have taken delivery of the revised version of the Heysen Trail map sheet 1.  The newly released Edition 2 map covers the Cape Jervis to Kuitpo section of the trail. It incorporates the Wild South Coast Way on the Heysen Trail – the 74 km long series of spectacular walks between Cape Jervis & Victor Harbor.

You can purchase the new map sheet now via our online store, for $15 with postage from $3.70.

The map shows several spur and loop trails associated with the Wild South Coast Way, the new ‘walk-in’ campsites and other facilities erected on the trail. It also has information about when you can walk the Wild South Coast Way – it is open year round except on days of Cat­a­stroph­ic fire danger.

Remember, you can sign up to receive re-route notifications for your map sheet editions. All map sheets published since 2014 are available for notification.

The Friends map and book clearance sale continues

Meanwhile the Friends map and book clearance sale continues. We are running low on stock of most of our ‘to be discontinued lines’.

We’ve sold our last copy of Warren Bonython’s classic, ‘Walking the Flinders Ranges’. However, we have been advised that the Royal Geographical Society have a few remaining copies. If you missed out on reading the story that led to the creation of the Heysen Trail, you can purchase the book from the RGSSA .

Walk Leader Training

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Some people find leading a walk to be a very rewarding experience.

Do you have a favourite walk that you would like to share with others?
Are you interested or considering leading one or more walks for the Friends?

Why don’t you give it a try?

Prospective leaders or anyone thinking about what is involved are welcome to attend the Walk Leader Training scheduled for Saturday 15th October.

The half day session will lead you through the basics of what is involved in leading a walk.

To start the day, a panel of experienced leaders will introduce the skills needed to lead a walk. You may find that you have them already.

Depending on your interest or experience, you may prefer to lead short walk such as a Summer walk or a Trail Starter. The day will also cover what is involved with leading a Trailwalker or even End to End walks.

There will be an interactive session to answer your questions. After that attendees will break into small groups to plan a walk.

You can find out more about the event and register here.
After registering you will receive some information to help you prepare for the training. This will be sent out a few days prior to the day.

The Walk Committee will support you.

This is a great opportunity to understand what is involved in leading a walk with the Friends of the Heysen Trail.
Our many walking members need leaders, so other leaders will help you!