Version 4.9 of the Heysen Trail gpx file and Interactive map dated 15/5/25 is now available. Read more
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Help plant 760 trees on the Heysen Trail along the Bundaleer Channel, near Spalding.
If you are interested in being involved in this Greening Committee project, please contact Neil Nosworthy at neil@noztours.com.au or on 0447 922 617.
1. ‘Walk and Talk’ day – Saturday 25 May
Get a behind-the-scenes look at some outstanding environmental projects at Cape Jervis on this ‘Walk and Talk’ day.
Meet the Cape Jervis Coastal Community Group, COOTS group in action, Hooded Plover Recovery and Marine Debris Survey volunteers and others experts on this coast.
Visit the Natural Resources website for more information.
2. Tree planting – Saturday 1 June, Sunday 2 June
Join the tree planting efforts at the start of the Heysen Trail.
For more details view the tree planting invite or contact carolyn.schultz165@gmail.com.
The Greening Committee is looking for volunteers to help plant 600 trees along the Heysen Trail between Worlds End and Burra. We have scheduled the planting for Saturday 1st June, Sunday 2nd June and Monday 3rd June.
We are proceeding in cooperation with the End-to-End 5 group who will be walking from Worlds End to Burra and on to Wandallah over the weekend. If you wish, you can mix some walking with some tree planting.
If you are interested in being involved, please contact Neil via neil@noztours.com.au or on 0447 922 617.
There are two environmental programs in the coming month.
Firstly, the Cape Jervis Coastal Community Group is having a working bee on Saturday 6 April and Sunday 7 April, removing tree guards from Lands End, which will be repurposed elsewhere along the Heysen Trail, collecting plant material and a cuttings workshop. Further information is available on the CJCCG’s website.
Secondly, there is a Cactus Kill week near Palmer, organised by the SA Murray Darling Basin NRM Board. From Monday 29 April to Friday 3 May, accommodation is available, and day-trippers are welcome. Further information.
Hayley McCreath, a senior student from Woodcroft College, is researching hiking on the Heysen Trail for her SACE Research Project. Her question is “What preparations would need to be considered when walking the whole Heysen Trail?”.
Take a moment to fill in her survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M98WDB8
Answers are anonymous. The survey will take 2-7 minutes to fill in.
Hayley says, “I think that the trail is one of South Australia’s hidden gems so if you can help me to promote it through my Research Project I will be very grateful.”
The Adelaide Hills Council is seeking public feedback concerning their Draft 20 Year Trail Strategy. The vision is of a 104km core trail, with additional loops, linking Hills townships and existing trails within the council area.
The strategy builds on popular trails such as the Amy Gillett, Mawson and Heysen Trails to create greater connectivity between townships and to link popular attractions, cellar doors and market villages.
More information is available here:
The consultation process ends on 15 February, 2013.
There is a working bee near the southern trailhead of the Heysen Trail at Cape Jervis. Run by the Cape Jervis Coastal Community Group, volunteers are needed to assist on the weekend of the 1st and 2nd December.
Saturday 1st December
10am – 12.30pm: removing tree guards near Lands End (tree guards to be re-used by the Friends of the Heysen Trail)
12.30pm – 2pm: BBQ lunch provided
2pm – 4pm: woody weed lopping and seed collecting
Sunday 2nd December
10am – 12noon: seed sowing
Please contact Carolyn or Liz for more information and directions.
The re-print of the Southern Guidebook has been released. Stocks of the 2010 edition ran out mid this year.
The new guidebook has the same cover as the 2010 edition, but includes re-routes from the previous two years like the new spur trail into Victor Harbor. A few recent re-routes have not been included, these re-routes can be viewed on our website.
With the release of this edition, support for three older guidebooks has been suspended. Re-route notifications for the original 2004 Southern Guidebook, 2005 Northern Guidebook and 2007 Southern Guidebook will no longer be posted on the website.
Last Sunday’s Walk for Nature with Nature Foundation SA went well – a sunny day with $32,000 raised towards conservation projects.
The Friends of the Heysen Trail led two groups, Mary Cartland lead the 12km walk, and president Robert Alcock led a smaller group, including a number of families with pushers, on the 3km walk.
The Friends were proud to be involved in supporting the Nature Foundation who have been involved in many conservation projects in South Australia, some of which the Heysen Trail traverses.
A further two new shelters with water tanks and camp sites on the Heysen Trail have been completed, and are waiting for rain to fill the tanks. The two new camp sites are in the Mid-North near Spalding.
Details of the three new camp sites are as follows:
1. Whistling Trig Tank (view info page)
A windy campsite located on a trig point between Hallett and Spalding, Southern Guidebook chapter 6, map 9, view map.
2. Bundaleer Tank Campsite (view info page)
A campsite located beside Bundaleer Creek, between Spalding and Curnows Hut, Northern Guidebook, chapter 1, map 2, view map.
These two campsites will assist through-hikers on the Heysen Trail by closing some of the trail’s water gaps. The distances between campsites and water sources is now:
Check out the timelapse video of the construction work on the Bundaleer Tank on our Facebook page.
Thanks to Bronte Leak from the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR), Colin Edwards, John Potter, Albert Schmidke, Bob Randell and Julian Monfries for their work in the construction effort.
These water tanks are part of an programme of 11 new shelters and water tanks being constructed along the Heysen Trail. The last three shelters and water tanks were constructed in September, following on from the first four shelters and water tanks late last year. The remaining two shelters and water tanks have been fabricated and will be erected soon.
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