Trail Status (Open/Close)

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Animal control program on the Fleurieu Peninsula, 19-30 September 2022

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Map of the Wild South Coast Way, the Heysen Trail along the southern coastline of the Fleurieu Peninsula

Warning to walkers on the Wild South Coast Way on the Heysen Trail.

There will be an extensive aerial cull of feral deer on the Fleurieu Peninsula by PIRSA and other organisations, with the support of local landholders, between 19 and 30 of September 2022.

Walkers may be affected if in the region of  Boat Harbour Beach, Tunkalilla Beach and the trail to Ballaparudda Creek campground.

The cull will use helicopters carrying thermal technology to detect deer, allowing them to be culled even in dense scrub. Flights will be on week days and weekends, mainly around dawn and dusk, when thermal cameras can detect targets most easily.

The Wild South Coast Way will remain open to walkers during the operation

No shoot and low flying buffers will be put in place around the Wild South Coast Way (Heysen Trail) and Bullaparudda campground, as well as public roads and infrastructure.

There is no risk to people or livestock, but if you are in affected areas you may hear low flying helicopters and the sound of gun shots in the distance.

You can find out more information about the operation on the Parks Closure and Alerts page.

Bio Security alert – Be aware of the potential dangers of Foot & Mouth Disease

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With the increasing risk of Foot and Mouth Disease (F&MD) being introduced to Australia, it is essential that walkers take precautions to combat the potential spread of FM&D and other soil borne diseases.

As the Heysen Trail (and many other walking trails) traverse private properties, it is important that we respect and protect the agricultural activities that are conducted by landholders.

What we can do to stop the spread

Therefore walkers are asked to clean your footwear, clothing and equipment, including walking poles, so they are free from mud, animal manure and mucus.

  1. Use a stiff brush to clean boots & poles to remove dirt and seeds,
  2. Wash the equipment in water to remove any remaining contaminants,
  3. If possible, immerse your boots in a foot bath
  4. If a foot bath is not available, use a spray bottle with any of the following cleaning agents:
    • soap,
    • detergent,
    • bleach,
    • vinegar,
    • citric acid,
    • percarbonate.

Find out more about Foot and Mouth Disease (F&MD).

Heysen Trail closure through the Buckaringa Sanctuary, Friday 26th to Monday 29th August 2022.

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The Buckaringa Sanctuary will be temporarily closed for 3 days in late August 2022. As the Heysen Trail passes through the sanctuary, we advise walkers to consider the closure if planning to walk in the area.

The closure will commence on the evening of Friday 26th August and continue until the morning of  Monday 29th August 2022.

 

 

The Buckaringa Wildlife Sanctuary is home to many Yellow-footed Rock-wallabies and is located between Quorn and Hawker. You can find it on map 6, chapter 4, of the Heysen Trail Northern Guidebook and on Sheet Map 7b – Dutchmans Stern Conservation Park to Mernmerna Creek.

The Heysen Trail enters the southern boundary of the sanctuary at grid reference 195 440. The northern section on the trail exits the sanctuary at 257 490.

The closure affects the trail in the following walk sections:

51 Warren Gorge to Buckaringa Gorge

52 Buckaringa Gorge to Callabrinda Creek

The closure is because the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) will be undertaking feral animal control in the sanctuary.

AWC will place closure signs at all entry points to the sanctuary to warn walkers of the danger.

Heysen Trail closure through the Buckaringa Sanctuary, Friday 1st July to Wednesday 6th July 2022.

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The Buckaringa Sanctuary will be temporarily closed for 5 days in early July 2022. As the Heysen Trail passes through the sanctuary, we advise walkers to consider the closure if planning to walk in the area.

The closure was originally planned for early June. Due to a number of factors the new dates for the closure are :

  • Commencing at 5pm on the evening of  Friday 1st July through to 8am on Wednesday 6th July 2022.

 

The sanctuary is home to many Yellow-footed Rock-wallabies and is located between Quorn and Hawker. You can find it on map 6, chapter 4, of the Heysen Trail Northern Guidebook and on Sheet Map 7b – Dutchmans Stern Conservation Park to Mernmerna Creek.

The closure affects the trail in the following walk sections:

51 Warren Gorge to Buckaringa Gorge

52 Buckaringa Gorge to Callabrinda Creek

 

The closure is because the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) will be undertaking feral animal control in the sanctuary.

AWC will place closure signs at all entry points to the sanctuary to warn walkers of the danger.

Heysen Trail closure near the Buckaringa Sanctuary, 26th to 30th August and 7th to 11th October 2021

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The Buckaringa Sanctuary will be temporarily closed over 2 weekends in late August and mid-October 2021. As the Heysen Trail passes close to the sanctuary, we advise walkers to consider the closure if planning to walk in the area.

  • The planned closures are : 
  • Evening of Thursday 26 August to Morning of Monday 30 August
  • Evening of Thursday 7 October to Morning of Monday 11 October

 

The sanctuary is home to many Yellow-footed Rock-wallabies and is located between Quorn and Hawker. You can find it on map 6, chapter 4, of the Heysen Trail Northern Guidebook and on Sheet Map 7b – Dutchmans Stern Conservation Park to Mernmerna Creek.

The closure is because the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) will be undertaking feral animal control in the sanctuary.

AWC will place closure signs at all entry points to the sanctuary to warn walkers of the danger.

Reminder of a change to the Heysen Trail in the former Bundaleer Forest.

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We remind walkers that, as previously announced, there have been a series of changes to the Heysen Trail in the vicinity of Curnows Hut and the former Bundaleer Forest.

In the ‘Heysen Trail reopens on Saturday May 1st 2021‘ news item, we referred to a number of  re-routes along the trail.

One of those, Item 3 Bundaleer, advised a change of the route in April 2021 to follow the Bundaleer Greenway. That re-route considerably lengthened the trail.

On 30 June 2021 we updated the news item to say that the Department of Environment and Water had reversed that re-route.

As a result the original trail between Curnows Hut and New Campbell Hill has been reinstated.

This is a significant change to the trail between Curnows Hut and Raeville. That walk, shown as Section 35 of the Heysen Trail Walk Selector, returns to 20 kms.

Any reference to the change of the trail to follow the Bundaleer Greenway was removed from our website Re-route page in June.

August edition of the Trailwalker

The upcoming August edition of the Trailwalker magazine, contains an article ‘Heysen Trail Route News’.

The article on page 7 includes an item headed ‘Bundaleer Forest’. The item describes the April 2021 change to follow the Greenway.

That article was written prior to the 30 June reinstatement of the original route.

In order to eliminate any confusion, we confirm that the Heysen Trail again follows the route as shown on the Heysen Trail Mapsheet 5A & the Northern Guidebook Map 1.4.

That is also the route shown on the Heysen Trail GPX file 16/2/2021 v4.0 and the corresponding version of the Heysen Trail Interactive Map.

Heysen Trail closure near the Buckaringa Sanctuary, Thursday 3rd June to Tuesday 8th June 2021.

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The Buckaringa Sanctuary will be temporarily closed early in June. As the Heysen Trail passes close to the sanctuary, we advise walkers to consider the closure if planning to walk in the area.

The planned closure is:

  • Thursday evening 3rd June to Tuesday morning 8th June 2021.

 

The sanctuary is home to many Yellow-footed Rock-wallabies and is located between Quorn and Hawker. You can find it on map 6, chapter 4, of the Heysen Trail Northern Guidebook and on Sheet Map 7b – Dutchmans Stern Conservation Park to Mernmerna Creek.

The closure is because the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) will be undertaking feral animal control in the sanctuary.

AWC will place closure signs at all entry points to the sanctuary to warn walkers of the danger.

Heysen Trail Closure – Southern Flinders Ranges Parks (February 2021)

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Walkers are advised that access to the Heysen Trail in the Southern Flinders Ranges will be restricted  from 6 am  Saturday, 20th February 2021 until 2pm Friday, 26th February 2021.

Telowie Gorge Conservation Park, The Napperby Block of Mount Remarkable National Park, Spaniards Gully Conservation Park and Wirrabara Range Conservation Park  will be closed for the purpose of undertaking a pest control program.

The parks cover a long section of the trail on Heysen Trail Map sheets 5B and 6A  and Maps 2.5 to 2.7 of the Heysen Trail Northern Guidebook.

Many sections of the Heysen Trail are closed over the Fire Danger Season. The Country Fire Service has  already announced the commencement of the Fire Danger Season for the the complete length of the Heysen Trail.

However walkers can still use some sections of the trail, including sections that are not on private land including Conservation Parks and Reserves, Forests, public roads and vacant land – provided it is not a day of a declared total fire ban..

But the feral animal control program means walkers need to take note of this closure and avoid that section of the trail over the period from the 20th to 26th February.

For more information about the control program or park closure, please contact the Natural Resources Centre on (08) 8841 3400.

You can also check this and other park closures on the Parks SA Alerts page.