A few days wandering the Mt Lofty Ranges (South Australia)

With another long weekend upon us it was time to load up the DR 650 and head off for a couple of days. The plan was to hook up with my mate Paul who lives near Victor Harbor, then spends a few days riding the roads and trails north along the Mt Lofty ranges to Truro via the mallee near Swan Reach. So with gear loaded I headed off to Victor late afternoon


After a quick burst up the Freeway I cut through Hahndorf

and Echunga

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before picking up the dirt near Meadows


It wasn’t long before Victor Harbor came into view


And my bike was parked under Paul’s verandah for the night as the sun started to set in the background


Next morning the bikes were packed and ready to go


It was a fine but crisp morning and our route took us over Mosquito Hill towards Finniss and our first Road Closed sign


After digging a bit of a hole

we soon made it through towards Giles Creek

<o> </o>
The crossing was pretty shallow and not too muddy


From there it was through some nice tracks towards Langhorn Creek


Once over the Wellington Road we headed north on Kangaroo Road through the Ferries McDonald Conservation Park


Then on to Callington via the Bremer Range


We wound our way through the flowing roads near Bondleigh before making our way over the range


After checking out a bit of flood damage near Mannum Falls


It was into the Mannum Bakery for lunch (best Kitchener buns in SA!)


After a bit of a break we continued on before our path was stopped by this


It was pretty deep and very soft so we looked for a way around


Only to find our escape path blocked by this


Bloody padlocks.. Oh well, a bit of re calculating on the gps and we were soon onto another track


Which led to more tracks




And finally to our campsite amongst the mallee



After setting up camp and avoiding these


We had a break before heading into Swan Reach to get a feed. First things first, we had to get across the river


The pub itself puts on a good meal and the view across the river from the dining room made it easy to sit back and down a few quiet ales
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But not before Paul had dug the last of disintegrated earplug from inside his ear canal (notice the unique medical instrument used)


With the aid of my LED lights (and the gps J) we found camp and hit the sack for the night (after scaring the crap out of a wandering wombat on the way back or should I say it scared the crap out of me!)
Up at dawn


With a fire going to try and warm up a little


Once camp was packed away it was off cross country


And then we picked up the road north past Yookumurra Sanctuary


Next it was west towards the ranges this time following the water pipeline that runs from Swan Reach to Stockwell


You can even stop for a top up along the way J



Soon we were up and over the range.


Just watch out for those damaged grids!


Often a sign of nice tracks ahead!



Ducking around near Truro more nice tracks were found




As well as a couple of unlucky foxes from the night before


More tracks as we run a loop around Dutton





Before rolling into Truro for a lunch stop. No prizes for guessing where..




From Truro it was back heading south through some great countryside




Lots of flowing roads






With a few smaller tracks thrown in




Then it was time to head back over the range via Pine Hut Road






We followed the foot of the range south past Sanderson until I bid Paul farewell and cut back towards Mt Pleasant and the Kersbrook , while he continued on home to Victor Harbor. By now it had got quite cold but the countryside was still providing some great roads.




While out this way I decided to check out a track I’d spied while researching another recent ride. It looked a bit dubious to start with as it seemed to pass through a private paddock at the beginning. All looked ok on the gps so I pressed on and found it hadn’t been used in a while.




With branches over the track becoming more common, a new fence line cutting off where I wanted to head and a farm now in close proximity it was time to retreat. At one point I had to walk the bike under some branches (I’d soon warmed up!)




and was just getting back on the bike when I was approached by someone walking up the track. It was no surprise to find he was the landowner and he explained that I was on private property. He was pretty good about it (after I had apologised for getting him away from the fire on such a cold day) and we had a short chat before I hit the road again. Of course just out of curiosity (some call it stubbornness) I took a long route around by road and found where my mystery track was supposed to come out on the other side. Sure enough there was a track there – with a locked gate!

All in all a great few days away!

Cheers

Wow Greg, you sure have a knack of finding some great looking tracks.

We went out Truro way on Monday and had to put up with dusty gravelly roads between Truro and Dutton.

More time investigating is obviously needed.

Great pics too.

Cheers,
Graeme

Nice

Great report

Just goes to show you don't have to go long distances to have a good time, thanks.

Funny though, why does it always look greener on another man's ride report tracks

Good RR, great photos, some good tracks & looks like a top ride...

What GPS are you using, love finding new tracks but it's a bit hit & miss

Cheers Terry

Great Ride Report. Loved reading it. The scenry and tracks are great. Need to travel to SA.
Cheers
GS

No doubt we have some great rides in our own backyard!

As for ride reports and track/route planning... from what I've read nothing holds a candle to the "Master"

Thanks Terry

I use a Garmin 60sx GPS with a combination of maps, mainly Garmin Topo. Finding tracks sure is hit and miss but that can be half the fun I reckon

Cheers

Great looking ride. That cattle grid is a bit of a worry. :huh I've always just flown over those but I might have to reconsider that technique. Good looking campsite, even with the critters. Thanks for sharing.

That's what i thought it was....looking to use a GPS on the XR (no battery) so a unit using AA's would be good...did you have to pay for maps or do you download ?

Great read un ride guys............does seem weird though COLD IN AUZ
Phil

The Garmin gps is the single best thing I've every bought for the bike. I have a 12v cig socket to run it now but I used it with just batteries (2xAA) for quite a while and it was fine. (I use sanyo eneloop rechargables which are great). Use a RAM mount to hold it which has been very good.

As for maps... I have downloaded them all

Cheers

Thanks for a look at a little bit of SA. I've wondered what that country is like and now I have some idea - a visit is required at some point , maybe early September.

No worries . Thanks for the tips re Tassie

Let us know if you come over this way and I can pass on some info re places to visit.

Cheers

Bull600, great ride report & top photos.

I often do 1 day rides to either the Sedan Pub or Swan Reach Pub & back from Tea Tree Gully.

Some of those tracks out North look in your photos look great, if you are ever planning anymore day rides I could be very keen to tag along, could meet up somewhere along the way.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers, Sol..

Very nice, enjoyed reading through that. Love those old, small tracks that haven't been used in a long time.

Sounds like a plan

I'll try and get along to the ride you have planned on the 17th if I'm back from a Darling River trip by then

Cheers

Really enjoyed your photos. Some beautiful colours.

"No threw rowed" - luv it.

Cheers,

amazing stuff guys, if ld love to tag along on one of your rides...