The best family-friendly hikes and walks in Montacute Conservation Park

Kookaburra Rock Lookout sits on an exposed rock ledge high above Morialta Conservation Park, reached by a short detour from the main trail. From here, the views open up across the rocky hillsides, native bushland and sections of Fourth Creek Gorge, with the Adelaide Plains visible in the distance through breaks in the landscape.

From here, you can look down across the gorge toward the waterfall and the surrounding quartzite cliffs. The landscape opens up to layered rock faces, creek lines and dense bushland stretching through the valley below. The elevated position offers one of the park’s more expansive perspectives, especially after rain, when the falls are flowing strongly.

Second Falls is one of the three waterfalls along Fourth Creek, and is hidden deeper within the gorge than the more visited First Falls. The water spills over a rocky cliff into a sheltered gully surrounded by steep slopes and native bushland, and is at its best after winter rain. Reaching the falls involves a more rugged walk, making this part of the park feel quieter and more tucked-away than the other, more popular areas.

Deep View Lookout sits high above the gorge in Morialta Conservation Park, and is one of the widest viewpoints in the park. From here, the views stretch across the rugged slopes of Morialta Gorge toward the Adelaide plains, with steep cliffs and native bushland far below you. Its elevated position is the perfect spot to get a good sense of the scale of the gorge and the surrounding landscape, especially after winter rains when the valley is greener.

Yurrebilla Trail is a long-distance walking track that winds through the Adelaide Hills, connecting a series of conservation parks and bushland reserves east of the city. Stretching for around 54 kilometres, the trail passes through rugged gullies, ridgelines, native woodland and creek valleys, including this picturesque section through Morialta Conservation Park. In Morialta, the track climbs through the quieter upper sections of the park, passing bushland, waterfalls and lookouts with expansive views across the Adelaide Plains

This park protects a large area of bushland in the Adelaide Hills, just northeast of the city. It's a great place to explore with plenty of steep ridges, rocky gullies and native woodland typical of the Mount Lofty Ranges. There are several walking and cycling tracks that pass through the reserve, connecting natural features, historic ruins and lookouts that offer beautiful views across the Adelaide Plains.

Newman’s Nursery Ruins are the remains of a historic plant nursery established in the late 1800s by Charles Newman. Stone walls, foundations and terraced areas still mark the site where fruit trees and ornamental plants were once grown and sold to Adelaide residents. Today, the ruins sit quietly within the surrounding bushland, making it a lovely place to pause and get a peek into the early agricultural history of the area.

This lookout is a fantastic spot for a clear view across the Adelaide Plains from within the park. From this elevated point, the landscape opens westward toward the city of Adelaide and the surrounding suburbs. On clear days, the view extends across the plains all the way to the distant coastline along Gulf St Vincent.