Hallett Cove Conservation Park

This beauty is a little closer to where I live… I’ve read up on it a lot and when I finally got there, it didn’t disappoint. It is such an amazing experience to be in a place as old as the park. The view from the top is simply stunning. The people who live in the area must feel very lucky to have the conservation park just literally outside their doorstep. I want to move here!

The Marion Coastal Walking track that meanders through the Hallett Cove Conservation Park is a wonderful place for a scenic walk or an intense run.
There are a lot of stairs so it most areas it is not wheelchair or limited mobility friendly. But is easy enough for anyone, even those with below average fitness. There are plenty of spots to sit and enjoy the view. In some places the silence can be deafening, in others the gentle waves lapping against the rocks sedating.
For the runners — There’s plenty of straight paths over looking the ocean that are intercepted in places by stairs up and down gullies and gorges. I find all of the wooden stairs to be nice and even and easy for running. Unfortunately there are spots on the dirt stairs that have eroded, are uneven and are not very easy to run at all. Some steps have eroded to the point that they are at knee height, and a new path has been trod around the stairs to avoid them. Pity that the wooden stairs are clearly well maintained but the earthen ones not.
It took us 2 hours to walk from the Marino Rocks through Hallett Cove and back again. Loved every minute of it.

A brilliant geological monument of glacerical scratchings, the formation of the Delmarian mountain range along with permian rock, dropstones and erratics. This conservation park is a time capsule of South Australia’s past and is a great place to walk through. The park is well kept and preserved nicely.
If you love geology or just want to see a few nice views of Hallet Cove, the walk is great and the information provided is amazing. It is hard to believe that there is so much geological evidence in one great place. You can literally spend an entire day here just learning about how Australia has moved all around the world due to tectonic plates and how we can backdate rocks in the area to deduce the different climatic stages.

I LOVE the board walk here. It’s breath taking if you stop long enough to enjoy the sea air and the scenery. There are seats along the way if you need to pause for a moment and it’s quite a good excuse to be present in the moment.
Dogs aren’t supposed to be on the board walk area and there is generally a fair amount of foot traffic so don’t think you can ‘get away with it’ because you’re more than likely to get a few filthy stares.
Such a beautiful place to exercise and enjoy nature at the same time.

With its natural amphitheatre of sloping sand and clean, crystal blue water that laps the shoreline, Hallett Cove is one of the most stunning sights in South Australia.
It’s also one of Australia’s most outstanding geological and archaeological sites; Hallett Cove Conservation Park is simply outstanding.
EXTENSIVE PRE-​EUROPEAN HISTORY
More than 1700 indigenous Australian artifacts have been discovered here. And there’s evidence of an Australian ice age from 280 million years ago.
GLACIATION
The internationally significant glacial pavements along the northern cliff tops are recognised as the best record of Permian glaciation in Australia.
INFORMATIVE WALKING TRAILS
Hallett Cove Conservation Park, just 22 km south of Adelaide CBD, has some wonderful walking tracks along the cliff tops and boardwalk, and an interpretative walking trail describes the park’s cultural and geological heritage.
The sugar loaf and lava rocks along the foreshore are sensational.
TOP SWIMMING SPOT
The cove is also a good place to swim and the best time is at high tide when the seawater covers most of the rocks. BeachSafe recommends swimmers stick to where the most sand is available, usually in front of the Surf Club car park, where rocks have been cleared away. It gives the swimming spot a hazardous rating of 5, which is moderately hazardous.
CAFE
There’s also a lovely beachside café that’s well worth stopping off at, near the toilets at the entrance to the park near Heron Way Reserve.
Hallett Cove Conservation Park is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What a beautiful place! This is yet another place that I accidentally stumbled upon just while killing time driving around, as I’m prone to do whenever I’ve got stuff on in Adelaide.
I really do love this park. There’s so much stuff to see. Heaps of indigenous artifacts to have a look at, good places to catch fish, lookouts, paths, really it’s a great spot to relax on a nice day.
It’s supposed to be alright for swimming. I’ll be sure to find out myself over the coming summer.