A short drive from the Adelaide CBD, the Wild South Coast Way traverses a stretch of native bush perched precariously on plunging cliffs above a wild coast. Here, storms brew on the horizon, the sea churns and boils ominously below and trails rise and plummet between hidden beaches and waterfalls.
The trail travels through multiple national and conservation parks including, Deep Creek National Park, Ballaparudda Creek Recreation Park and Newland Head National Park. It follows the first section of the 1400km Heyson Trail and offers a tantalising taste of what that spectacular, yet challenging, trail has to offer.
Don’t let the trails relatively meagre elevation gain fool you. This is one tough route. If you are not climbing relentlessly technical single track, you are slogging though ankle deep, soft sand which renders running all but impossible.
Start at either end of the trail. Climbing to the highest rock on the top of the Bluff near Victor Harbour marks one end of the trail while touching the Heyson Trail information board in Cape Jervois marks the other end.
While a race called Bay2Bluff was held on this route for the first time in 2021 with some blistering (supported) times run, the true joy of this trail lays in its quite solitude and immersion in the elements and nature.
