Mt Crawford

A couple of weeks ago our hopes of spending the day on the trail were washed out by torrential spring time rains. Instead, we decided to spend the day driving the back country roads, exploring the Adelaide Hills area. To our surprise, less than an hour from town we came across Mount Crawford Forest Reserve, a wooded area that offered a variety of hiking trails and several camping areas. We decided that, weather cooperating, we would return the following weekend to camp and do some additional exploring.

Mother Nature was on our side and the following weekend we headed for the hills. We decided to try our luck at Rocky Paddock, a fairly large campground nestled amongst an old pine plantation. When we arrived there were a couple of other campers nestled amongst the rocky outcrops. We headed to one of the more secluded edges and pitched our tent. We could only hope that no one would come along while we were out on the trail and set up camp right next to us. Once we had our territory staked out we hit the trail. 

The land, which was bought in 1909, has been used as eucalyptus and pine plantations since 1914. Currently 70,000 tons of timber is harvested annually from the area.  A variety of trails and tracks allow visitors to meander through a varied of landscape of eucalyptus, pine and native bush. Of course, since the trails traverse plantations, the tree groves are in different stages of the logging process. During our 5 hour loop we were treated to a walk amongst baby pine trees and some lumbering giants, as well as offered an opportunity to first handedly observe the destructive nature of the logging industry. The highlight of the day was our climb of Little Mount Crawford, where the land around the 525 meter peak has been left in its native state.

Mount Crawford Reserve is the perfect place for a day-trip or an overnighter. In addition to three camping areas that offer basic facilities there are numerous picnicking areas. However, visitors need to be aware that camping is only permitted from April through November, and there are strict fire restrictions. For more information about the area visit http://www.forestry.sa.gov.au/crawford.stm.