The BankSA Nature Trail in the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden is a popular walk winding through a seven hectare area of natural scrub.

It’s an interesting place to visit at any time of the year – the native plants and animals on the trail vary with the season and the bird life is truly remarkable.

Ten points of interest are marked along the trail. You can pick up a brochure, explaining the ecology of the area that will help you find the markers. The trail takes about an hour to walk and can be started at either end.

The main tree of the Piccadilly Valley is the Messmate stringybark, Eucalyptus obliqua. At the turn of the century the whole valley was clear-felled with the exception of a few individual trees. The timber was harvested for use in the copper mines at Kanmantoo and as firewood in the factories of Adelaide. Since then, some parts of the valley have regenerated and, with the exception of competition from weeds and interruption by fire, a second generation forest has grown.

The trail is an official alternative route for the Heysen Trail. It is 850m long and drops about 100m, very steeply in some places. Good walking shoes are essential and please take care at all times, particularly in wet weather.