Winter Delights with Copper Trails Bike Hire

Award-winning Copper Trails Bike Hire is owned and operated by wife and husband duo Anne and Colin Minion. They're passionate about their little corner of Yorke Peninsula and love offering up their insider tips to bike hire customers, making sure that visitors get to discover all the hidden gems on offer in the Copper Coast region. We asked them to share their tips for making the most of winter escape.

One perfect day

We would start with a hearty breakfast in Moonta, and then go for an E-Bike ride to Wallaroo along the dedicated bike trail. Park the bike and walk along the jetty and foreshore, seeing what the locals are catching! Finally returning back to Moonta and ending up watching the sun set as we have a well earned "local ale or gin" from the Port Hughes Tavern.

Time to refuel

Our business is located in Moonta, and there are some great little cafes and eateries near by. Cafe Capellas is a favourite for meals - it's lovely to sit on the veranda in the winter sun, or inside in their beautiful heritage building. Taste the Yorke has great coffee and we love that they encourage you to bring your own reusable coffee cup by offering a discount. All the little things add up!  We love heading down to the Port Hughes Tavern for dinner overlooking the ocean - and the coffee next door at the Port Hughes General Store is great for that walk along the beach or jetty! We love to support local businesses, so all our bike hire packages include vouchers for the rider, offering discounts across the whole day at local businesses - including some of our recommendations above. 

Hidden gems

We love to say that there are a number of secret spots and hidden gems in and around Moonta, Moonta Bay and Port Hughes.  We always recommend our guests travel along the beach front and seek out the Secret Garden in Moonta Bay (don't worry - we'll give you directions!).  Plus walking along the beach in Simms Cove - you can get there through the Secret Garden.  It's a beautiful spot and especially in winter, if it's a bit wild and windy on the coast you feel like you're tucked away in your own little world, protected by all the plants and foliage.  

Favourite winter activity? 

The bike ride from Moonta to Port Hughes is definitely a favourite and it's a really good option with kids as well. It's an easy ride, and you go past playgrounds and public toilets at Simms Cove, where there's also a boardwalk along the top of the cove - a fantastic, sheltered spot for winter beach walks. Once you arrive at Port Hughes you can't miss a serve of fish and chips - on the jetty if it's not too windy. We have kids' bikes and helmets, and even bike seats for the littler ones all here at the shop, so we can fit you and the family out with exactly what you need for a ride. 

How to spend a wild and woolly winters day? 

We're currently in the process of applying for the State Tourism Awards, so even though it's not very glamorous, we'd most likely be inside, working away on that! We were a finalist in the New Business category in 2022, and we won our category of Retail Sales, Hire & Services in 2023, so we've aiming for two in a row this year. It's a huge amount of work but we really love what we do and the Tourism Awards are a great way to invest in our business. There would definitely be a few cups of local coffee helping us along the way!  

Thanks for sharing, Anne and Colin! You can check out all their insider tips, and more destination information below.