Ardrossan to Pine Point
Distance: 18.8km (4 hours 42 minutes)
One of the shorter walks on Walk The Yorke, start at the Ardrossan Jetty and follow the signs south out of town towards the highway, and then on to Pine Point.
You can walk the full 18.8km from Ardrossan to Pine Point (one-way), or choose to do one of the smaller walks that makes up this section - Ardrossan to James Well 8.1km (2 hours), James Well to Rogues Point 1.6km (25 mins) and Rogues Point to Pine Point 9.1km (2 hours 17 mins).
Just on the southern edge of Ardrossan, you will pass the loading jetty and mining operations. Ardrossan is a hub of industry, with salt from Price shipped from the jetty; and the Viterra silos and bunkers a depot for local farmers reaping crops at harvest (grain isn’t shipped from here, but transported by road train south to Port Giles).
The mine extracts dolomite, which is shipped out to other ports. One of the best views over Ardrossan & Gulf St Vincent can be found at the Ardrossan Lookout, just near the mine operations; don’t miss this birds-eye view and a great photo opportunity.
After getting that perfect photo, continue south and turn left onto Parara Road towards the coast. Parara is the Aboriginal word for ‘middle’, and this area was home to the Parara Homestead owned by the Bowmans, who were pioneers in farming & sheep grazing across the state and went on to have the township of Bowmans in the Mid-North named after them and built Martindale Hall, near Clare.
Parara Beach is a popular crabbing beach, with many venturing out with their crab rakes in the warmer months (September to April) to gather Blue Swimmer crabs. In December 2014, it was also the location of the extraordinary and significant marine event, where 7 Sperm Whales were found stranded after beaching themselves at low tide. A memorial on the coast at Parara Beach honours this event, which was the first of its kind in over 200 years in South Australian history.
Head south along the coastline and join up with the James Well/Rogues Point Trail that goes to Pine Point.
James Well & Rogues Point are small settlements that offer fantastic crabbing, fishing & watersports. There are self-contained holiday houses available in both towns.
Head further south along the designated trail, and as you pass the cliffs just north of Pine Point, you will notice a white clay material, rich in Kaolin, which is used for making porcelain and bone china. Although considered, the clay deposits (estimated to be more than 66,000 tonnes) were never extracted.
To help plan your walk, download the Ardrossan to Pine Point map.
Continue on to the next section of Walk The Yorke – Pine Point to Port Vincent, or search other trails on Yorke Peninsula.
All distances are one-way, as Walk The Yorke is a continuous linear trail covering more than 500kms.
Walking Distances & Times
Total length 18.8km (4 hours 42 minutes); or broken into 3 smaller sections:
- Ardrossan to James Well 8.1km (2 hours)
- James Well to Rogues Point 1.6km (25 minutes)
- Rogues Point to Pine Point 9.1km (2 hours 17 minutes)
Trail Notes & Important Information
- A small section of trail approximately 1.5km south of Rogues Point & 3.5km north of Pine Point is currently an unformed part of the trail.
- For this section, cyclists will need to follow the highway between Rogues Point & Pine Point. Walkers can continue to use this section of the trail, however will need to follow the fenceline through the unformed trail part (approximately 1.8km with some gully crossings).
- To help plan your journey, download the alternate route map. The remainder of the Ardrossan to Pine Point section remains accessible.
- Walkers and cyclists may find part of the trail just north of James Well difficult to navigate, due to the trail entering a deep sandy gully. Cyclists can follow an alternate route via Yorke Highway south from Ardrossan, bypassing Parara Road and using James Well Road to access James Well and the remainder of the trail. (update: 4 June 2020)