3 Day Clare Valley Wine & Wilderness Trail

The Clare Valley Wine Region lies just 1.5 hours drive North of Adelaide, located in in the northern reaches of the Mt Lofty Ranges, the Clare Valley is dotted with small boutique wineries, stunning rural landscapes, large tracts of native bush and some of the best food and wine on offer anywhere in the Country.

Our goal over the next 3 days is to sample it all by combining our love for all things Clare Valley with our love for hiking and walking.

After a quick stop in Clare for a local tea / coffee, we head straight for the start the Clare Valley Wine & Wilderness Trail. This 100km hiking trail meanders through the rural and wilderness landscapes of the Clare Valley, emerging to walk past 26 cellar door, multiple restaurants, cafes and pubs.

Todays walk is about 12km in length and forms part of stage 2 of the trail, utilising backroads, private property and the Spring Gully Conservation Park, it’s a moderate grade with a few hills thrown in to test us out (and provide some great views).

After resting with a campfire & picnic lunch at a beautiful bush setting we arrive at Jeanneret Wines where, if you like you can do a wine tasting.

We’ll then make our way to our accommodation.

All our evening meals on this tour are served in the accommodation and prepared by local restaurants and caterers, and are served with a selection of Clare Valley Wine. Tonight’s meal is supplied by the award winning Watervale Hotel, who in 2023 were voted the best Hotel Restaurant in the world!

Summary Day 1

• Pick up from your Adelaide City Accommodation.
• Drive to the Clare Valley (approx 1.5 hours).
• Walk Stage 2 of the CVWWT.
• Campfire Picnic Lunch.
• Wine tasting at Jeanneret Wines.
• Check into our accommodation.
• Evening meal in the lodge supplied by the Watervale Hotel with local wine.
• Meals: LD.
• Walking Distance: 11.7km.

After a hearty breakfast and briefing from your guide, we drive a short distance to to the Visitors Centre for our 12.5km walk to the Polish Hill River Valley, where we lunch at Pikes Slate Restaurant, walking along stage 6 of the CVWWT.

Only a few hundred metres from the Visitors Centre, we cross a fence and start our challenging trek along the Gillentown Range, a spectacular walk along a heavily wooded ridge with views in every direction. After an hour or so we reach the charming Village of Sevenhill.

The walk continues onto the Historic Sevenhill Cellars, the Clare Valley’s first and oldest winery, established by Jesuits escaping religious persecution in Poland 1851, the property is full of history and we’ll we have plenty of time to check out the numerous buildings, including the vaulted ceiling cellar and church crypt, and of course we cannot leave without tasting a little of their produce, those into fortified wine will enjoy Sevenhill’s expertise in this area. We also stop at Sevenhill Cellars for morning tea on the lawn.

From Sevenhill Cellars we head up and over the Dunns range through beautiful farmland and into the Polish Hill River Valley where we locate our restaurant and sit down for well deserved lunch with wine.

Set on the banks of the Hill River, the Modern Pikes Slate Winery / Restaurant is one of Clare’s best and will not disappoint.

After lunch we head to our Lodge Accommodation which is just 10 minutes drive away. The lodge is very welcoming and you’ll love the huge windows and open fire. For those not quite ready to relax we also the option to swing past a winery for a tasting offer the option of heading to a winery for a tasting, both Hill River Wines & Pikes are great options close by.

Tonight’s dinner is supplied by the award winning Ragu & Co Italian Restaurant.

Summary Day 2

• All Transport
• Pikes Lunch with wine
• Walk Stage 6 of the CVWWT
• Optional Wine Tasting at Hill River Wine or Pikes
• Ragu & Co meal in the lodge with Clare Valley wine.
• Meals: BLD
• Walk Distance: 12.5km

Today we tackle stage 1 of the CVWWT, we have a 10km trek starting on the exposed lofty heights of the Dunns Range and finishing on the floor of the Valley amoung giant gums on the banks of the Hutt River.

We finish the walk with a visit the stunning Clare Valley Distillery (opened in early 2025) for a refreshing Gin or Tim Adams Wines for a tasting. Note the Gin Distillery is not open 7 days.

Our first stop on the walk after about 3km is the CVWWT hikers hut perched on top of the range, this privately owned hut provides shelter from winter winds and summer sun and can be used by trail walkers as a rest stop. We’ll stop her for our morning tea break.

We then push southward and remain on the exposed ridge for another few km, this is one of the highest elevations we’ll reach over the 5 days at around 560 metres above sea level, the views are also some of the best we’ll get, with the Dunns range separating the Clare Valley from the Polish Hill River Valley we gain a great perspective of the whole region and can see most of the areas where we will spent our time exploring the Clare Valley.

Once off the ridge we get into the bush and eventually emerge and join the Riesling Trail for short distance before finishing at Tim Adams or the Gin Distillery.

After a well deserved refreshment we jump in the bus and drive short distance to Skillogalee Wines for lunch.

Skillogalee operate the Barrel Hall Restaurant and is recognised as one of the best in the region. Wine drinkers can enjoy a glass with lunch.

After lunch we make the trek back to Adelaide, normally arriving in the City and Airport precincts between 4.30pm and 5pm.

Summary Day 3

• Transport the walk
• Skillogalee Lunch with wine
• Walk Stage 1 of the CVWWT
• Meals: BL
• Walk Distance: 10km