5 Day Walk

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 sections 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 13km 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

• Pick up from your Adelaide City Accommodation.
• Drive to the Clare Valley (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
• Walk Distance: 11.5km

After a hearty breakfast and briefing from your guide, we drive a short distance to to the Visitors Centre for our 14km walk to Pauletts Winery, today completing the entire 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, where we stop for morning tea at a local bakery.

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 fortifieds will enjoy Sevenhill’s expertise in this area.

From Sevenhill Cellars we head up and over the Dunns range through beautiful farmland and into the Polish Hill River Valley, a last steep but rewarding climb brings us to the doorway of Pauletts Winery Restaurant where well sit (or plonk) down for well deserved lunch with wine.

After lunch we have the option of heading back to the accommodation for a rest before dinner or drop into Hill River Clare Estate, a small cellar door in the Polish Hill River Valley for a wine tasting.

Tonight we are treated with a private wine tasting from a local wine maker before dinner.

Summary

• Transport the walk
• Pauletts Lunch with wine
• Walk Stage 6 of the CVWWT
• Wine Tasting at Hill River Clare Estate
• Wine Tasting / Education in the lodge with a local winemaker
• Evening meal in the lodge with local wine
• Meals: BLD
• Walk Distance: 14km

We start the day with another healthy breakfast at the lodge and a briefing from your guide.

Today we are walking on stage 3 of the CVWWT from the village of Leasingham to the award winning Skillogalee Restaurant, located in a beautiful and historic stone cottage at the head of the Skilly Valley, a distance of 12km.

From the get go, we get the blood pumping and climb up to the ridge separating the Clare Valley from the Skilly Vally, known locally as the Skilly Hills, taking special note of the Shiraz vineyard on the left with the lone Pepper Tree growing at it’s centre.

From our ridge vantage point we are rewarded with stunning views, the walk roughly follows the ridge but also diverts into some beautiful valleys full of gnarly old River Gums and the classic Clare Valley Native bush that you will now be getting familiar with.

Eventually we hit a back road which takes us along the valley floor past numerous vineyards, sheep paddocks and very English looking historic stone homes.

We’ll stop for morning tea and tasting at Mitchell Wines, it would be wrong not to at least try their signature wine, the Pepper Tree Shiraz, sourced from the vineyard at the start of our walk.

It’s now only a short 15 minute walk to Skillogalee, where again our walk concludes as we go through their front door and settle in for a long lunch under their famous olive tree, or inside by the open fire if it a cold wintery day.

Summary

• Transport the walk
• Skillogalee Restaurant Lunch
• Walk Stage 3 of the CVWWT
• Wine tasting with lunch
• Transfers to Adelaide
• Meals: BL
• Walk Distance: 12km

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.

Our first stop 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 have spent the past 3 day walking.

Once off the ridge we get into the bush and eventually emerge at Tim Adams Wines where we can stop fora tasting, a short distance further on we reach the end of the walk, from here we jump in the bus for a short 5 minute drive to Pikes Winery.

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

Wine is served with lunch, and we can move into Cellar Door after lunch for more tasting delights or head back to the Lodge.

Summary

• Transport the walk
• Pikes Lunch with wine
• Walk Stage 1 of the CVWWT
• Wine Tasting at Pikes
• Evening meal in the lodge with local wine
• Meals: BLD
• Walk Distance: 12km

For our final day in the Clare Valley we have a great 9.5km walk from Taylors Wins in Auburn to the Watervale Hotel in Watervale.

As is the theme for most of out lunches, our walk ends when we enter the pub.

The Watervale Hotel is a real treat, voted the best Hotel Restaurant in the world in 2023, owners Warrick and Nicola have a level 11 passion (on a scale of 1 – 10) for locally sourced produce, what they don’t grow on their own biodynamic farm they buy in for only the best and most responsible suppliers.

With a variable menu based around the growing seasons, their dedication to all things food has paid off and you will not be disappointed with what they have to offer.

Our walk roughly runs from South to North, and criss crosses the Watervale grape growing region, which is a highly regaurded region, with most local wineries either owning vineyards in this area or sourcing fruit for their quality and premium wines, look for the distinctive red loamy soil under foot, which has been laid over chunky limestone into which the old vines have carefully placed their roots to pull all sorts of flavours.

Along the way we’ll stop off at Koerner Wines for morning tea and tasting.

From Watervale we return the Adelaide, dropping you off at your accommodation at around 5pm

Summary

• Transport the walk
• Morning tea / Tasting at Koerner Wines
• Walk Stages 5 of the CVWWT
• Lunch at the Watervale Hotel with wine
• Transfers to Adelaide
• Meals: BL