Punchbowl Link Trail is a 3km, grade 3 hike located in the Onkaparinga River National Park, South Australia. The hike should take around 1.25 hrs to complete.
Hike overview
A new trail due to open in the first week of September 2017 as part of the Government of South Australia's $10 million upgrade of the Adelaide's national parks.
The 6km loop trail visits a new lookout above The Punchbowl, where you can see spectacular views into the Onkaparinga Gorge. The trail is well contoured as it winds its way along the gullies heading out to the lookout. When it reaches the Punchbowl Lookout, it follows the Punchbowl Lookout Walk back to Piggott Range Road, where it follows a trail back along the road to the Sundews Carpark. An alternative way to do the hike is to retrace your steps from the Punchbowl Lookout, which would be 6.2km return.
The hike begins from the upgraded Sundews Carpark, near Gate 11 on Piggott Range Road. The carpark has been bitumised and new toilets constructed.
A shorter alternative to this hike is the Punchbowl Lookout Walk, which is 1km (2km return) and suitable for people of all abilities, those with mobility access issues, including wheelchairs and prams.
GPX file courtesy of Walking SA. File may not contain elevation data and may only represent half the length on return hikes.
Route and GPX file
Max elevation: 243 m
Min elevation: 165 m
Total climbing: 98 m
Total descent: -127 m
For more information on this hiking trail, please visit Walking SA
Trail location
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About the region
In Onkaparinga River National Park, diverse hiking trails take you to cliff tops with magnificent views, or down to permanent rock pools teeming with life. You’ll see rugged ridge tops and the narrow river valley of the spectacular Onkaparinga Gorge. This park protects some of the finest remaining pockets of remnant vegetation in the Southern Adelaide region. Wherever you go, you’ll be among native wildlife such as birds, koalas, kangaroos and possums - you may even spot an echidna. Areas of the park were used as farmland for many years, so you can also discover heritage-listed huts and the ruins of houses built in the 1880s.
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Gear to consider

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Acknowledgement of Country
Trail Hiking Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we hike and pay respects to their Elders, past and present, and we acknowledge the First Nations people of other communities who may be here today.