Di and I met at Jacob’s Creek Visitor Centre on a beautiful winter’s day, ready to ride the Mawson Trail from High Eden Road down to Rowland Flat. We loaded Di’s bike onto the back of my car and then followed Trial Hill Road up to the start of our ride.
It had been three years since I had cycled this section of the trail with my good friends Kathie and Hugh and I was excited to show Di how beautiful it was. We began by heading along Corryton Park Road.
The road surface was good and the gums lining the road were majestic. After four kilometres, the Mawson Trail turned north onto Trial Hill Road.
The “undulations” became steeper as we began crossing the Barossa Range with Pewsey Vale Peak on our left. After ten kilometres we came to a gate where the Mawson Trail left Trial Hill Road and headed up towards Steingarten Vineyard.
Steingarten Road
The views towards the Barossa were wonderful.
We took it easy and walked some of the hills. I knew we had a steep descent ahead of us so we didn’t want to be too tired.
We arrived at Steingarten.
The stone fence lining the vineyard was beautiful.
There was a double lookout – I loved the stonework there too.
One side looked out towards the Eden Valley,
while the other side was towards the Barossa.
We sat eating our lunch enjoying the view and listening to the cries of the newborn lambs in the fields below.
After another couple of kilometres it was time to go over the top.
The Descent to Rowland Flat
The descent was steep with gradients reaching 15% in places, but I was pleased to note that I was much more confident than when I had done this section previously.
We approached Rowland Flat
and then left the Mawson Trail to take the Jack Bobridge Trail to Jacobs Creek.
The Jack Bobridge was bitumized, which was enjoyable after the gravel. The path plunged twice down towards the creek with consequent steep climbs. More walking! After a few more kilometres we arrived at our end point.
The elevation chart below shows the drop from the top of Steingarten down to Rowland Flat. Despite the overall decline, we had climbed 212 metres over the 18.9 kilometre ride.
To read about other sections of the Mawson Trail see Hallett to Spalding, Mount Little to Hawker, Burra to Hallett, Brachina Gorge Road to Wilpena or Nuriootpa to Kapunda.
Further over in the western Barossa, there is a lovely back roads ride between Freeling and Greenock.
