Adelaide Cycling Routes
Coming to Adelaide and looking for route inspiration? Well, here’s some tasty options to plug into your GPS and get you rolling.
By James Raison - Radelaide Correspondent
They all start near the city and end near the city. Strava won’t let me just embed the routes (seriously Strava, sort that out) so the screenshots are all linked directly to the routes.
Just a disclaimer that these are suggested routes. It's your responsibility to ride them safely and sensibly.
Want to support this content? It’s all completely self-funded to help people have an awesome time on a bike. So feel free to buy me a coffee! Every little bit helps me to keep making guides like this.
THE GENTRIFIED HILLS
We know you don’t want to ride bikes among the peasantry so this jaunt is through the proper “old money” Adelaide Hills.
The start of the ride is actually my personal favourite climb in Adelaide: Mt Osmond. I love the gradient of around 9% for 2 km but it’s the eye-popping views over the city that you’ll remember. Follow the road around the exposed side of the hill and drop down to the Old Freeway Bikepath (please be sure not to roll onto the freeway).
From there, climb up and over to Stirling where I’ve made sure you roll past Stirling Cellars and Patisserie so you can destroy a coffee before heading through to Aldgate and onto the glorious Aldgate Valley Road. Wind your way down to Mylor and poke your head into Harvest Cafe if you feel you’ve earned some more coffee or deliciousness.
River Road will take you out of Mylor and back North where the Beaumonts and Tanahmerah Road tandem will knock your appropriately long cycling socks off. Eventually you’ll hit Adelaide-Lobethal Road that takes you back towards the city and roll down the iconic Norton Summit. We recommend rolling down the Norwood Parade once you’re done. You’ve earned (another) trip to a cafe strip.
GRAVEL & PIZZA
Do you have sleeve tatts? Do you have a beard, or find them desirable on others? Is your bike made of metal like a real man/woman? This route is for you.
I’m sending you up Montacute, another cracking climb with a fabulously mixed gradient. Roll through Marble Hill and test your bravery down the tight and twisty Knotts and Pound Road. After that is the gorgeous gravel party of Blockers Road. I hope you have plenty of tubes, this can be a tyre shredder. Puff your way to the top of its 20% finale and roll on through some bangin gravel backroads. The pizza lives at Anderson Hill Winery so check their opening hours to make sure you don’t miss out. Eat your fill and roll through Coldstore and the first Swamp Road of today.
You’ll eventually pop out into the Summertown area before hitting a different Swamp Road and rolling through the gorgeous Piccadilly Valley. There’s some more gravel - Sprigg Road - before heading over to Greenhill Road to drop back into the city. This is one of Adelaide’s best descents with cracker views of the city. Take care on the descent if you're unfamiliar with it though.
GORGE-OUS
Today you’ll be treated with Gorge Road, a favourite playground for bikes and combustion-engined vehicles alike. Pick your times carefully, this can be a surprisingly high traffic area at the wrong time.
Meander your way up Gorge Road and take in all the killer views and scenery. Head out through Chain of Ponds before looping around. We’ve decided to interrupt your pleasant roll with Checker Hill, a steep slap in the face that’s seen many cleat-shredding walks of shame.
Drown your sorrows in food at either Gumeracha, or a little later in Lobethal. Enjoy the brilliance of Adelaide-Lobethal Road with its lumps, bumps, and winding corners. This is a top stretch of road with plenty of climbing, descending, and stretches to unleash some watts. Drop back into the suburbs down Norton Summit Road.
SOUTHERN COMFORT
This route title is a lie. This route is flippin awesome, but it'll be a big day with 117 kms and over 2,000 metres of climbing. We're sending you on a pilgrimage to the holy site of Old Willunga Hill.
Go to the Strava route.
Head up the aptly named Windy Point, great climb that one, before rolling through the burbs of the Southern Hills. There's a fun Hill tandem of Murray's/Humpty's hill that leads to a brilliant descent into Clarendon and its legendary bakery. Wind your way out of Clarendon and take some cool backroads to main street of Willunga and Old Williunga Hill. At the top, you'll head across the top of the range before bombing down WIckam Hill.
You'll cover a similar route back to Clarendon before I slap you in the face with the achingly gorgeous but very steep pinch of Turners Gully Road. I didn't have to send the course up here. I did it because it's funny. Roll along until veering off at Cherry Gardens and enjoying a great roll through Ironbank, and Upper Sturt before dropping into Stirling again. Take the descent down the Old Freeway - again, take some time to follow the right way down if you're unfamiliar - and I've then got you climbing over Mt Osmond and taking the descent down the other side. Take special care at the hairpin on the descent because it's deceptively tight. The route ends at Greenhill Road where you can roll back to the city.
THE ROUNDABOUT BEACHIE
Look, if you come to Adelaide and don’t just smash hills all the time then there’s something wrong with you. But say you’re hungover, sleep in, are based West of the city, or you’re pining for your familiar beach route… I guess I’ll indulge you. Luckily our beach strip is a pretty good one. The roads that get you out there kind of suck though. Apologies for that, there’s not much we can do. We’ve laid out 50,000 roundabouts too.
We’ve designed this route to stuff in plenty of beach adjacency so this is an out-and-back route. To cut it shorter just zip back towards the city. We’re sending you out along Anzac Highway… sorry… but don’t despair there’s some nice vistas at the end of it. Soon after swinging North, you’ll hit your first views of sweet beach - albeit briefly before jumping back a street and pootling along a bit further. You’ll get some teaser stretches of ocean views but will spend most of your time by the beach after West Lakes. Enjoy the stretch along Sempahore, and Largs before the traditional sprint finish at the giant North Haven roundabout. Now it’s time to head back and enjoy it all again. The next sprint race is always up the colossal Alpe de Pat with a dizzying elevation gain of maybe 3 metres. Be sure to recover at any of the thousand cafes around Glenelg, or head back to the city.
Did you do any of these routes? What did you think? Be sure to let us know!
