by Shane Sody
For more than nine years, we’ve offered regular Guided Walks, introducing you to each part of your Open, Green, Public Adelaide Park Lands, one Park at a time.
The regular schedule for 2025 wound up on the morning of Sunday 14 December, as Loine Sweeney escorted a tour group through the Adelaide Botanic Garden in Park 11.
Our regular schedule for 2026 is scheduled to commence on Sunday 18 January 2026, with a Guided Walk that morning in Carriageway Park / Tuthangga (Park 17).
However in the meantime, we’re not resting.
Right through summer, we're maintaining our focus on the urban forest swaddling the North Adelaide golf courses in Possum Park / Pirltawardli (Park 1); the forest at risk from a threatened “re-development”.
“It’s not just a golf course!”
That’s the title of each one of our Guided Walks in this summer, twilight series. We hope that inspecting just a few of this Park’s 9,000 trees will help you debunk the State Government’s claims that its “re-development” plans would be merely “improving” an existing golf course.
Over a two-hour window before sunset (when you’ll get the best photos) we'll escort you along the winding tracks, the hills and valleys, keeping clear of golfers but showing you hundreds of these century-old trees, many of which will be felled when the State Government proceeds with plans to "re-develop" this part of your Park Lands to establish a commercial golf business.
See for yourself the biodiversity that lies between and around the golf fairways within Possum Park / Pirltawardli (Park 1 of your Adelaide Park Lands): the remarkable urban forest on Adelaide’s doorstep - before it’s drastically cut back.
Take in the sights, sounds (bird calls!) and smells of this heritage Park. Wear sturdy shoes; and be prepared to take photos to share with your friends and colleagues.
We also hope you’ll be prepated to pose for one of these pics:
Pick a date
Pick a date to join us for a twilight Guided Walk. The Walks will commence at 5.45pm on each of the following dates:
Tuesday 16 December 2025
Sunday 21 December 2025
Sunday 11 January 2026
Wednesday 14 January 2026
Tuesday 20 January 2026
Thursday 29 January 2026
Wednesday 04 February 2026
Tuesday 10 February 2026
Thursday 19 February 2026
Wednesday 25 February 2026
Tuesday 03 March 2026
Wednesday 11 March 2026
Thursday 19 March 2026
You can book for any of these dates on Humanitix: https://events.humanitix.com/host/adel_park_lands
Your Guide leaders
One of these Guide leaders will be your escort through the urban forest, helping you recognise the most significant trees and explaining the controversy that has erupted since the Government announced its “re-development” intentions in February 2026.
How fit do I need to be?
If you can play a round of golf, without needing a motorised golf cart, then you can undertake this walk. You’ll be walking mostly on dirt pathways, but also stepping over some uneven ground and up and down a few hills. Unfortunately, this Guided Walk is not suitable for those in wheelchairs or otherwise mobility impaired. Here is the route:
4.38 km. Estimated walking time: 57 minutes, which will stretch to two hours with multiple stops en route.
You can also take a self-guided walk through any part of your Adelaide Park Lands, at any time, relying on one or more of our Trail Guides.
