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Region:

Barossa 

Length:

103 kms 

Duration:

1.5 hrs 

Submitted By:

Motorcycle Rides 

Ride Summary

This 103 kilometre ride begins at Birdwood Mill and goes through Mt. Pleasant, Williamstown, Angaston, Mengler Hill Lookout, Sculpture Park, Tanunda, Barossa Valley wine country, Lyndoch, Williamstown, Kersbrook and winds-up in Chain of Ponds. This is a great ride which has a little of everything bikers love.

Ride Description

From the Birdwood Mill parking lot, turn left toward Mt. Pleasant. This is a very pleasant ride following the path of the Torrens River upstream. This is a slightly narrow back road which is not too challenging but has both great corners and straights. Stay alert for tourists though. In Angaston, turn left heading south to the Mengler Hill Road Scenic Drive. The road that leads into this is called Long Gully Road. This is a short but sharp little run.

After topping the hill, take the turnoff to Mengler Hill Lookout and Sculpture Park. The sculptures were created in 1988 for an International Sculpture Symposium and are quite interesting. Though they lack a bit of context, the dedication to the early European settlers is quite touching.

Next after Mengler Hill, have a look at Tanunda (straight ahead), then turn south again past lots of wineries to Lyndoch, Williamstown and Kersbrook before reaching your destination at Chain of Ponds. This is a great run through South Australia’s fine vineyard and winery region of the Barossa Valley. Oh, if you have time and would be interested in a scientific puzzle, take a right just before Williamstown, then left again to the Barossa Reservoir. The dam is called the “Whispering Wall”. Take someone with you and try to find out why it got its name (you can’t do it alone).

Directions

From Birdwood Mill, turn left out of their parking lot, go straight through Mt. Pleasant then bear left toward Angaston. In Angaston, turn left heading south to Mengler Hill Road Scenic Drive. Top the hill, turn off to Mengler Hill Lookout, straight ahead to Tanunda, then south to Lyndoch, Williamstown, Kersbrook, and Chain of Ponds. To return to Birdwood, turn left or to go on to Adelaide, make a right.


View SA – Birdwood to Chain of Ponds in a larger map
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Best Thing About This Ride

Is the adventure of getting out of the “usual” rut and doing something different that every other tourist. This tour of the Barossa Valley puts you in control of where to stop or not, how much time to spend where, and has a variety of road conditions, corners and straights to enjoy.

What Else To Look Out For

If you make the normal preparations and take the precautions every biker should take on every road trip, you should have no worries. Do stay on the lookout for tourists though, even on the back roads and on the long runs it is wise to watch your speed.