Anstey Hill Recreation Park - Today's Park

Today's Park

Anstey Hill Recreation Park is a reserved area of public land with short seasonal creeks, low hills and steep-sided gullies. Its boundaries are largely formed by Lower North East, North East, Perseverance and Range Roads; there is a small section south of Lower North East Road. It lies at the edge of the Mount Lofty Ranges' foothills and forms part of the "hill's face" that is visible from Adelaide's metropolitan area. The park covers 362 hectares (890 acres) of the City of Tea Tree Gully, approximately 19 km (12 mi) northeast of Adelaide's central business district, with parts in the suburbs of Tea Tree Gully, Vista, Highbury and Houghton. The Adelaide–Mannum water supply pipeline crosses the park's south, and an associated filtration plant is sited on its southern boundary. Adjacent to the water filtration plant is Anstey Hill, reaching 371.1 m (1,218 ft) above mean sea level. The hill is 50 m (160 ft) shorter than a nearby unnamed peak. The park’s southern boundary abuts the Anstey Hill Quarry, a producer of white clay, and two large disused quarries.

The park is part of the Greater Mount Lofty Parklands, an area also known as Yurrebilla. Management of the park is influenced by the Department for Environment and Heritage's long term biodiversity goals for the hill face zone. The Department manages the park in association with local council and a volunteer group—The Friends of Anstey Hill. This volunteer group makes significant contributions to revegetation, weed control, ruin stabilisation and creation of walking trails. There are no visitor facilities or amenities except for walking trails, most of which follow fire access tracks; a single constructed pedestrian trail leads to Klopper’s Quarry. The park is mostly designated as a "conservation zone" where only passive recreation, including walking dogs on leads, is permitted. Horses and motor vehicles are not allowed and only the main tracks are maintained.

In recognition of the established and popular activity of mountain biking in the greater Adelaide area, and to better accommodate the mountain biking community in the North Eastern suburbs, the Department for Environment and Heritage has proposed to permit cycling in designated zones on purpose-built tracks and on certain management tracks within the park. The intention is to satisfy both biodiversity and recreation objectives in the park and reducing the incidence of illegal mountain bike riding in other non designated areas.

Anstey Hill Park lies between Bureau of Meteorology measured rainfall contour lines that denote an annual average from 580 to 820 mm (23 to 32 in). It has hot dry summers, as does all of Adelaide, and December to February's average maximum daily temperatures 28 °C (82 °F) to 29 °C (84 °F). Temperatures drop significantly in the wetter winters; July's average maximum temperature is 14.6 °C (58.3 °F). Apart from springs in Water Gully, the site of Newman's Nursery ruins, all of the numerous creeks in the park are seasonal and dry for much of the year. The park rises from approximately 220 m (720 ft) above mean sea level on its western side to 420 m (1,380 ft) at the highest point in the park's southeast corner. Most of the park is steeply sloping with gradients steeper than one in four. Except for the base of Water Gully, topsoil throughout the park is shallow and low in plant nutrients.

There are frequent serious bushfires in the park. Much of the reserve was burned in 1980, eastern parts burned in 1981, and most of the park burned again in the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires; Newman's Nursery's remains were devastated during the 1983 bushfire. As recently as 2004, a major fire burned over 100 ha (247 acres) of bushland next to Anstey Hill. Most fires in the park are deliberately lit and the park is regarded as a "hotspot" for arson. Arson in the park is not a recent phenomenon; an early record comes from an 1869 coronial inquiry. The park has more than one arson attack, on average, each year. In the hill's face, encompassing Anstey Hill, approximately 60% of all fires (1999–2004) are deliberately lit and less than 5% are classed as naturally occurring. Most deliberately lit fires begin at the park's boundaries and are contained within it.