The Santos Tour Down Under will take place in and around Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and South Coast regions during January 2026. This rail trail may be impacted to varying degrees by the Tour.

Fri 23^rd January 26: Men’s Stage 3 starts at Henley Square at Henley Beach. Expect increased cycle and pedestrian traffic on the Coast Park Rail Trail in the vicinity of Henley Square.

Sat 24^th January 26: Men’s Stage 4 starts on The Esplanade at Brighton and travels south along the Esplanade. Expect increased cycle and pedestrian traffic on the Coast Park Rail Trail in the vicinity of Brighton and spectators on the path south of Jetty Road.

The Coast Park Path is a great day or weekend destination on the coastal beaches of Adelaide. It has a sealed surface that is mostly concrete or paving and is very flat. Numerous railways and tramways were built in Adelaide in the 1870s and ’80s and this shared path features three that were never connected as planned. Access from Adelaide to the coast was a significant problem during settlement due to ‘low, swampy reed country’. While it was a beautiful wetland, the colonists managed to drain it within a few decades and, in doing so, created sand drifts that proceeded to destroy two of the three railways.

The three sections are:

• Woodville to Grange (7km): A railside trail that shadows the operational Grange Line and the former Grange Tramway through suburbia to the coast. Our guide for this section is lengthy because the signage is poor. The issue has been raised with the trail manager.
• Grange to Glenelg (10km): Travels along the coast about 100 m west of the alignment of the Grange to Glenelg Railway. The trail is paved and sits on the edge of an embankment, providing excellent views of the coast.
• Glenelg to Marino (8km): Travels south along the coast and through sand hill sections on which Glenelg to Marino passenger railway was built

Woodville to Grange (6.5km) 

• This section starts at Woodville Station on Woodville Rd and is also known as the Grange Greenway. If travelling by car, park at the station or, if that’s full, there’s plenty of parking in nearby Port Rd.
• If coming on the Outer Harbor Greenway railside trail, cross the tracks at Woodville Rd towards the station carpark.
• Follow curving Rowley Tce as it moves away from the Outer Harbor Line until you reach Port Rd. Use the pedestrian-actuated crossing to get you over Port Rd. Once over it, ride a few metres toward the railway line and then turn left and follow the shared path adjacent to the tracks.
• Follow the path until you reach May St where you will need to turn left. Continue following May St, turning right into Alma Tce and follow it until it stops at Todville St.
• Cross Todville St using the pedestrian crossing and follow the trail through the housing development until Alma Tce resumes. Just before the roundabout at the junction of Alma Tce and Levistone St, take the path on the right and follow it to the railway pedestrian crossing on the right. Once over the railway line, turn left and follow the Clark Tce path to the junction of Trimmer Pde and Tapleys Hill Rd
• At the traffic lights, cross Trimmer Pde and then Tapleys Hill Rd. Turn left away from the Grange Line, follow the shared path beside the Royal Adelaide Golf Course and then right into Meakin Tce. Cross Frederick Rd and then proceed along Westmoreland Rd to Beach St.
• Turn right onto Beach St and use the footpath on the right hand side to cross the creek. Just over the creek, turn right into Napier Dr and follow the Grange Lakes Corridor along the creek, passing the Charles Sturt Museum, until you come back to the railway line..
• Before the railway line, turn left into Terminus St and continue to the end.
• Turn left onto Charles Sturt Ave and then right onto Baker St. Take the service lane on the right at the bend and follow it past the Grange Station until you reach Military Rd.
• Turn right on the Military Rd footpath, passing a former station platform disguised as a retaining wall on the other side, and follow it to the pedestrian crossing near the service station. Cross Military Rd there and turn right and, using the footpath, go along Military Rd a short distance until you come to Terminus St. Ride over the rise (once the coastal dune), past Seaview Rd (believed to be on the alignment of the Grange to Glenelg Railway) until you come to the coast. Turn left onto the Coast Park Path (on the sea side of the Esplanade) and follow it to the Grange Jetty, which is the beginning of the Grange to Glenelg section.

Grange to Glenelg (10km)

• This section starts at Jetty St, where there are toilets, a hotel and cafe. If arriving by train, walk up Terminus St from Grange Station and join the Coast Park Path at Esplanade. There’s parking at the end of Jetty St after you cross Military Rd.
• The railway was constructed in 1882 to help with building a difficult part of Military Rd, which was intended to link four forts along the coast. Nearly half the railway was removed after completion of the road the following year. The remaining 6 km was left but gradually disappeared under the dunes and was often referred to as “the mystery railway” or “the railway that never was”.
• Follow the shared use path along the foreshore, but note that it can be very busy on weekends.
• You’ll quickly reach Henley Beach Jetty and numerous eateries,
• At the mouth of the River Torrens, you’ll see the start of the River Torrens Linear Park Path that runs eastward for 12 km to the CBD and then a further 20 to the Adelaide Hills.
• Immediately south of the West Beach Boat Ramp there is a 700m section of the path cut through a sand dune (there is often sand over the path). Behind the dune is a waste water treatment plant on the site of the temporary Fort Glenelg. In 1956, during construction of the treatment plants, the original railway line was uncovered.
• At the Patawalonga River, the Glenelg Wier provides a crossing point. Please walk your bike across. Once over the weir, turn left and then right and proceed toward the open reserve in the distance. Ride between Colley Reserve and the apartment building and then turn left to return along  the coast to Mosley Square.
• Glenelg is a major suburb with all facilities. 

Glenelg to Marino (8km)

• The trail starts at Mosley Square but the Glenelg trams that stop there do not take bikes but it’s an easy ride from the CBD via the Mike Turtur or Westside shared paths, subject to 2025 construction activity. If arriving by car, there’s more parking in Maxwell Tce.
• The Glenelg to Marino Tramway started out as a private cargo and passenger service but it was never connected to the others due to political and financial issues, not to mention feuds between residents and the owners and the monumental difficulties of running trains through sand dunes.
• Before you set off, walk out on the Glenelg Jetty to warm up.
• After you pass the Somerton Surf Lifesaving Club the trail goes through a small section of sand dunes in the Minda Coastal Park.
• Just beyond the Brighton Beachfront Holiday Park near the end of the trail, there’s a café, toilets and the remains of Tjilbruke Spring. The spring, which still flows slowly today, once fed a substantial freshwater pond nearr the coast. This site forms part of the Kaurna people’s Tjilbruke Dreaming Story.

CONNECTING PATHS

• Semaphore Rail Trail (4km): Further north, the Coast Park Path forms a rail trail for the Semaphore tourist railway, which we feature separately.
• Grange Lakes Corridor Shared Use Path (3km): Competition was king in the early days of the colony and there was money to be made from railways/tramways but, more often than not, money was lost. While the above three privately owned railways were being constructed, a privately owned tramway was being built from Adelaide to Henley Beach in 1882. While there’s nothing left of the tramway which closed in 1957, its corridor runs next to the Port River and intersects with the Woodville to Grange shared path at Beach St. This trail runs 3 km from Trimmer Pde and will extend south to Marlborough St and beyond, providing excellent, safe cycling with plenty to see.
• Outer Harbor Greenway (23km) : It is possible to cycle from the Adelaide CBD along the Outer Harbor Greenway and then follow the Coast Park Path from Woodville.
• Mike Turtur Bikeway (9km): Connects Glenelg with the Adelaide CBD and it also connects to the Westside Bikeway and Sturt Linear Park shared path.
• Coast to Vines Rail Trail connection (1.4km): At the end of the Coast Park Path at Marino, you can ride up the hill using Burnham Rd and Strickland Rd and then turn right onto Bandon Tce. Follow Bandon Tce, turn right into Jervois Tce then left into The Cove Rd which can be followed until, opposite Emma St, the Coast to Vines starts on the left. The distance might be short but there’s a 40m climb in the first 400m. Sometimes it’s better to walk.