Mount Lofty (34°58′S 138°42′E, elevation 710 m (2,330 ft) AHD) is the highest point in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges. It is located about 15 km (9.3 mi) east of the Adelaide city centre, within the Cleland National Park in the Adelaide Hills area of South Australia.

Mount Lofty
North view of the Summit and Flinders Column from the Fire Tower
Highest point
Elevation	710 m (2,330 ft)
Coordinates	34°58′S 138°42′E
Geography
Mount Lofty Cleland, South Australia, Australia[1]
Parent range	Mount Lofty Ranges
Climbing
First ascent	April 1831 Collet Barker (but likely ascended by Indigenous peoples before European contact)

Mount Lofty Summit has panoramic views of the city and the Adelaide plains to the west, and of the Picadilly Valley to the east. It is also popular destination for international tourists, as well as for cyclists coming up the old Mount Barker Road through Eagle on the Hill, and for walkers from Waterfall Gully.

History

Aboriginal significance

The adjacent peaks of Mount Lofty and Mount Bonython form a prominent landmark visible across the Adelaide Plains, known to the local Kaurna people as Yuridla, 'two-ears', part of the body of an ancestral being called Nganu.[2][3] This Kaurna name has been preserved in its anglicised form as the name of the nearby town of Uraidla.

European discovery and use

Mount Lofty was named by Matthew Flinders on 23 March 1802 during his circumnavigation of the Australian continent.[4] It was first climbed by a European when the explorer Collet Barker climbed it in April 1831, almost six years before Adelaide was settled.

A stone cairn at the summit was originally used to mark the trig point, and in 1885 this was replaced by an obelisk which served as the central reference point for surveying purposes across Adelaide. In 1902 the obelisk was rededicated and renamed as the "Flinders Column".[5]

The Summit was closed to the public during the Second World War, when the obelisk was considered an indispensable navigation aid. A flashing strobe was fitted to the top to improve visibility at night. This strobe was removed after the war, but then re-installed in the 1990s, when the obelisk was repainted and restored during construction of the new kiosk.

Access and description

The summit can be accessed by road from the South Eastern Freeway at Crafers, and from the eastern suburbs via Greenhill Road and the Mount Lofty Scenic Route. The more enthusiastic can walk up the gully from Waterfall Gully, through the Cleland National Park and from Chambers Gully. The track from Waterfall Gully to the summit is a 4 km uphill trek and one of Adelaide's most popular exercise circuits so the carpark at the bottom is often busy. The summit provides panoramic views across Adelaide, and a cafe-restaurant and gift shop. Kangaroos are sometimes spotted on the trails leading up to the summit.

On the ridge near the summit are three television transmission towers (the northernmost being that of the ABC), and the Mount Lofty Fire Tower operated by the Country Fire Service.

Historic houses

Summit Road, Mt Lofty, was one of the best-known addresses in South Australia, with the summer houses of several prominent families being located there. These were all destroyed or severely damaged by the Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983, but have subsequently been restored.[6] They include:

• Mt Lofty House (1858) - Arthur Hardy[7]
• Eurilla (1884) - William Milne, 1917; Lavington Bonython, 1972; Kym Bonython, 1998[8]
• Carminow (1885) - Thomas Elder,[9] 1905 Langdon Bonython[10]

Other buildings, such as St Michael's House (an Anglican theological college and priory) and "Arthur's Seat", for a time known as Stawell School, a private school for girls, were never rebuilt.[11] Part of this property was excised for the ABC-TV transmitter building and mast.

Note that historically, "Mount Lofty" addresses frequently referred to the area now known as Crafers and to parts of Stirling.

Climate

Snow

Due to Adelaide's mild winters, temperatures cold enough to produce snow in the Adelaide metropolitan area never occur, and the nearest snowfields to Adelaide are in eastern Victoria, over 700 km away. However, light snowfalls (rarely lasting for more than a day) are not uncommon on the summit (although it is possible for Mount Lofty to go two or three years without any snowfall.) This is a huge novelty for the approximately 1.4 million residents of the Adelaide Plains, (particularly for the children), and a photograph of the event has made the front page of the local newspaper many times in the past.[12] Mount Lofty is the coldest location in the Adelaide area; during winter months the temperature may not exceed 3-4 °C on some days. The summit is the most common location for snow in South Australia; rare snowfalls sometimes occur in other parts of the Mount Lofty Ranges, and occasionally further north, in the Flinders and Gammon Ranges.[13]

General and rainfall

Mount Lofty has an oceanic climate (Cfb) in the Köppen climate classification, due to its elevation, and receives a commensurable amount of precipitation during summer to avoid the Mediterranean climate (Cs) classification, since every summer month receives more than 40 millimetres of rainfall. The annual rainfall is nearly twice and the monthly rainfall during summer is more than twice that of the city of Adelaide. The influence of the Mediterranean climate is present with the drying trend during summer.

Gallery

• 
  Snow at Eurilla in 1905
• 
  View SE across the Piccadilly Valley from the Mount Lofty Scenic Route. The summit of Mount Barker, 22 km away, is visible on the horizon.
• 
  Flinders Column dedication plaque, from 1902
• 
  View of Adelaide Plains at night from the summit.
• 
  View of the eastern suburbs, the Adelaide city centre and the Gulf St Vincent at sunset from the summit.

See also

• List of mountains in Australia

References

External links

• Cleland National Park

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[es] Monte Lofty

[fr] Mont Lofty

[ru] Лофти (гора)