Lyndoch & Williamstown: 8 Incredible Locations to Visit in the Lower Barossa

Hey there, friend!

Explore the Lower Barossa Valley with me

This region of the Barossa Valley is stunning and seriously not to be missed! I think the biggest surprise was finding incredible, long dog-friendly hikes in the area.

I’m excited to share these trails with those of you travelling with your furbabies.

My hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed driving through the picturesque lower Barossa Valley countryside with large rolling hills, deep valleys and lush farmlands.

We mainly explored Lyndoch and Williamstown, and in this journal entry, you’ll discover a diverse range attractions, eats & drinks in and around these two sweet rural townships.

How to get to Lyndoch & Williamstown

If you’re travelling from Adelaide, Lyndoch is just under an hour’s drive away along the motorway. From the heart of the Barossa, it’s only a short 13-15 minute drive along Barossa Valley Way.

The town of Williamstown is a tad further south, about 8 minutes away from Lyndoch.

Although quiet and peaceful, we found that both towns and surrounding areas offered so many fun things to see and do!

One / Lyndoch Lavender Farm

barossa valley Dog-friendly cafe with outdoor seating

Nestled in the relaxing countryside of the lower Barossa Valley, the Lyndoch Lavender Farm provides a tranquil setting for enjoying a spot of morning or afternoon tea.

From the town of Lyndoch, it’s only an 8-10 minute drive, through very pretty countryside.

Farm Kitchen & Cafe

At their cafe, you’ll find a delicious range of housemade lavender scones, biscuits, cakes, as well as some light meals. I was definitely hankering to taste their amazing looking scones!

We ordered the lavender scones with jam and cream, and also the cheese, herb and lavender scones with butter. Both sets of scones were the perfect shape – puffed up in height, golden tops, soft and light crumb texture on the inside.

Even though I liked each, the standout for me was the cheese, herb and lavender scones – I think the mixture of herbs paired really well with the lavender!

If you’re travelling in winter like we were, their dog-friendly patio area is enclosed with plastic blinds and they crank their heaters on so you can dine with a bit more comfort.

If you’re popping by in better weather, they have outdoor tables under umbrellas in their charming gardens.

Shop

Lyndoch Lavender Farm makes a wide variety of lavender infused products. From edible goodies like chutneys and jams to home and body items like linen spray, candles, bath salts and moisturisers.

If you’re interested in their products but can’t get to the farm, you can shop online at their website

They also make yummy creamy lavender ice-cream, which you can buy in a takeaway container. I couldn’t resist buying a tub to try back at home! As a food lover, I’m so grateful for having a car fridge/freezer available for times like this!

Gardens & Walks

As an added bonus, you can explore their lovely lavender gardens through a nice little walk around their property. Dogs are welcome, you just have to speak to a staff member so they can let you through the barrier.

They have planted an assortment of lavender varieties in their gardens so that there’s something flowering all throughout the year to enjoy. When you walk right to the top of the block, you’re treated to a gorgeous view of rolling farmland hills.

Location and opening hours

407 Tweedies Gully Road, Williamstown, South Australia.

Farm and Shop
Open daily, 10am – 4.30pm ***

Cafe
10am – 4pm
1 September to 31 December: Open daily ***
1 January to 31 August: Weekends only
Cafe closed public holidays.

*** Closed Christmas Day, Good Friday & Anzac Day.

I highly recommend visiting this working lavender farm if you’re exploring around Lyndoch. If you would like to know more about their products or shop online, please check out the Lyndoch Lavender Farm website.

Two and Three / GBA Parsons Lookout & Steingarten Lookout

These are two lookouts in close proximity to each other. From the nearby towns of Lyndoch and Williamstown, you’re looking at about a 10 and 15 minute drive, respectively. Both scenic lookouts offer magnificent panoramic views of the farmland valleys of the lower Barossa.

Please note that some of the streets and sections are unsealed in this area, and when you get closer to the GBA Parsons Lookout, it’s a steep uphill drive with tight curves along Trial Hill Road. It’s not recommended for vehicles towing a caravan!

GBA Parsons Lookout

Dog-friendly scenic lookout

This scenic lookout is located along a bend, distinguishable by a stone wall on the way up and a small pull-off space. The parking is only enough for a couple of cars but it’s not a busy area, and you’re unlikely to spend more than 10-15 minutes.

The landscape is gorgeous, especially in winter when the valleys are all green and dotted with cute families of sheep. We were fortunate enough to have the sun come out while we were soaking in the magical views. It made the scenery so much more breathtaking!

Location and opening hours

413 Trial Hill Rd, Pewsey Vale, South Australia
Open to see all year around.

Steingarten Lookout

This scenic lookout is a bit of a funny one because it’s located on private property and you have to go through a couple of gates.

Don’t worry, I’m not telling you anything dodgy! Public access is allowed, just make sure to keep gates shut after going through them because of the sheep kept in the fields!

The Steingarten Road turnoff is a short distance up the hill from the GBA Parsons Lookout, look out for the curved stone walls and signage on the left hand side.

Driving through a working sheep farm

From the initial metal gate along Trial Hill Road, there’s a 1km drive through a working sheep farm to get to the lookout. The unsealed track is rough and hilly with some deep ruts. It’s best to go slow and with care, especially with sheep freely roaming about.

Entering Steingarten Vineyard

About 200m from the lookout, you have to go through the second wooden gate to enter the Steingarten Vineyard.

There’s actually two large nicely built lookout platforms to view from, on opposite sides to each other. From both, it’s a breathtaking sight to see the vastness of the land and valley. One side overlooks neat rows of grape vines on the property.

Parking and dogs

There’s plenty of parking near the platforms. We couldn’t find information about dogs so just to be on the safe side, we kept Charlie in the car the whole time. It was a cool winter’s day so it was fine to leave him there for a short duration.

On the All Trails website – it says that dogs are allowed on leash but I couldn’t find any information on the physical signposts.

Steingarten Country Walk

If you’re a keen walker, there’s a 8km circuit that you can do within the property which goes past the lookout. We opted not to do this but you can find the trailhead signs near the initial gate.

Location and opening hours

373 Steingarten Rd, Rowland Flat, South Australia
Open to see all year around.

I think the drive to the lookout adds to the adventure! Don’t let the gates put you off. I enjoyed the experience, mud and all, and seeing all of the sweet lambs wandering about.

Four / Ministry of Beer, Lyndoch

barossa valley Dog-friendly brewery cellar door with beer garden

Glory to beer in the highest! Located within the heart of Lyndoch, the Ministry of Beer stands out with its aesthetically pleasing and contemporary building.

Especially so, when the vines out front are full and lush in spring/summer or a vibrant red in autumn – the photos of this place during those times look absolutely stunning!

It’s equally stylish with a great ambience once you step inside, and the staff are wonderful and friendly. It’s an awesome place for kicking back and enjoying a lovingly crafted beer or two.

Dog-friendly beer garden

For those of you visiting with your furry friend, they have dog-friendly outdoor seating at their beer garden. There’s huge sail shades overhead for sun protection but nothing in the way of heavy rain.

Even though the weather was cold and dismal on the day we went, we were lucky enough not to have rain.

Specialising in sour beers

If you consider yourself a craft beer enthusiast, you’ll be delighted with the Ministry of Beer’s large and interesting range.

They only brew small batches to keep things fresh and to allow them to experiment and serve more unusual flavours. Brett, the brewer and owner of the Ministry of Beer has a passion for sour beers, so you’ll find a large amount of this style on tap.

Flammekueche and grazing platters

In terms of food, the Ministry of Beer serves Flammekueche, which is a German style pizza with very thin bases. We didn’t have any but they did smell good!

You can also put together your own grazing platter as they offer local fine food products.

On the way out, I grabbed some locally made apricot rocky road which was yum.

Location and opening hours

1 Lyndoch Valley Rd, Lyndoch, South Australia
Wednesday to Sunday, 11am – 7pm
Mondays, 12pm – 6pm
Closed Tuesdays.

Please visit the Ministry of Beer website to find out more about their interesting range of beers or to shop online.

If you’re like us and basically doing a brewery tour of Australia, this is a good one to add to the list!

Five / Williamstown Hotel

barossa valley Dog-friendly pub with outdoor seating

Before attempting a long, challenging hike at the Barossa Goldfields (next location on this list), we stopped by the nearby sweet country town of Williamstown for a feed.

This tiny idyllic rural town has some lovely historic buildings along the main street, with one of those being the Williamstown Hotel, built in 1854. This is where we decided to pop in for lunch!

As far as small town pubs go, the Williamstown Hotel is a genuine little local providing decent food, reasonable servings, and warm country hospitality.

This is a dog-friendly venue and you can choose to sit at their beautiful dog-friendly beer garden with plenty of large tables under umbrellas or their front verandah with bar stools and a few smaller tables.

I ordered a creamy bacon and mushroom pasta, it came out like a soup but was very creamy, delicious and comforting.

Location and opening hours

20 Queen St, Williamstown, South Australia
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, 11am – 9 pm
Wednesday and Thursday, 11am – 11pm
Friday and Saturday, 11am – 12am.

If you would like to know more about this sweet little country pub, please visit the Williamstown Hotel website.

Six / Barossa Goldfields Trails

barossa valley Dog-friendly walking trail

I found an excellent website that lists all of the available walking trails around the Barossa region called Barossa Bushwalks.

Their guide also lets you know if walking trails are dog-friendly, how difficult they are and how much time they will approximately take to complete.

This is how I came across the Barossa Goldfields, a section of the Para Wirra Conservation Park with dog-friendly walking trails. This is such an amazing place to hike with the dog, I highly recommend it!

Location and opening hours

Located in the south west of the Barossa, the park is a short drive away from the towns of Lyndoch and Williamstown, about a 10-15 minute drive from either location. The Barossa Goldfields carpark is along Allendale Road. It’s open all year round and free to visit.

A historical mining site

According to the information board at the trailhead, gold was first found in the area in 1868, ensuing a gold rush for a few years. Now the abandoned grounds have been turned into a historical site with marked walking trails that take you past relics and landmarks of the disused mining site.

Walking trails at the Barossa Goldfields

There are 3 looped walking trails that you can do:

• Victoria Hill Grand Circuit – grade 3, about 1.4km
• Phoenix Circuit – grade 4, about 4.2km
• Lady Pearce Circuit – grade 4, about 5.8km (we chose to do this one).

Walk in an anticlockwise direction

I didn’t realise that it’s better to do the trails in an anticlockwise direction. I only read about it after the fact, on the Walking SA website.

It totally makes sense because we passed so many people heading the other way. Plus, there’s a big ass hill that we had to climb up because of the direction we were going. It would’ve been easier going down it! You’re welcome.

Safety

It’s really important to stay within the marked trails as you’re walking through an abandoned mine site and consequently, disused shafts, tunnels and adits remain throughout the area.

Dogs are allowed in this section of the Para Wirra Conservation Park but they must be leashed at all times. I can vouch for dogs staying on a lead because portions of the path get very close to edges with a sheer drop.

About the Lady Peace Circuit

For portions of the way, like near the Bowden Cottage property, the route goes along a wide gravel road but for the most part, the track is just a narrow goat’s trail enough to fit one person.

There’s a lot of walking along the mountainside so if you don’t like heights, it could be problematic! However, the mountains and bushland views at these heights are marvellous.

Expect uneven surfaces along the trail, there’s some very rocky areas and some sections that get muddy with rain.

There are parts where you have to scramble up or down or do some steep uphill/downhill walking. And depending on the season, there may be a couple of river crossings that you have to do.

It’s definitely a fun one to do!

There are posts along the path that tell you which circuit you’re on and how far you’ve walked. It’s fairly well signposted but near the steep zig zag bit, there’s these little weird alternate paths.

I would avoid those and just keep walking the main road. We got lost on some and they were hell dangerous, so close to the edge and slippery!

You’ll also find informative trail signs that mark out points of interest like shafts, remnants of settler’s homes and mining equipment.

If you’re in the Barossa region with your puppers, this is a really enjoyable bush hike to do with them. It’s highly interesting with the historical aspect and the challenging sections.

Seven / Whispering Wall at the Barossa Reservoir

Not dog-friendly

The Whispering Wall is an awesome place to take your kiddos but to be honest, I’m sure you’ll find it just as fascinating and fun!

Location and opening hours

The Barossa Reservoir is located at the end of Whispering Wall Road. From Lyndoch, it is a short 15-20 minute drive and from Williamstown, it’s only about 10 minutes. This is a free attraction!

8.30am – 5pm (standard time)
8.30am – 6pm (daylight saving time).

And in the area, there’s also sheltered picnic benches, drinking fountains, toilets and a small playground, with plenty of parking. The reservoir is surrounded by abundant bushland and is a peaceful setting.

Whispering Wall

The reservoir’s retaining wall was built with a curve to withstand the huge amount of pressure from the water behind it (a whopping 4515 megalitres!).

According to the information sign, at the time of construction, the structure was way ahead of its time and was considered an engineering marvel.

The parabola effect

It’s due to this curve that the Whispering Wall exists. Voices can be heard from one side to the other because of the sound waves bouncing along its perfect curve, that’s more than 140m of wall.

Testing it out

There are two platforms end to end – my hubby and I were like kids testing it out. He stayed at the first platform while I walked over to the second.

When I got there, we started talking to each other and it was so curious being able to hear him so clearly, like he was nearby. You don’t even have to yell, like the name says, you can just whisper to the wall.

It’s a bit hard to tell with the video as my mobile didn’t pick up my hubby’s voice as clearly as I was hearing it. You just have to try it out yourself, in person 😉

No dogs allowed

Unfortunately this is not a dog-friendly activity.

We were lucky to visit in winter and we could leave Charlie in the car for a short amount of time. If you’re exploring the lower Barossa, the Whispering Wall is an entertaining little activity and well worth a quick visit!

Eight / Mount Pleasant Summit Trail

barossa valley Dog-friendly walking trail

This was another great dog-friendly walking area that I came across on the Barossa Bushwalks website. The trails mainly go around and through a pine plantation forest but you also wander through sections of native bushland as well as the edge of farmlands.

At the trailhead, there was heavy machinery and very barren land with felled trees to one side. I thought ‘oh no, I hope it’s not like this the whole way!’ but I was (mount) pleasantly surprised with some of the picturesque views and surroundings we came across during the rest of the hike.

At higher viewpoints, you get a beautiful outlook across the large stretch of forest and farmlands, with mountain ranges in the distance.

Location and opening hours

This was the furthest south we travelled within the lower Barossa Valley – from Lyndoch, the Mount Pleasant Summit Trail was a further 30 minutes, and from Williamstown, 20 minutes.

Located within the Mount Crawford Forest Reserve, the trailhead entrance is along the unsealed Glen Devon Road, look out for the Forestry SA sign and the gate labelled MP 3.

It’s open all year round and free to visit.

Walking trails at Mount Pleasant Summit Trail

There are 3 circuits within the reserve which can be combined to create longer treks:

• Circuit 1, 4.7km
• Combination of Circuit 1 and Circuit 2, 7.2km
• Combination of Circuit 1 and Circuit 2 and Circuit 3, 11.5km.

When we went (late July), Circuits 2 and 3 were closed, not that we wanted to do a longer walk as we had set off late in the day!

According to Forestry SA, dogs are welcome in plantation forest areas as long as they are kept on a leash. Charlie had fun meeting a friendly and curious horse in one of the paddocks that we walked near, it came right to the fence to say hello.

What the track is like

Compared to the Barossa Goldfields, the trail here was a lot easier!

The Mount Pleasant Summit Trails generally follow forest firebreaks and don’t have challenging rocky/cliff sections. You’re walking on wide paths with slightly rough surfaces and some hills but nothing difficult. There are signage and checkpoints along the tracks.

The Mount Pleasant Summit Trails is a fantastic spot to walk with the furbaby if you like longer hikes. There were pretty parts to the plantation forest and some very scenic views along the way!

And that’s a wrap!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the sweet towns of Lyndoch and Williamstown, and the beautiful countryside of the lower Barossa Valley. This is a stunning area and certainly not to be missed!

Have you been to any of these places before? Please feel free to share your experiences in the comments or pop in any questions you might have; I’d love to hear from you.

Safe travels and happy exploring! Thanks for joining me, hope to see you again!