2026 Heysen Trail
Heyson Trail Logo
As Australian long distance trails go the Heysen Trail is just that little bit different. While other trails will very strongly recommend you don’t hike in mid summer doing everything they can to deter you from walking but at the same time the trails stay open. Not so the Heysen Trail which typically shuts off sections around mid November and reopens them around May all based around fire risk. This means you have a defined window if you wish to do an end-to-end thru hike.
When doing a long distance hike like the Heysen Trail, checking weather records for a few locations along the length of the trail is just one of the tasks. While many hikers prefer warmer conditions for their hiking adventures I will start my thru hike on 22 July 2026 based around the temperatures at the northern trailhead. Over the 8 week duration of the hike the maximum temperatures are expected to range between 15-21° Celcius and a minimum of around 4-10° Celcius. I’m sure there will be some outlying days but I’m very happy with the averages. I also find that I sleep better in cooler temperatures and given the expected minimums will opt for a more compact, lighter weight sleeping bag.
Rainfall wise I will expect at least some rain on this hike but given the period I’m going the northern section of the trail only averages around 16mm a month so I can’t complain about that.
So July it is!
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As Australian long distance trails go the Heysen Trail is just that little bit different. While other trails will very strongly recommend you don’t hike in mid summer doing everything they can to deter you from walking but at the same time the trails stay open. Not so the Heysen Trail which typically shuts off […]