Blue Lake Loop

The Blue Lake Loop is a sealed circuit around the rim of Mount Gambier's Blue Lake, the crater lake that floods a vivid blue each summer from about November to March. The council's own pet guide names the walk outright and puts one condition on it: dogs on a leash, with bag stations spaced around the lake. Council logs it at 3.6 km, AllTrails measures the full lap at 3.9 km, and the lake stays in view for most of the walk either way.

Leash status

Dogs are welcome on lead for the entire circuit. The City of Mount Gambier requires leashes in all its reserves and this walk is one of them, so there is no off-lead section at any point. Waste rules are enforced with real numbers here: failing to pick up draws a $55 expiation with a maximum penalty of $125, and there is a separate $66 fine for not even carrying a bag. Bag stations along the route help, but carry your own as backup.

The walk

The path follows John Watson Drive and Bay Road around the crater rim, flat and paved from start to finish, with about an hour needed at a walking pace. It is a genuine loop, so you end where you parked. Lookouts break the circuit into sections and the lake sits below you at most of them. The colour shift between seasons is real rather than postcard exaggeration: grey through winter, then the intense blue the lake is named for over summer.

Water and terrain

There is no lake access anywhere on the walk. Blue Lake is the city's drinking supply and the path stays on the rim above it, so your dog will not be swimming here regardless of the weather. Water stations for people and dogs sit at Apex Lookout. Apart from a few gentle grades on the rim, the surface is flat and sealed, which makes this one of the easier crater walks you will find anywhere.

Pepsi: a whole lake the colour of a water bowl, and I was not allowed in it. Held it together for the full 3.6 kilometres.

Worth knowing

The path runs alongside the road for much of the circuit, with traffic moving at speed and no barrier in places. A short lead is the sensible call, and it matters most at the lookout car parks where cars swing in and out across the footpath. One regional limit for trip planning: dogs are not permitted inside the Umpherston Sinkhole, and dogs are banned from national and conservation parks across this part of South Australia, so council reserves like this one are where Limestone Coast walking happens.

Getting there and parking

The lake sits at the edge of the Mount Gambier township and the circuit has parking at the lookouts along John Watson Drive and Bay Road. Start at any of them, since it is a loop. The lookouts have room for cars with caravans in tow, which matters if you are travelling through with a van, and the Blue Lake Holiday Park sits close enough to walk to the circuit from your site.

When to go

Summer delivers the blue but also the heat, so walk early or late if you are here between December and February. The path is exposed along the rim, with little shade to shelter under. Autumn and spring are comfortable at any hour, and even a grey winter day keeps the walk itself pleasant.

Close by with the dogs

If the circuit is not enough walking for the day, the Hastings Cunningham Reserve fenced dog park gives an off-lead run to follow the on-lead lap. For a flat white after the loop, Bay Blue Espresso Bar is an easy detour with dogs welcome.

Our South Australia trails page lists more dog-friendly walks in the state, and the Mount Gambier destination guide pulls together everything in town.