Dead Man's Pass

**Fast Facts**
Place type:	Site
Site type:	Natural feature
Town or Locality:	Gawler

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The first authentic account we have of the presence of white men is that given by Dr. Nott in his Short Sketch of the Rise and Progress of Gawler, written in 1860. He says: About three and twenty years ago an exploring party sent out by Messrs Light and Finniss, returning from the neighbourhood of the Barossa Ranges, fell in with a wanderer in the scrub, worn out with exhaustion, hunger and thirst. After relieving his wants and lifting him into their dray, they carried him to as far as a ford on the South Para River, when on attempting to rouse him they found him dead. Having no implements wherewith to dig a grave, they placed his body upright in the hollow of a tree by the riverside and covered it decently with bark and sticks. A short time afterwards it was discovered by another exploring party and properly interred near the spot.

For many citizens, what is called Dead Man’s Pass extends along the South Para River from the north/western edge of the ford that links Murray Street to Gawler South. It then travels under the area where the swing-bridge existed, extending upstream, parallel to Gawler Terrace, for about two kilometres. It ends near the first major left hand bend of the river, closest to where Gawler Terrace meets One Tree Hill Road.

Children had this section of the South Para River as an ideal playground and the more adventurous wended their way further upstream to seek out the infamous Black Bob's Cave.

In the 1950's, Gawler South children would think twice about riding their bikes in the heat over to Gawler West's Ryde Street, to Paternoster's swimming pool (there was no Gawler council swimming pool until the 1960s). They preferred to use the waterholes along Dead Man’s Pass for their swimming, despite the prevalence of leeches in the water.

The ford near the swing bridge eventually got sealed and was recently used as a segment of the Tour Down Under route.

For many more photos of Dead Man's Pass over the years, please click here.