Former premier Jay Weatherill has been spending more time with his family now he is on the opposition's backbench, however his adventures this weekend might not have delivered the kind of break he was anticipating.

Mr Weatherill was bushwalking with his wife, Melissa and daughters Lucinda and Alice on Sunday, when he fell and broke his leg in rugged terrain in a gorge where there was no phone reception.

After his family hiked out to call for help, the ensuing medical evacuation from Hidden Gorge in Mount Remarkable National Park took more than five hours, with Mr Weatherill being carried out by stretcher.

He took to social media to thank the emergency services and other bushwalkers for assisting with his rescue.

"An ideal way to get a firsthand look at our wonderful emergency services in action — but not recommended," he said on Facebook.

"It took more than two hours walking uphill to carry me to an ambulance. Some other bushwalkers helped carry the stretcher.

"I have a broken lower right leg and am feeling more than a little embarrassed for causing all this fuss but thanks to the amazing work of our park rangers, emergency services workers, including volunteers, the hospital staff, some kind strangers and my family, I'm okay."

State Emergency Services (SES) state duty officer Mike Baker said crews received the call to assist an injured bushwalker at midday on Sunday at the gorge, located three hours from Adelaide.

"We [found that] we were assisting our former premier, Mr Jay Weatherill, and that it was quite a hike to both get in and out," Mr Baker said.

"… it was a very slow, steady and careful extraction.

Mr Weatherill was carried by emergency services on a stretcher for two hours through rugged terrain in a national park. ( Source: Jay Weatherill/Facebook )

"Mount Remarkable National Park is quite hilly and undulating sort of ground, with old gum trees and rocks, so it's quite a difficult walk."

South Australian Ambulance Service state duty manager Amanda Cameron said the full retrieval of Mr Weatherill from the gorge took around five hours, with the stretcher having to be pulled single file through the rugged terrain.

"It was a very challenging case for us — the terrain was difficult and we were unable to respond by helicopter due to low-lying fog so it was required of the crews to actually walk the patient out," she said.

"At about 5:30[pm] we had him secure in the ambulance and were then able to transport him to Port Pirie Hospital."

Family had no phone reception at spot

There was no phone reception in the gorge, leaving Mr Weatherill's family to hike out to call for help.

"Where Mr Weatherill was located was at the bottom of Hidden Gorge, very difficult terrain, and there actually was no telephone reception for him," she said.

"Members of his family have had to walk out of the gorge to alert emergency services in the first instance."

There were around a dozen responders to the emergency call, with three ambulance crews, national parks and wildlife workers and the SES.

Mr Weatherill's family was with him on the bushwalk on Sunday. ( Source: Jay Weatherill/Facebook )

Greens MP Tammy Franks posted in response: "Ouch! Mend well and big kudos to those who care for us and keep us safe in our emergency and health services."

Linda Hitch, who was at the scene to lend a hand with the evacuation, said she was happy to help.

"Glad your [sic] OK. I know your family will help you recover," she said.

Mr Weatherill stood down as leader of the South Australian Labor Party the day after the March 17 state election.

In announcing his decision, Mr Weatherill said he would see out his term in Parliament but would focus his attention on his western suburbs electorate of Cheltenham.