The rugged, weathered peaks and rocky gorges of the Ikara-Flinders Ranges — the largest mountain range in South Australia and one of the most ancient environments on Earth — form some of the most dramatic and beguiling landscapes in the country. The Ranges have been home to Indigenous people for thousands of years, and to a vast array of wildlife for much, much longer. Hikers, campers, cyclists, and four-wheel drivers to name a few come here to indulge their passions. But if you’ve never been, where do you start? We offer some suggestions.

EXPLORE THE POUND

Nowhere else in Australia will you find anything that remotely resembles Wilpena Pound, a natural amphitheatre ringed by mountains that have been worn down from Himalayan proportions over millions of years. To the Adnyamathanha (pronounced Ad-na-mut-na) people,  Ikara acted as a meeting place. English colonists tried and failed in making it work as a livestock enclosure, the last being the Hills family, whose homestead remains intact just inside Pound Gap, the only natural gateway in.

See it on foot or from the air. Hike to dramatic bluffs and gorges. Listen to the Dreamtime tale of its formation from Indigenous elders. Whatever you do, just don’t miss it.

The remnants of the Hills family homestead

FLY HIGH

See Wilpena Pound from the air on a scenic flight with Air Wilpena (airwilpena.com.au) from the Flinders Range Air Port, near Wilpena Pound Resort, or with Chinta Air (chintaair.com.au) from Rawnsley Park, which even offers overnight heli-camping experiences, landing on the Chace Range. Flights typically pass over the Elder and Heysen Ranges, as well as Edeowie Gorge and the Pound. Some go as far as Lake Torrens or Lake Eyre.

GET OFFROAD

The Ranges aren’t necessarily 4WD country; many years ago I toured around there in an old Falcon. A warning though…the sharp stones on some of the Ranges’ unsealed roads can be tough on tyres, so make sure you’ve got a spare or two or otherwise know how to fix a puncture.

Don’t miss the drive along the snaking Bunyeroo Valley Road. With the exception of Wilpena Pound, it’s perhaps the most iconic scene here and you’ll want to preserve the memory on your camera.

There are countless free campsites along Parachilna Gorge Road

There are countless free camping areas in the sandy riverbank alongside Parachilna Gorge Road. To access them, engaging 4WD is highly recommended unless you have a perverse love of digging your vehicle out of trouble.

The roads get rougher the further north you travel. The journey from Wilpena to Arkaroola and the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park is around 200km but is well worth the effort. Some of the tracks within the park and to Lake Frome are 4WD-only, while the Ridgetop Tour (arkaroola.com.au/ridgetop-tour) to Stillers Lookout in Arkaroola is a definite, though precarious, highlight.

The beguiling scenery of Wilpena Pound

GO WILD

The oldest evidence of animal life on Earth was found in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges, suggesting that animals may have been present at least 70 million years earlier than previously thought. Even today, they are a biologist’s paradise, particularly when it comes to studying native species.

See if you can spot shy yellow-footed rock wallabies while exploring Brachina Gorge on foot. Elsewhere, the ranges are one of the most reliable places for seeing emus and kangaroos — both red and grey. Similar, but stockier and darker, are euros, or wallaroos, which are often mistaken for their more celebrated cousins. Birds like parrots, galahs and wedge-tailed eagles also live in the area, while reptiles include goannas, snakes, bearded dragons, skinks, and geckos.

There’s no doubt the prettiest season for visiting the ranges is during spring, when wildflowers can blanket entire fields. Mount Remarkable is where you’ll find the most spectacular display of native wildflowers, including populations of threatened orchids.

Hanging out with a few locals

TAKE A GEOLOGY LESSON

Geologists have concluded that some of the rocks found in Bunyeroo Gorge resulted from a meteorite colliding with Earth on the Eyre Peninsula 580 million years ago. The displaced rock from the resultant explosion landed here, several hundred kilometres away.

Heading west, the rock inside the gorge gets progressively younger, so you’re effectively walking (or driving) through time the further you wander. Millions of years are condensed into a few steps — there aren’t too many places where you can say that.

Hikes here can be flat and easy or tough and steep

CATCH A TRAIN

For 22 years, Quorn was considered the railway crossroads of the nation. The east-west Transcontinental Railway across the Nullarbor had been completed and the Ghan passed through on its way towards Alice Springs. Those days are long gone, though the ride on the Pichi Richi steam train (pichirichirailway.org.au) goes some way towards reliving those heady times.

The six-hour, 32km journey between Port Augusta and Quorn crosses the Pichi Richi Pass on the original Ghan line. Half-day tours link Quorn with Woolshed Flat, with passengers able to pile out for a photo stop opportunity along the way. Three steam train engines and one diesel railcar from 1928 are used.

The Heysen Trail runs from Cape Jervis to Parachilna Gorge

TAKE A HIKE

No doubt about it; you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to hiking in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges, though it can get hot in this largely semi-arid region. Hikes range from the long-distance Heysen Trail that runs from the tip of Cape Jervis to Parachilna Gorge, in the central part of the Ranges, to the luxurious four-day Arkaba Walk (arkabawalk.com.au) where guests get to sleep in swags on a sheep station-turned-wildlife sanctuary.

Hikes can be flat and easy, like the one from Wilpena Pound Resort to Hills Homestead, squeezing through Pound Gap to a viewing platform overlooking Wilpena Pound. Or they can be tough and steep, like the climb to Saint Mary Peak that rewards those who reach the summit with 360-degree views over the Pound, the ABC and Heysen Ranges, and west towards Lake Torrens.

Further south, Dutchman’s Stern and Mount Remarkable are scenic climbs, particularly during the spring wildflower season. Both afford excellent views from the top. The shady hikes through Alligator and Hidden Gorge in Mount Remarkable National Park are eerily similar to parts of the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia. Then up north, there are stunning hikes through Italowie and Weetootla Gorges in the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park. Both are accessible from eponymous campgrounds that are suitable for caravans.

A guided tour will leave you thoroughly educated

LISTEN TO DREAMTIME STORIES

The Adnyamathanha have lived in and around this region for 40,000 years. In honour of that custodianship, the Flinders Ranges were renamed in 2016 to incorporate ‘Ikara,’ broadly meaning ‘meeting place.’

A Welcome to Country incorporating song and storytelling takes places each night at Wilpena Pound Resort (wilpenapound.com.au), while guided tours to Old Wilpena Station, the Sacred Canyon, and Arkaroo Rock start from $45 per adult. The images at Arkaroo show the dreaming, or creation story of Ikara.

The ranges are home to a timeless type of beauty

HAVE A BREAK

Quorn is a charming town that has often been used as an historic backdrop for movies and television shows. If you’re passing through, poke your head inside Emily’s Bistro, a heritage-listed emporium that will transport you back to 1935.

Made over into a cafe, it has retro knickknacks and quandong jams and chutneys lining the timber shelves. There’s a working flying fox that was once used to relay cash to a cashier inside a private office, while out the back is a museum. The wheelchair-friendly restaurant is renowned for its Italian soup and it’s an excellent place to stop for a coffee and cake.

Intriguing Arkaroo Rock

RIDE A BIKE

Starting from Adelaide’s northern fringes until it reaches Blinman in the central Ranges, the Mawson Trail is designed for mountain bikers wanting to travel through South Australia’s rural areas. Almost 900km long, the trail links little-used country roads, state forest, and national park fire trails with farm access tracks and unmade or unused road reserves, occasionally intersecting with the Heysen Trail used by hikers.

Following part of the Mawson Trail, as well as tracks on Arkapena, Upalinna, Willow Springs, and Gum Creek Station, the Ikara-Flinders Ranges By Bike (flindersrangesbybike.com.au) route is a 200km cycling adventure through some of the most spectacular scenery in the Ranges. The circular route is designed to take three-and-a-half days to complete.

The oldest town in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges, Melrose, sits at the foot of Mount Remarkable — home to 80km of singletrack mountain biking trails that are suitable for all skill levels. Quench your thirst later at one of two characterful pubs in town, the North Star and the Mount Remarkable Hotels.

A slightly different perspective

STAY ON A STATION

Rawnsley Park (rawnsleypark.com.au) was first settled as a working sheep station in 1851, though tourism is the main game nowadays. Camp in the station’s caravan park while you explore the Ikara-Flinders Ranges. An à la carte restaurant serves homegrown lamb inside a repurposed woolshed and scenic flights over Wilpena Pound and Lake Eyre take off from its own airstrip. There are four-wheel drive tours and helicopter rides, while hikers and cyclists can tackle a series of tracks to lookout points, waterfalls and to the peak of Rawnsley Bluff.

Bush camping is also available at Upalinna (upalinnastation.com.au), Willow Plains (flindersbushretreats.com.au), Edeowie (edeowiestation.com.au), Merna Mora (mernamora.com.au), Mount Little (mtlittlestation.com.au) and Skytrek Willow Springs (skytrekwillowsprings.com.au) Stations.

The night sky out here is completely free of light pollution

GORGE ON A FERAL FEAST

Fourth generation ranges pastoralists bought their local hotel in 1991 and turned it into an award-winning pub and restaurant that has become a must-stop destination. Parachilna’s Prairie Hotel (prairiehotel.com.au) is an unexpected oasis of fine dining, house-brewed beer and Indigenous artworks.

Famous for its Feral Mixed Grill (FMG), its menu features camel sausage, emu filet mignon and kangaroo fillet supplemented by native ingredients like quandongs, wattle, acacia seeds, bush apples, and mountain pepperberries.

BE STAR STRUCK

By day, the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary (arkaroola.com.au) is home to bushwalking and 4WD adventures among granite peaks, gorges, and waterfalls. The sanctuary’s geological and ecological importance was recognised when the Arkaroola Protection Act was passed in 2012.

Come here after dark and the skies come alive with some of the best stargazing in the country, free from light pollution and far from fickle weather. Take in the heavens on an astronomy tour at one of the station owner’s own observatories.

Category: Destinations
Written: Tue 01 Mar 2022
Printed: March, 2022
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