Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park

Fur­ther inspiration: 

• Admire Adnya­math­ana rock etch­ings at Per­awurtina cul­tur­al her­itage site.
• Set­ting up camp at Aroona or Koola­m­on Camp­grounds and view­ing ear­ly morn­ing light on the Hey­sen Range
• Vis­it­ing Brachi­na Gorge in the late after­noon to view a colony of yel­low-foot­ed rock-wal­la­bies at Scree Slope.
• Check out Ranger tips: Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park on Insid­er tips.
• Check out How to spend a few days in Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park on Insid­er tips.
• Down­load the Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park camp­ground activ­i­ty sheet

There are four walks and 14 hikes with­in the park. The maps on this web­site are a guide only. Please col­lect fur­ther maps, brochures and infor­ma­tion on the walk­ing trails from the Wilpe­na Vis­i­tor Centre.

Please note: On days of Cat­a­stroph­ic Fire Dan­ger all walk­ing trails are closed for safe­ty purposes.

• Walk, hike or trek — what’s the difference?
• Bush­walk­ing safety
• Park map
  
• Vis­it the Walk­ing Trails Sup­port Group for maps, leaflets and walk­ing notes pro­duced by park volunteers. 
• Down­load the Flinders Ranges Walks app (iOS, Android) before you leave for walk­ing notes for 16 walks in the Flinders Ranges. This app is pro­duced by park volunteers. 

Where to start?

1. Select a walk or hike to suit your ability.
2. Allow enough time to com­fort­ably com­plete your hike before dark.
3. Be pre­pared, and car­ry rel­e­vant maps, a com­pass, whis­tle, jack­et and plen­ty of water (at least four litres of water per per­son for walks of more than two hours).
4. Enter your details into the Bush­walk­ers Reg­is­ter at the Wilpe­na bush­walk­ing trail­head if you are plan­ning a walk of three or more hours.
5. Inform a respon­si­ble per­son of your planned route and expect­ed time of return. Search­es will only be ini­ti­at­ed if staff are informed that walk­ers are overdue.
6. Study the trail­head signs and famil­iarise your­self with the check­points and land­marks. Hint: take a pho­to of the map and refer to it while hiking.
7. Fol­low the mark­ers, keep to the trail and enjoy!

Easy walks

Hills Home­stead Walk (2 hrs return, 6.6km)

Nav­i­gate this trail with Google Street View

Pio­neer­ing her­itage inside Wilpe­na Pound.

Liv­ing with Land Walk (2 hrs return, 1km)

Nav­i­gate this trail with Google Street View

Abo­rig­i­nal peo­ple, Euro­pean set­tlers and their descen­dents share the pas­toral her­itage of the Flinders Ranges. This self-guid­ed walk dis­cov­ers the themes of self-suf­fi­cien­cy, impro­vi­sa­tion and sur­vival in the remote and iso­lat­ed pas­toral set­tle­ments of the Flinders Ranges.

Access: Old Wilpe­na Station. 

Wilpe­na Solar Pow­er Sta­tion Walk (30 mins return, 500m)

Dis­cov­er the large Solar Pow­er Sta­tion which sup­plies Wilpe­na with ener­gy. A short walk to the look­out will give you a view of the set up.

Access: begins from the Solar Pow­er Sta­tion car park, one kilo­me­tre from Wilpe­na on the main road.

Mod­er­ate hikes

Tre­zona Hike (4 hrs return, 8km)

Mag­nif­i­cent views of the open grass­land coun­try of Hey­sen Range. Dis­cov­er some of the ear­li­est life forms on earth in the Tre­zona geo­log­i­cal for­ma­tion. This area was heav­i­ly grazed when the park was a pas­toral property.

Access: begins from Tre­zona Camp­ground, 40 kilo­me­tres north of Wilpe­na along the Brachi­na Gorge Road.

Map and trail brochure

Boom and Bust Hike (1 hr 30 mins, 2km)

This loop trail con­tains a wide array of flo­ra with a colour­ful dis­play of wild­flow­ers present in spring months.

Access: begins from the bush­walk­ing trail­head at the Wilpe­na Vis­i­tor Cen­tre complex.

Arka­roo Rock Hike (2 hrs return, 3km)

Nav­i­gate this trail with Google Street View

Admire Adnya­math­anha rock paint­ings fea­tur­ing ochre and char­coal images that tell the cre­ation sto­ry of Wilpe­na Pound. Enjoy spec­tac­u­lar views of the Chace Range at sun­set. The rock paint­ings are best seen in morn­ing light.

Access: begins from the Arka­roo Rock car park, 17 kilo­me­tres south of Wilpe­na on the Hawk­er-Blin­man Road.

Bun­yeroo Gorge Hike (3 hrs 30 mins return, 7.5km)

This peace­ful gum-lined gorge is framed by rugged rock for­ma­tions. The gorge pro­vides great oppor­tu­ni­ties for observ­ing the native wildlife. Bul­lock teams and coach­es trans­port­ing cop­per, mail and pro­duce used the gorge in the 19^th cen­tu­ry to access the west­ern plains.

Access: begins from the Bun­yeroo car park, 18 kilo­me­tres north of Wilpe­na along the Bun­yeroo Gorge Road.

Bun­yeroo and Wil­co­lo Creek Hike (2 hrs 30 mins return, 7.5km)

“Enjoy views of Wilpe­na Pound, escape the heat under the shade of native pine groves along the hill­tops of the ABC range.

Access: begins from the Bun­yeroo car park, 18 kilo­me­tres north of Wilpe­na along the Bun­yeroo Gorge Road.

Map and trail brochure

Bri­dle Gap Hike (6 hrs, 18.8km)

The trail, which forms part of the famous Hey­sen Trail, bisects the floor of Wilpe­na Pound. A vari­ety of mallee, native pine and heath habi­tats pro­vide excel­lent oppor­tu­ni­ties for keen nat­u­ral­ists to observe local birds includ­ing wrens, robins, par­rots and raptors.

Access: begins from the bush­walk­ing trail­head at the Wilpe­na Vis­i­tor Cen­tre complex.

Hard hikes

Aroona to Youn­goona Hike (7 hrs one way, 15.4km)

This day walk tells the sto­ry of pas­toral her­itage with beau­ti­ful views and con­trast­ing rock for­ma­tions. You will fol­low the foot­steps of ear­ly shep­herds and dis­cov­er the ruins of old pas­toral runs. Pass through con­trast­ing rock for­ma­tions and plant com­mu­ni­ties while enjoy­ing views of the ABC, Hey­sen and Tre­zona ranges.

Access: begins from the Aroona car park, 50 kilo­me­tres north of Wilpena.

Map and trail brochure

Mal­lo­ga Falls Hike (9 hrs, 23.2km)

A long flat trail that tra­vers­es the floor of Wilpe­na Pound to the spec­tac­u­lar rock faces of Ede­owie Gorge and the stun­ning Mal­lo­ga Falls. Bush­walk­ers need to be expe­ri­enced and pos­sess nav­i­ga­tion­al skills.

Pri­or to com­menc­ing this hike, bush­walk­ers must dis­cuss their route with the Wilpe­na Vis­i­tor Cen­tre staff. Please note, this trail is closed dur­ing sum­mer months of Decem­ber, Jan­u­ary and February.

Access: begins from the bush­walk­ing trail­head at the Wilpe­na Vis­i­tor Cen­tre complex.

Mount Ohlssen Bagge Hike (4 hrs, 6.4km)

Steep rocky inclines fol­lowed by reward­ing views of Wilpe­na Pound and the sur­round­ing area. Spot the diverse rep­tiles which fre­quent this area whilst being sur­round­ed by the mag­nif­i­cent view.

Access: begins from the bush­walk­ing trail­head at the Wilpe­na Vis­i­tor Cen­tre complex.

Please note, this trail is closed dur­ing sum­mer months od Decem­ber, Jan­u­ary and February

Red Hill Look­out Hike (4 hrs return, 9km)

Take in the view of Aroona Val­ley and beyond.

Access: begins from the Aroona car park, 50 kilo­me­tres north of Wilpe­na. Quite steep in sections.

St Mary Peak Hike – Ngar­ri Mud­lan­ha (Direct route: 6 hrs return, 14.6km. Loop route: 9 hrs, 21.5km)

St Mary Peak (1171m above sea lev­el) is cen­tral to the Adnya­math­anha cre­ation sto­ry. For this rea­son the Adnya­math­anha peo­ple of the Flinders Ranges would pre­fer that vis­i­tors do not climb to the sum­mit of the peak. The short­er option to Tander­ra Sad­dle also affords spec­tac­u­lar views.

Access: begins from the bush­walk­ing trail­head at the Wilpe­na Vis­i­tor Cen­tre com­plex. Rangers rec­om­mend you leave on this hike no lat­er than 9 am (or 10 am dur­ing Day­light Sav­ing hours).

Please note, this trail is closed dur­ing sum­mer months of Decem­ber, Jan­u­ary and February

Wan­gara Look­out Hike, includ­ing Hills Home­stead Walk (Low­er Look­out Hike: 3 hrs return, 7.2km. Upper Look­out Hike: 3 hrs 30 mins return, 7.8km)

Nav­i­gate this trail with Google Street View

Fol­low Wilpe­na Creek through tow­er­ing Riv­er Red Gums, native pines, scent­ed aca­cias and a sea­son­al array of wild­flow­ers for spec­tac­u­lar panoram­ic views of Wilpe­na Pound. ​‘Ikara’, the local Adnya­math­anha peo­ples’ name for Wilpe­na Pound, is a nat­ur­al rock for­ma­tion result­ing from mil­lions of years of ero­sion. The low­er look­out is 300m on from Hills Home­stead. Con­tin­ue on anoth­er 300m to the upper lookout.

Wilka­w­il­l­i­na Gorge Hike (6 hrs one way, 11.4km)

This gorge is the habi­tat of the native Yel­low-foot­ed Rock-wal­la­by. Spot the wal­la­bies on the unique geo­log­i­cal fea­tures of this gorge. The per­ma­nent water source is in con­trast to its dri­er surrounds.

Access: begins at the Wilka­w­il­l­i­na car park. 45 kilo­me­tres north-east of Wilpe­na off the Ora­parin­na – Wirre­al­pa Road.

Yulu­na Hike (4 hrs return, 8km)

From the his­toric Aroona home­stead and the restored pug and pine hut expe­ri­ence the land­scape which inspired the famous artist Hans Heysen.

Access: begins from the Aroona car park, 50 kilo­me­tres north of Wilpena.

Map and trail brochure

Treks

The Hey­sen Trail

This is a long dis­tance walk­ing trail, which tra­vers­es the state’s prin­ci­pal moun­tain ranges between Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Penin­su­la in the south, to Parachilna Gorge in the Flinders Ranges in the north. This trail pass­es through some of the most diverse areas in Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park.

Many of the walk­ing trails with­in the park utilise parts of this long-dis­tance trail. Walk­ers may choose to under­take whole sec­tions of the Hey­sen Trail. It is impor­tant that walk­ers pur­chase the rel­e­vant 1:50 000 topo­graph­ic maps before com­menc­ing the fol­low­ing hikes: — Wilpe­na to Yanyan­na Hike (Hard) — Yayan­na to Tre­zona Hike (Mod­er­ate) — Tezona to Aroona Hike (Mod­er­ate)

Scenic moun­tain views, kan­ga­roos brows­ing on grass­lands, cries of cock­a­toos and shad­ed wood­land sites are some of the fea­tures on offer at the 10 camp­grounds in Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park.

Sev­er­al camp­grounds pro­vide a base from which you can explore the park and take in the land­scape. Many sites cater for vehi­cle-based camp­ing, while oth­ers can only be accessed by foot.

Down­load the Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park camp­ground activ­i­ty sheet.

Fees and booking

Camp­ing fees apply and must be paid before you arrive.

• Book online
• FAQs about book­ing online

Camp­grounds

Acra­man (4 sites) — High-Clear­ance 2WD 

View camp­ground on Google Street View 

Suit­able for: tent, camper trailer. 

Nes­tled between the Hey­sen and ABC Ranges, this small camp­ground sur­round­ed by native pine trees is a short walk from Bun­yeroo Gorge. Toi­let facil­i­ties are locat­ed on site. 

Aroona (13 sites) — High-Clear­ance 2WD

View camp­ground on Google Street View 

Suit­able for: tent, camper trail­er and caravan.

Locat­ed at the north­ern-most point of the park, this camp­ground is the start­ing point for sev­er­al loop walks. Sit­u­at­ed on the Aroona Creek between the ABC Range and Hey­sen Range, the Hey­sen Trail runs close to the area. Toi­let facil­i­ties are locat­ed on site.

Brachi­na East (6 2WD sites, 7 4WD sites) — High-Clear­ance 2WD

View Brachi­na East (2WD) camp­ground on Google Street View
View Brachi­na East (4WD) camp­ground on Google Street View 

Suit­able for: tent, camper trail­er and caravan. 

This camp­ground offers two dif­fer­ent camp­ing expe­ri­ences on the banks of Brachi­na Creek and Aroona Creek. The 2WD sec­tion is locat­ed high on the south­ern bank while the 4WD sec­tion is reached by a rugged track across the creek. Toi­let facil­i­ties are locat­ed on site.

Cam­bri­an (13 sites) — High-Clear­ance 2WD

View camp­ground on Google Street View 

Suit­able for: tent, camper trail­er and caravan. 

Between the Hey­sen and ABC Ranges at the north­ern end of the Bun­yeroo Road, this camp­ground is sur­round­ed by native pine trees inter­spersed with riv­er red gums along the creek line. Toi­let facil­i­ties are locat­ed on site.

Din­g­ley Dell (8 sites)

View camp­ground on Google Street View 

Suit­able for: tent, camper trail­er, caravan. 

Set into the curve of the Ora­parin­na Creek with a dra­mat­ic cliff-face on the oppo­site side of the riv­er red gum-lined creek. The near­by Per­awurtina Cul­tur­al Her­itage site is pop­u­lar for its Adnya­math­anha rock carv­ings. Toi­let facil­i­ties are locat­ed on site.

Koola­m­on (6 2WD sites, 8 4WD sites) — High-Clear­ance 2WD

View Koola­m­on (2WD) camp­ground on Google Street View
View Koola­m­on (4WD) camp­ground on Google Street View

Suit­able for : tent, camper trail­er, caravan. 

Sit­u­at­ed on the Aroona Creek at the base of the ABC Range this camp­ground offers stun­ning views of the land­scape that inspired artist Sir Hans Hey­sen. The 4WD sec­tion is sur­round­ed by riv­er red gums and aca­cias. There is a small area for 2WD vehi­cles. Toi­let facil­i­ties are locat­ed on site.

Team­sters (5 sites, 2 suit­able for bus­es) — High-Clear­ance 2WD

View camp­ground on Google Street View 

Suit­able for : tent, camper trail­er, car­a­van and bus. 

This camp­ground sits high on the cliffs of the Brachi­na Creek, near to where it flows onto the plains, on its way to Lake Tor­rens. Exam­ples of fos­sil worm bur­rows and Wilka­w­il­l­i­na lime­stone fos­sils can be found near­by. Toi­let facil­i­ties are locat­ed on site.

Tre­zona (15 sites) — High-Clear­ance 2WD

View camp­ground on Google Street View 

Suit­able for : tent, camper trail­er, caravan. 

This peace­ful camp­ground along Brachi­na Gorge Road is ide­al­ly locat­ed for sev­er­al loop walks. The camp­ground is a short walk from the inter­na­tion­al­ly-sig­nif­i­cant geo­log­i­cal Edi­acaran Gold­en Spike. Toi­let facil­i­ties are locat­ed on site.

Wico­lo (lim­it­ed walk-in sites)

Unal­lo­cat­ed Camp­ing for hik­ers (walk-in).

Suit­able for : tents

The walk-in only camp­ground offers pic­turesque views and camp­ing for park vis­i­tors trav­el­ling the Hey­sen Trail, Maw­son Trail and Flinders Ranges by Bike trail. Toi­let facil­i­ties are avail­able onsite.

Youn­goona (4 sites) — High-Clear­ance 2WD

View camp­ground on Google Street View 

Suit­able for : tent, camper trail­er, caravan. 

This camp­ground is locat­ed at the East­ern end of the Brachi­na Gorge Road, where Ora­parin­na Creek joins the Eno­ra­ma Creek. Toi­let facil­i­ties are locat­ed on site.

Pri­vate­ly oper­at­ed campgrounds

Wilpe­na Pound (46 pow­ered sites and numer­ous unpow­ered sites)

Locat­ed in the heart of Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park, the pri­vate­ly run Wilpe­na Pound camp­ground offers des­ig­nat­ed pow­ered and unpow­ered sites nes­tled among the native pines.

Facil­i­ties include toi­lets, show­ers, fuel, a vis­i­tor infor­ma­tion cen­tre, pub­lic phone, ATM, inter­net access, pic­nic tables and shel­ters, laun­dry facil­i­ties and a gen­er­al store. Access to a swim­ming pool, bar and restau­rant at the near­by Wilpe­na Pound Resort is also avail­able. Book­ings are tak­en for pow­ered sites and per­ma­nent tents at Wilpe­na Pound Resort or the Wilpe­na Pound Vis­i­tor Infor­ma­tion Cen­tre.

Accom­mo­da­tion

From resorts to work­ing sheep sta­tions, you’ll be sure to find an accom­mo­da­tion expe­ri­ence to suit you where you can enjoy the rugged out­back. Your accom­mo­da­tion pro­vides you with an ide­al base to explore the net­work of bush walk­ing trails that wind through the park’s rolling hills. 

Wilpe­na Pound Resort

Offers motel, chalet and self-con­tained units with­in the park. Facil­i­ties include a bar, restau­rant, swim­ming pool, BBQs and a gen­er­al store. The resort also offers 4WD tours and scenic flights.

Phone: 1800 805 802
Wilpe­na Pound Resort website

Rawns­ley Park Station

Accom­mo­da­tion offered includes self-con­tained hol­i­day units, park cab­ins and on-site vans on its neigh­bour­ing prop­er­ty. Facil­i­ties include a restau­rant, swim­ming pool, BBQs and a local store. Rawns­ley Park offers scenic flights, horse rid­ing and 4WD tours. Moun­tain bikes are avail­able for hire. Rawns­ley Park Sta­tion has its own net­work of walk­ing trails.

Rawns­ley Park Sta­tion website

Wil­low Springs Station

Locat­ed on the east­ern bound­ary of the park Wil­low Springs offers cot­tages and shear­ers quar­ters for hire. This work­ing sheep sta­tion offers true bush hos­pi­tal­i­ty in a qui­et seclud­ed set­ting. Wil­low Springs Sta­tion is home to Skytrek, a self-guid­ed 4WD tour boast­ing great views of the region’s landscape.

Sky Trek Wil­low Springs website

Gum Creek Station

Gum Creek Sta­tion adjoins Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park along its north­ern bound­ary and pro­vides accom­mo­da­tion includ­ing Shear­er’s Quar­ters and Rose Cot­tage, a restored native pine cot­tage locat­ed in Blin­man. There is also Ridge Top Lodge over­look­ing the incred­i­ble Hey­sen Range.

Phone: (+61 8) 8648 4883
Gum Creek Sta­tion website

Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park has fan­tas­tic moun­tain bik­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for vis­i­tors. The Maw­son Trail and sev­er­al roads pro­vide access to some of the most stun­ning scenery in the park.

For a great cycling expe­ri­ence, the long dis­tance cycling trail, the Maw­son Trail, tra­vers­es the park uses many fire access trails that offer spec­tac­u­lar views. The Maw­son Trail is acces­si­ble from Wilpe­na, Yanyan­na and Trezona. 

The park also con­tains sec­tions of the Flinders Ranges by Bike loop. Con­tact the Vis­i­tor Cen­tre for infor­ma­tion on the cycle loop. Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park part­ners with neigh­bour­ing land hold­ers to pro­mote the Flinders Ranges by Bike loop.

Learn more about cycling in SA’s parks, includ­ing oth­er parks offer­ing cycle tracks, trail clas­si­fi­ca­tion and read the trail user code of prac­tice for impor­tant points to remem­ber when plan­ning your bike ride.

• The Maw­son Trail
• Cycling and moun­tain bik­ing in parks
• Flinders Ranges by Bike

There are sev­er­al spec­tac­u­lar scenic dri­ves on offer in the park. High­lights include the Brachi­na Gorge Geo­log­i­cal Trail, a 20km self-guid­ed trail that pass­es through 130 mil­lion years of earth his­to­ry. Trail sig­nage pro­vides an insight into past cli­mates, the for­ma­tion of the ranges and the evo­lu­tion of ear­ly forms of life.

Anoth­er pop­u­lar scenic dri­ve is the Bun­yeroo-Brachi­na-Aroona Scenic Dri­ve. This route com­bines the best the park has to offer — spec­tac­u­lar scenery, great oppor­tu­ni­ties for observ­ing wildlife, inter­pret­ed geo­log­i­cal his­to­ry and Euro­pean heritage.

View scenic dri­ves on Google Street View

• Brachi­na Gorge
• Bun­yeroo Gorge

The Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park events pro­gram occurs in the autumn and spring school hol­i­days each year. The pro­gram incor­po­rates activ­i­ties such guid­ed walk­ing tours, out­back slide nights, stargaz­ing tours and fun junior ranger activ­i­ties for the kids.

For enquiries about next sea­son’s activ­i­ties vis­it the Friends of Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park web­site.

Ikara (Wilpe­na Pound)

Come and dis­cov­er the nat­ur­al rock for­ma­tion of Ikara (Wilpe­na Pound). This spec­tac­u­lar land­form is a must see when vis­it­ing the cen­tral Flinders Ranges and can be appre­ci­at­ed along one of the many well-estab­lished bush­walk­ing trails.

The land­mark of Wilpe­na Pound is a rem­nant val­ley floor from an ancient range of moun­tains that have been erod­ing away over mil­lions of years. The high­er walls of the pound are quartzite, a rock which is very resis­tant to weath­er­ing. Ikara (Wilpe­na Pound), includ­ing the ranges, is approx­i­mate­ly 17km long by 8km wide and cov­ers an area of some 100km. The lev­el floor of the Ikara (Wilpe­na Pound) is approx­i­mate­ly 8km long and 4km wide.

‘Pound’ is an old Eng­lish word that means ​‘an enclo­sure for ani­mals’, which was how the pound was in fact used by ear­ly pas­toral­ists. Today, the Adnya­math­anha peo­ple trans­late the word Wilpe­na as Ikara mean­ing ​‘meet­ing place’.

Extend your stay by spend­ing a night at the Wilpe­na Pound Resort. Enjoy the com­forts of self-con­tained accom­mo­da­tion and the Resort’s restau­rant bar and swim­ming pool or make the most of the out­doors by set­ting up camp at one of the des­ig­nat­ed camp­grounds on offer. For added com­fort, per­ma­nent tents with beds and elec­tric­i­ty are avail­able for hol­i­day rental.

Wilpe­na Pound Resort website 

Akur­ra Adnya (Arka­roo Rock)

Akur­ra Adnya (Arka­roo Rock) is a sig­nif­i­cant Adnya­math­anha paint­ing site that depicts aspects of the Yura Muda (sto­ries) for Ikara- Wilpe­na Pound.

Accord­ing to the Yura Muda, pow­er­ful Cre­ation ser­pents known as Akur­ra cre­at­ed many fea­tures of the Flinders Ranges land­scape. The bod­ies of two Akur­ra form the walls of Ikara-Wilpe­na Pound.

Akur­ra Adnya (Arka­roo Rock) is a sig­nif­i­cant cul­tur­al site for the Adnya­math­anha peo­ple of the Flinders Ranges.

Yura Mul­ka (Sacred Canyon)
Restrict­ed Access 

Join an Adnya­math­anha guid­ed tour as they pro­vide you with a rich cul­tur­al expe­ri­ence as your guide inter­prets the engrav­ings, the coun­try and Adnya­math­anha culture.

Adnya­math­anha guid­ed tours of Yura Mul­ka (Sacred Canyon) can be booked through a Com­mer­cial Tourism Oper­a­tor:

· Wilpe­na Pound Resort
· Wad­na (closed over sum­mer months

Old Wilpe­na Station

An impor­tant pio­neer­ing pas­toral run, Wilpe­na Sta­tion was estab­lished in 1851 and had a work­ing life of 135 years, before slip­ping into retire­ment. Today the Old Wilpe­na Sta­tion His­toric Precinct is one of South Aus­trali­a’s most sig­nif­i­cant pas­toral set­tle­ment sites due to its well-pre­served con­di­tion, wealth of her­itage and spec­tac­u­lar nat­ur­al set­ting. Vis­i­tors can enjoy self-guid­ed tours of the Old Wilpe­na Station.

Aroona Val­ley and ruins

Framed by the Hey­sen and ABC ranges, the Aroona Val­ley is one of the most scenic loca­tions in the park. Aroona was set­tled on a per­ma­nent spring. Above the spring are the remains of Hay­wards head sta­tion for the Aroona run of the 1850s. The site has strong links to the renowned Aus­tralian land­scape painter Sir Hans Heysen.

Wilpe­na Eat­ing House and the Cazneaux Tree

A mound of stone is all that remains of the Wilpe­na Eat­ing House. Built in 1862 of native pine slabs with a thatched grass roof, it served the pass­ing trade until it dwin­dled in the 1880s and the eat­ing house was aban­doned. The riv­er red gum near­by was pho­tographed by a leg­endary Syd­ney pho­tog­ra­ph­er Harold Cazneaux in 1937. The pho­to­graph, titled ​‘Spir­it of Endurance’, gained inter­na­tion­al recognition.

Blin­man

In the sec­ond half of the 19^th cen­tu­ry, the his­toric town­ship of Blin­man, 50km north of Wilpe­na, was a thriv­ing cop­per min­ing cen­tre home to some 1,000 res­i­dents. Some of the pug and pine huts and stone build­ings erect­ed close to the old mines remain today.

Appealin­na ruins

The Appealin­na ruins are reached by a track about 1km north of the Wirre­al­pa turn-off on the Blin­man Road. Joseph Wills, a local pas­toral­ist in the 1850s, built the home­stead and stock­yards on the south­ern side of the creek, while the ruins on the north side were once a busy min­ing set­tle­ment. The flat stone quar­ried on-site was used in the con­struc­tion of these build­ings remains a unique fea­ture of Appealinna.

Bun­yeroo Valley

The scenic Bun­yeroo Val­ley road with its impres­sive razor­back ridge and look­outs starts 4km north of the Wilpe­na junc­tion on the main Hawk­er-Blin­man Road. Vis­it the Yanyan­na Hut and stock­yards before enter­ing Bun­yeroo Gorge where you fol­low the creek bed to pass through the gorge.

Brachi­na Gorge

Brachi­na Gorge is one of the park’s most pop­u­lar and spec­tac­u­lar tourist attrac­tions. The gorge is an impor­tant refuge for the yel­low-foot­ed rock-wal­la­by as well as many species of birds and rep­tiles. Dri­ve along the Brachi­na Gorge Geo­log­i­cal Trail to learn about the area’s fas­ci­nat­ing geo­log­i­cal history.

An abun­dance of plants and ani­mals can be found through­out the park, includ­ing many rare species. Spring brings a car­ni­val of colour, with wild­flow­ers car­pet­ing the plains and foothills.

The Flinders Ranges Walks app (iOS/Android) pro­vides walk­ing notes, maps and pic­tures of flo­ra and fau­na found in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park. This app is pro­duced the Walk­ing Trails Sup­port Group.

Want to help?

To find out how you can help in this park or near­by, please vis­it Nat­ur­al Resources Ade­laide South Aus­tralian Arid Lands – Volunteering.

Want to join oth­ers and become a Park Friend?

To find out more about Friends of Parks groups please vis­it Friends of Parks South Australia.

You could join oth­ers to help look after a park. You can take part in work­ing bees, train­ing and oth­er events.

Become a Camp­ground Host

Com­bine your love of camp­ing with doing a good deed by becom­ing a vol­un­teer camp­ground host in this park.

A camp­ground host is a vol­un­teer who stays at the park either for a spe­cif­ic peak peri­od, like the East­er break or a long week­end, or an extend­ed peri­od of time (up to a few months) to sup­port park rangers. 

If you are pas­sion­ate about the envi­ron­ment, a keen camper, like to meet peo­ple from all around the world, and are a hap­py to help, then host­ing could be right up your alley. 

• SA’s Camp­ground Hosts Program