Brachina Gorge Geological Trail - Hawker
Direct Phone Number : (08) 8648 0048
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Brachina Gorge is one of the Flinders Ranges National 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. The Brachina Gorge Geological Tour is a 20 kilometre 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 life forms. The trail is best travelled from east to west, commencing at the Brachina Gorge/Blinman Road junction. A geological map and more detailed information on the Brachina Gorge Geological Trail is available from the Wilpena Pound Visitor Centre.
This colourful and spectacular gorge has long attracted visitors to marvel at its beauty. The gorge was used from 1862 as a commercial route for cartage of copper ore from the Blinman Mine, 35 kilometres to the north. It provided access to the western plains until a road through Parachilna Gorge was established in the 1880's to connect Blinman to the northern railway. The gorge today provides a pathway through the rock sequence which reveals their history as a corridor through time.
Rocks which are exposed along the Barachina Gorge Geological Trail were once sediments deposited in a shallow, elongate basin known as the Adelaide Geosyncline. These sediments were transported by rivers and at times by glaciers and deposited on the seafloor between 650 and 500 million years ago. The area was flooded by the sea for much of that 150 million year period, during which the sea level rose and fell many times.