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Flinders Ranges
There are three national parks in the Flinders Ranges. They are Mount Remarkable National Park, Flinders Ranges National Park and Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park. Together they cover 95,000 hectares, popular accommodation options include the tourist town of Hawker, SA.
The story of the Flinders Ranges began 800 million years ago when natural forces stretched and thinned the earth's crust, creating a deep hollow. The sea flooded in, depositing over the next 300 million years huge amounts of rock and debris.
Over time, this ancient seabed was sculpted into a fractured, furrowed landscape, where deep valleys covered with twisted cypress pines drop away into sheltered creeks lined with river red gums.
So unique were the fossils found in this landscape that geologists revised their time-line of the earth's history, identifying a new episode called the Ediacaran period, which is today recognised by the special geology of Brachina Gorge.
The Flinders Ranges are divided into three distinct regions, each with its own special features. At the southern end of the Flinders Ranges there are gorges to explore, distinctive wildlife to encounter and amazing views from the peak of Mount Remarkable.
The magnificent natural amphitheatre that is Wilpena Pound sits in the heart of the Central Flinders Ranges, its saw-toothed peaks steeped in local legend.
To the north of the Flinders Ranges, the landscape looks and feels like the Outback. Starry skies, bounding kangaroos, and rugged peaks at sunset define this terrain.
The Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby, which lives in the Flinders Ranges National Park, are often seen in the Brachina and Wilkawillina gorges.
The Flinders Ranges' Indigenous clans are the Adnyamathanha (meaning hill people). These Aboriginals understand the land through their Yura Muda stories, which give spiritual meaning to the Flinders' physical features.
Yura Muda stories have passed from generation to generation for tens of thousands of years.
One Yura Muda story describes the formation of Wilpena Pound. Its shape is formed by the bodies of two giant serpents who could not move after eating the people who had gathered there for a ceremony. St Mary Peak forms the head of the male serpent, while Beatrice Hill forms the head of the female.
Each season has its own charm. Autumn brings warm, mild days and cool nights. Winter is perfect for wildlife watching, while spring erupts in a carnival of colour, with many flowering plants and birds celebrating the fertile season.
Popular access to the park is located in the Flinders Ranges between the townships of Hawker and Blinman. The park offers a wide range of activities for all interests including bushwalking, camping, scenic touring, bird watching and Aboriginal and European cultural experiences.
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Hawker
- This is an ideal base from which to explore the stunning scenery of the Flinders Ranges and surrounding area. The town of Hawker was proclaimed in 1880, and was once a thriving railway town, this role changed in the mid-1950s when the railway line was moved further west. Hawker then became more tourist-orientated, offering accommodation and services for people visiting the Flinders Ranges.
