Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Teague's Hawker Motors & Visitor Information Centre
( 1800 777 880, 08-8648 4014;
www.hawkervic.info
; cnr Wilpena & Cradock Rds; 7.30am-6pm)
The town's petrol station (fill
up if you're heading north) is also the visitor information centre.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Flinders Ranges National Park
One of SA's most treasured parks,
Flinders Ranges National Park
(
www.environment.sa.gov.au
;
per car $9)
is laced with craggy gorges, saw-toothed ranges,
abandoned homesteads, Aboriginal sites, native wildlife and, after it rains, carpets of
wildflowers. The park's big-ticket drawcard is the 80-sq-km natural basin
Ikara (Wilpena
Pound)
− a sunken elliptical valley ringed by gnarled ridges (don't let anyone tell you
it's a meteorite crater!).
The Pound is only vehicle accessible on the Wilpena Pound Resort's
shuttle bus
(re-
turn adult/child/family $4/2.50/9)
, which drops you within 1km of the old Hills
Homestead, from where you can walk to
Wangarra Lookout
. The shuttle runs at 9am,
11am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm, dropping people off and coming straight back (so if you take
the 5pm shuttle and want more than a cursory look around, you'll miss the return bus).
Otherwise it's a three-hour, 8km return walk between the resort and lookout.
The 20km
Brachina Gorge Geological Trail
features an amazing layering of exposed
sedimentary rock, covering 120 million years of the Earth's history. Grab a brochure
from the visitors centre.
The
Bunyeroo-Brachina-Aroona Scenic Drive
is a 110km round trip, passing by
Bunyeroo Valley, Brachina Gorge, Aroona Valley and
Stokes Hill Lookout
. There are
plenty of short walks along the way; a stop at
Bunyeroo Valley Lookout
is mandatory.
The drive starts north of Wilpena off the road to Blinman.
Just beyond the park's southeast corner, a one-hour, 1km return walk leads to the
Sacred Canyon Cultural Heritage Site
, with Aboriginal rock-art galleries featuring an-
imal tracks and designs.
1
Sights & Activities
Bushwalking
in the Flinders is an unforgettable experience. Before you make happy
trails, ensure you've got enough water, sunscreen and a hat, and tell someone where
you're going and when you'll be back. Pick up the
Bushwalking in Flinders Ranges Na-
tional Park
brochure/map from the visitors centre, detailing 19 park walks. Many of the
walks kick off at Wilpena Pound Resort.
