Hawker Trip Overview
Tour the Flinders Ranges from Hawker through to Merna Mora Station, Willow Springs Station, Wilpena Pound and the historic mining town of Blinman. Visit the shores of Lake Torrens, Australia’s second largest lake when filled with water, drive a reasonably challenging, medium grade 4WD track to utilise the capabilities of your 4WD vehicle, experience the exhilarating beauty of the surrounding landscape and take in the magnificent views from the numerous heights.
Accompany us on a tour through the Blinman Heritage Mine.
Join us for an experience of a lifetime in the amazing Arkaroola region. You will be overawed by the absolute scenic country we will drive through, the awesome history behind each of the destinations we will visit and learn about the magnificent geological past of this region.
Take in an Astronomy tour and camp in serene campgrounds to reflect on the days travels.
Visit the shores of Lake Torrens and finish the tour with a well-earned farewell dinner.
Additional Info
Duration: 10 days
Starts: Hawker, Australia
Trip Category: Outdoor Activities >> 4WD, ATV & Off-Road Tours
Explore Hawker Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Hawker, South Australia, Australia
Tour the Flinders Ranges from Hawker through to Merna Mora Station, Willow Springs Station, Wilpena Pound and the historic mining town of Blinman. Visit the shores of Lake Torrens, Australia’s second largest lake when filled with water, drive a reasonably challenging, medium grade 4WD track to utilise the capabilities of your 4WD vehicle, experience the exhilarating beauty of the surrounding landscape and take in the magnificent views from the numerous heights.
Accompany us on a tour through the Blinman Heritage Mine.
Join us for an experience of a lifetime in the amazing Arkaroola region. You will be overawed by the absolute scenic country we will drive through, the awesome history behind each of the destinations we will visit and learn about the magnificent geological past of this region.
Take in an Astronomy tour and camp in serene campgrounds to reflect on the days travels.
Visit the shores of Lake Torrens and finish the tour with a well-earned farewell dinner.
Itinerary
Day 1: Drive to Wilpena Pound from Hawker whilst stopping at lookouts and other points of interest along the way
Stop At: Hawker, Hawker, Flinders Ranges, South Australia
Visit Hawker Township- Jeff Morgan Gallery, Fred Teague’s Museum, Hawker War Memorial
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Arkaba, Hawker SA 5434, Australia
Stop at the Arkaba Hill Lookout to view the impressive panoramic view of the hills around Wilpena Pound
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Elder Range Lookout, Flinders Ranges SA 5434, Australia
Stop at the Elder Range Lookout for magnificent views of the Elder Ranges.
This is a stunning mountain range which shows some amazing colours at sunrise. Another great spot to stop and admire the magnificent rock formations in the Flinders Ranges. The stop has a number of old wooden benches and tables to relax and enjoy the views.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Arkaroo Rock, Flinders Ranges National Park, South Australia Australia
Arkaroo Rock in the Flinders Ranges is a significant cultural site for the Adnyamathana (pronounced Ad-na-mut-ta) people.
The art at Arkaroo Rock (Akurra Adnya) tells the story of the creation of Wilpena Pound. It’s a story from the Adnyamathana Dreamtime and is believed to be 5,000 years old.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Stokes Hill Lookout Road, Stokes Hill Lookout Rd, Willow Springs SA 5434, Australia
Located approximately 20km north toward Blinman, on the Hawker-Blinman Road, Stokes Hill Lookout offers spectacular panoramas of Wilpena Pound, Mt Patawarta, and the Druid, Chace, Elder, Heysen and Bunker Ranges. Interpretive signs at the site include a 3D model of Wilpena Pound and explanatory panels for Adnyamathanha dreamtime legends, traditional plant uses and pictorial symbols.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Wilpena Pound Resort Wilpena Road, Via Hawker, Flinders Ranges National Park, South Australia 5434 Australia
Cradled by ancient mountain ranges on the edge of the desert, Wilpena Pound is the crowning jewel of the Flinders Ranges. It is also known by its Adnyamathanha name of Ikara, meaning meeting place.
Wilpena Pound offers Aboriginal Cultural Tours and Scenic Flights. Participants may also enjoy some of the self guided bush walking trails which originate from within Wilpena Pound.
This will be the first night halt of the tour where participants will camp at the Wilpena Resort campgrounds.
Duration: 10 hours
No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Wilpena Pound campground. Includes amenities, hot showers, toilets and camp kitchen.
Day 2: Drive the Skytrek 4WD track from Willow Springs Station
Stop At: Wilpena Pound Resort Wilpena Road, Via Hawker, Flinders Ranges National Park, South Australia 5434 Australia
Drive the almost 80km, fairly challenging, Skytrek 4WD track on Willow Springs Station. There are numerous points of interest on the track including lookouts, station relics and natural land features. There may also be sightings of local wild life as well as the Yellow-footed rock-Wallaby.
Duration: 7 hours
Meals included:
• Dinner: BBQ dinner at the Wilpena Pound campground
Accommodation included: Wilpena Pound campground. Includes amenities, hot showers, toilets and camp kitchen.
Day 3: Flinders Gorges tour- drive from Wilpena Pound to Angorichina Tourist Village
Stop At: Cazneaux Tree, Flinders Ranges SA 5434, Australia
This magnificent River Red Gum was first made famous by Harold Cazneaux, a photographer who won first prize at an International Photographic Exhibition in 1937 with his photograph of the tree, which he entitled “The Spirit of Endurance”.
The tree is an important local landmark in the Flinders Ranges, photographed and painted by many visitors. It is located on the left, a few minutes drive north of the entrance to Wilpena Pound Resort.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Bunyeroo Gorge, Flinders Ranges National Park, South Australia Australia
Bunyeroo Gorge is one of the main gorges which runs through the Heysen Range towards Lake Torrens.
The drive down the razorback to Bunyeroo Valley gives spectacular views South towards the Pound Range.
Along this drive a variety of wildlife including kangaroos and euros can be seen .
Many excellent designated picnic spots and camp grounds are available on the drive.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Brachina Gorge Geological Trail, Flinders Ranges National Park, South Australia 5434 Australia
Brachina Gorge meanders its way through sharp sawtooth ridges of resistant quartzite.
This spectacular gorge was once used as a pass through which bullock teams pulled their loads and is now a favourite picnic and camping area.
“Brachina” derived from the Aboriginal word ‘vachina’, meaning cranky, refers to a mythical argument between birds over a grind stone.
The scree slopes on the western side of the Gorge are home to a population of the vulnerable Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby.
There is a chance to pull off of the trail and watch the Wallabies move across the rocky outcrops or bask in the afternoon sun.
The animals in Brachina Gorge form part of the largest population of Yellow-Footed Rock Wallabies in Australia, with an estimated population of 2000 in the Flinders Ranges.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Aroona Valley, Flinders Ranges SA 5434, Australia
Drive the moderately challenging track through the Aroona Valley to the Aroona Homestead Ruins.
The picturesque Aroona valley flanked by the ABC range on one side and the Heysen Range on the other is a favourite camping, picnicking and bushwalking area.
Visit the old Aroona Homestead, built in the 1850’s, which serves as a reminder of the difficult early years of European settlement in Australia.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Great Wall Of China, Gum Creek Station SA 5730, Australia
Visit the viewing point of the spectacular, natural rock formation which looks like the Great Wall of China.
Duration: 30 minutes
No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Camp at Angorichina Tourist Village campground for two nights. Amenities include toilets, hot showers, camp kitchen.
Day 4: Visit points of interest in the Blinman region of the Flinders Ranges
Stop At: Heritage Blinman Mine, Mine Rd, Blinman, Flinders Ranges National Park, South Australia 5730 Australia
Take in a fully guided tour of the Blinman Copper Mine.
The Blinman underground experience offers a unique journey into the heart of a historic copper mine. With the installation of an innovative sound and light system, which includes storytelling, light boxes, music, a mix of theatre and mining history and experienced tour guides, it transports people back in time, to the lives of the miners and their families during the second half of the 19th century.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Glass Gorge, Oratunga Station SA 5730, Australia
Drive the picturesque Glass Gorge track and take in the scenic sites along the way.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Nuccaleena Creek, Moolooloo SA 5730, Australia
Take a side detour on the Glass Gorge Track to visit one of the Flinders Ranges best mining ruins, the Nuccaleena Copper Mine site.
We will also visit Tam O’Shanter Hotel Ruins nearby that served as a watering hole for the Nuccaleena township.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Stop At: Parachilna Gorge Road, Parachilna Gorge Rd, Blinman SA 5730, Australia
Continuing on the Glass Gorge Road, we will arrive at the Parachilna Gorge scenic lookout where you will take in the breathtaking views and remoteness of the gorge.
Duration: 1 hour
No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Angorichina Village Tourist Park campground
Day 5: Today we head to the Copley Caravan Park through Parachilna and Beltana
Stop At: Parachilna SA 5730, Australia
We will drive through Parachilna Gorge and stop at the various scenic lookouts on the way to our destination of Parachilna.
The area around Parachilna is truly ancient and is home to the fossils of some of the earliest complex marine creatures on Earth.
We will also visit the Prairie Hotel in Parachilna, if open, and partake of some of the local produce as well as visit the Prairie Gallery at Prairie Hotel for authentic Aboriginal artworks.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Beltana, 540 km north of Adelaide, South Australia Australia
We will visit the historic and unique outback heritage listed town of Beltana.
We will visit some of the unoccupied historic buildings, Martin’s Eating House, The Telegraph Station, The Royal Victoria Hotel, Railway Station and the Smith of Dunesk Mission Church and other points of interest.
Duration: 2 hours
No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Camp at the Copley Caravan Park campground
Day 6: Drive to the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary
Stop At: Iga Warta, Gammon Ranges Rd, Gammon Ranges SA 5732, Australia
After a replenishment and maintenance stop at Copley/Leigh Creek and a late departure from Copley (around 11am), we will drive the Arkaroola Road heading to the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary.
Enroute, we will visit the Iga Warta Aboriginal Cultural Tourism Centre to learn more of the Adnyamathanha culture.
You will be able to visit the shop and the museum display and meet the founder, Terry, who provides a fascinating cultural/social history tour.
Duration: 4 hours
No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Camp at the Arkaroola Caravan Park campground. Amenities include hot showers, toilets, camp kitchen
Day 7: Discover Arkaroola- visit various points of interest around Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary
Stop At: Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, Arkaroola, South Australia 5732 Australia
Enjoy a truly intergalactic experience that is not normally available to anyone but astronomers and scientists. Arkaroola not only has one of Australia’s largest privately owned Astronomical Observatories but also enjoys some of the best astronomical ‘seeing conditions’ in the Southern Hemisphere. The night skies are free of atmospheric and light pollution, offering guests a rare chance to ‘tour the universe’ under the best of conditions. Visitors young and old alike will be enthralled as they see the heavens light up with the energy of worlds that are light-years away.
Duration: 3 hours
Stop At: Bolla Bollana Spring, Arkaroola SA 5732, Australia
Visit this tranquil and mysterious waterhole of Bolla Bollana, home to many species of birds and the shy and endangered yellow footed Rock Wallaby. The Waterhole track runs out towards the western side of the 61,000 hectare Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary where you will also see the remains of ancient volcanoes and the ruins of the Bolla Bollana Copper Smelter, a reminder of the rich mineral deposits mined early last century.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: The Pinnacles, Arkaroola SA 5732, Australia
Two prominent alkaline to peralkaline granitic pegmatite outcrops occurring in the Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks. Located 4km north-west of Arkaroola Village along the Mawson Valley.
The Pinnacles are members of a series of pegmatite plugs that follow a west-north-west trend along the southern boundary of Arkaroola
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Bolla Bollana Smelter, Arkaroola SA 5732, Australia
The ruins of the Bolla Bollana copper smelting works present a story of innovation and persistence, in processing the region’s seductively rich deposits of copper, against the eventually insurmountable obstacles presented by the works’ isolation.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Nooldoonooldoona Waterhole, Arkaroola SA 5732, Australia
Visit the majestic and mysterious Nooldoonooldoona Waterhole (try saying that one quickly!) where, in local Adnyamathanha legend, warriors pushed down massive rocks to try to stop the giant serpent, Arkaroo, from returning to its lair in the Gammon Ranges.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Grindells Hut Campground, Gammon Ranges SA 5732, Australia
Visit this tragic and historical site which is extremely well preserved thanks to the National Parks Social Club’s Heritage Committee.
The hut and its surrounds are reminders of the remote and rugged country and the men and women who struggled with the loneliness and hardships in the vast cattle country. The year of 1918 saw the fury of an imagined wrongdoing inflamed by the loneliness and a perceived injustice causing a sad man to take a tragic revenge by willfully murdering the husband of his daughter.
The site also has a purpose built stone hut which can accommodate up to 8 people, including children.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Camp at the Arkaroola Caravan Park campground. Amenities include hot showers, toilets, camp kitchen
Day 8: Drive to Merna Mora Station via Blinman and Parachilna
Stop At: Balcanoona, Gammon Ranges SA 5732, Australia
Visit the historic and recently restored Balcanoona Woolshed.
The restoration of the woolshed includes the pens, holding yards
and shearers stand as well as the wooden wool press.
The woolshed is clearly defined by descriptive pictures at each station which clearly depict the workings of the woolshed.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Mount Chambers Gorge, Wertaloona SA 5732, Australia
Mount Chambers Gorge is one of the most spectacular and beautiful gorges in the Flinders Ranges and South Australia. Both the Gorge and Mount Chambers, at 409 metres, were discovered by Captain Edward C. Frome and his party in 1843. They were first named by John McDouall Stuart in 1855 when surveying pastoral leases for the Chambers Brothers.
We will drive down Mount Chambers Creek to the campground and then take a short walk along the creek to view ancient Aboriginal rock carvings.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Stop At: Blinman, Blinman, Flinders Ranges National Park, Flinders Ranges, South Australia
We will stop at Blinman for a short rest before continuing on to Merna Mora Station to camp for the night.
Participants may visit the General Store and other historic buildings including The Miners Cottage, Blinman Cemetery and other ruins of the town.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Parachilna Gorge, Mount Falkland SA 5730, Australia
We will drive through the Parachilna Gorge and stop at various points of interest along the way.
It is amazing to see the sheer rocks, and imagine the power needed to fold them up to their present appearance. The rocks glow red in the early morning and the late afternoon sun.
Majestic river red gum trees line the creek at the bottom of the gorge.
Duration: 30 minutes
No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Camp at the Merna Mora Station campground. Amenities include hot showers, toilets, camp kitchen.
Day 9: Drive the desert track to Lake Torrens
Stop At: Lake Torrens National Park, Stuart Hwy, Andamooka, South Australia 5722 Australia
Drive to the shores of Lake Torrens and take a walk along this unique landscape.
A true taste of desert pastoral country in its pristine state, through sand dunes, gibber flats and floodplains. Contrasting landforms and vegetation; home to many varieties of herb and plant life with species of birds, reptiles and animals in their natural habitat.
Duration: 6 hours
Meals included:
• Dinner: Enjoy a well earned farewell dinner to conclude the tour.
Accommodation included: Camp at the Merna Mora Station campground. Amenities include hot showers, toilets, camp kitchen.
Day 10: Free day- participants may tag along back to Hawker via Moralana Scenic Drive
Stop At: Moralana, Flinders Ranges SA 5434, Australia
Visit scenic spots along the Moralana Scenic drive whilst heading back to Hawker in a no rush journey.
The drive affords magnificent views of the western slopes of Wilpena Pound and the lookouts provide picturesque views of the inside of the pound and its surrounds.
Duration: 4 hours
No meals included on this day.
No accommodation included on this day.