FLINDERS RANGES, SA

THE NORTHERN SECTION OF THE FLINDERS RANGES OFFERS A MORE ISOLATED EXPERIENCE AND MORE REMOTE CAMPING, IN A SPECTACULAR SETTING OF RED, RAW ROCK. HERE ARE SOME OF THE AREA’S DELIGHTS.

IT WAS ONE of the best ridgeline drives I’ve ever done. The long, relatively easy drive up the wide crest of the mountain we were on was interspersed with lumpy, rocky steps that demanded you tear your eyes from the view and concentrate on the wheel marks wandering between the rocks and boulders on the little-used track. At the crest it was just a short walk to the lip of the cliff that made for one hell of a viewing point.

To the west was the shiny white expanse of a distant Lake Torrens, while closer to our eerie-like vantage point, and in much the same direction, were the low peaks of Mt Deception, Termination Hill and Mt North-west. These were all named by Edward John Eyre on his attempt in 1840 to break through what he thought was a continuous ring of salt lakes that encircled the northern end of the Flinders Ranges.

Looking south you could see the sawtooth ramparts of Wilpena Pound and, a little nearer, the shark-fang peak of Patawarta Hill poked above a closer line of lower, less dominant but still quite rugged hills. To the north-east Mt Hack obscured the craggy ranges farther north, while to the east the outlook was one of jagged country between the peaks of the Cocks Comb and Ben-lomond. It was a grand view, while at our feet the ridgeline dropped away in a series of sheer, dizzying high steps to the valley below.

We were on top of Mt Gill, which at 914m is the secondhighest peak you can drive to in the Flinders Ranges. Located in the Warraweena Private Conservation Reserve, the property offers some great camping, and we had thrown down our swags the night before not far from the ruins of the Sliding Rock mine on the edge of Sliding Rock Creek.

From our high vantage point we had returned to the homestead and then headed out via the near-deserted township of Beltana through Puttapa Gap to Copley, where we propped for the night enjoying the amenities of the camping ground and the pub next door.

From Copley our route took us east and into the Nantawarrina Indigenous Protected Area (IPA), which offers a couple of camping places and a couple of 4x4 tracks that essentially lead through the park and/or to Moro Gorge on the eastern extremity of the reserve.

At the gorge we took to shank’s pony and wandered down the creek, which was surprisingly trickling with water – a rare sight indeed in these dry times and, in fact, it was the only water we saw in a creek while in the northern Flinders on this trip. Yellow-footed rock-wallabies can be seen here, and while their scats were everywhere it was way too warm in the middle of the day for animals to be out and about – except crazy fourwheel drive animals.

After a night camped at Irish Well Hut on the southern boundary of the reserve – it has a good shelter shed, firepit

THE LONG, RELATIVELY EASY DRIVE UP THE WIDE CREST OF THE MOUNTAIN WAS INTERSPERSED WITH LUMPY, ROCKY STEPS THAT DEMANDED YOU TEAR YOUR EYES FROM THE VIEW