Shandos Cleaver

Australia - 03-Mar-24 -

The Flinders Ranges is a well-known tourist destination in South Australia, about a 5 hour drive north of Adelaide in a semi-arid region. It's best known for its beautiful landscapes and hiking, but if you dig further you will discover its important geological records, the reason for this site being added to the tentative list.

Over the years I've visited the region 3 times, firstly as a kid with my family. On my second visit to the region in 2009, we drove along the Brachina Gorge Drive in the north of the park, which has a number of interesting signposted stops to explore the geology of the region. One of the highlights is the Ediacaran Golden Spike, the only such marker point in the southern hemisphere. Unfortunately, though I don't have many photos from this part of my visit. 

My third visit to the region occurred in 2021, shortly after the site was added to the tentative list, in between Covid lockdowns. Unfortunately, we couldn't repeat the drive through Brachina Gorge, as it's a rather rough unsealed road and our campervan wasn't up to it. Instead, we were hoping to visit the Nilpena and Ediacara Conservation Park, where the important fossils from the Ediacaran period were found, but due to the lockdowns the tours were not yet up and running. Instead, we supplemented our visit to the region with a visit to South Australian Museum in Adelaide. At the museum there is a Ediacara Biota gallery devoted to the most important finds, that we had all to ourselves. 

The conservation park as of 2023 is now the newest national park in South Australia, the Nilpena Ediacara National Park. Access is only by guided tour. Looking at the park website, the longer tour that also visits the fossil site is the better option, but only runs three days a week. It's recommended to book at least a week in advance. I'm looking forward to one day visiting!

When visiting this region, avoid the hot summer months. The Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park is closed from 1st Decem­ber to 15th March, plus some of the hikes in the region are also closed. The mild autumn and spring months are best, or rug up for a visit in winter. It's possible to visit the main part of the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park and presumably the Nilpena Ediacara National Park (tours start from the entrance) in a regular vehicle, but 4WD is required for most other roads, including the other site locations such as Angorichina and Arkaroola.