Moralana Scenic Drive

Depending on which main road you are driving on to do this scenic drive, it is either 23 kilometres north of Hawker on the Main Hawker - Wilpena Road or 45 north of Hawker on the Main Hawker – Parachilna Road. Like any drive through the Flinders, it is better to take your time and enjoy the changing and stunning views as you drive in the shadows of the ranges and then come out into open pastoral country. The only small detour from this main track is the sign posted road to Blacks Gap. From the Black Gap car park, it is a 12 kilometre hike back to Wilpena Pound Resort.

Continuing further west you will pass the restored and historic ‘Old Cueing Yards’. These old yards were built in the 1870’s to hold the bullocks for “cueing” (shoeing). The bullocks were used to bring the large native pines from the Flinders Ranges, which were used in the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line. Continuing still further west, the larges and widest creek is crossed, the Moralana Creek. In times of very wet weather and flooding, this creek will be impassable, with evidence of debris wedged into the forks of the large River Red Gum that are in the creek. With 2 more grids to cross, it is the junction of the main Hawker – Parachilna road. From here you have the choice of heading north, south or retracing your track and enjoying the scenery from the opposite direction.

Even though this Scenic Drive passes through two Stations, namely Arkaba and Merna Mora Stations, no permits are required. Drivers are not permitted to deviate from the main route and camping is also banned.

This is not a hard track, but another chance to enjoy the scenery of the Flinders. As this route will be incorporated while visiting the Flinders Ranges, no special preparation is required, other than a tank full of fuel and good tyres. The Wilpena Pound Information Centre and shop can supply all basic needs, from fuel to food and water, as well as basic camping gear.

The tracks throughout the Flinders are well known to damage tyres, so take your time and drive to the track conditions. Good tyres are a therefore a must, and also consider carrying adequate recovery gear and tyre repair kits, etc. In the event of wet weather, care must be taken and there may be water through the creeks.

Carry a quality first aid kit and take a range of reliable communications equipment such as UHF Radios, Satellite phone, PLB, and navigation equipment such as a GPS Unit (or a laptop running OziExplorer with some updated digital maps). You could also consider taking some recent hard copy maps as well.

On the 20th February, 1941, the Government Gazette carried detailed definitions of the boundaries of the states Ranges, including the North and South Flinders Ranges, as well as the Andamooka Ranges. The Flinders Ranges generally provided no surprises, except with the inclusion of Willouran Ranges as an arm north-westwards as far as Cadnia Hill, which is well north of Lake Torrens. This inclusion was recommended by the Department of Mines and Energy, as it belongs to the same geological sequence as the main Flinders Ranges.

Boundary points were mostly listed as specific hills, each forming an outer limit of the Ranges. The line running through Parachilna Gorge and Blinman is the dividing point that defines the South and North Flinders Ranges. Even though there are two main defines areas of the Flinders Ranges, the region usually falls into 3 main regions. The southern Flinders is a region defines as below Hawker, the Central Flinders between Hawker and Parachilna – Blinman Road and the northern and drier flinders to the north.

The Flinders Ranges are one of the oldest Mountain Ranges in the world, with fossil evidence dating back over 640 million years and today’s weathered remains of a once great mountain that was once up to 6 kilometres high. For over 15,000 years, these ranges where the home for the local Adnyamathanha Aboriginal people. There are many fine locations in the Flinders Ranges where their paintings and rock art sites can be viewed and it is well worth the time to visit one of these sites. At the time of European settlement, it was estimated that there were about 500 aboriginal people living in the Flinders Ranges.

The first European to view ‘a chain of rugged mountains’ was Matthew Flinders in March 1802, on board the “Investigator”, while charting the coastline of Spencer Gulf, during his circumnavigation voyage of Terra Australia, to see if the Eastern and Western coastlines of Australia were in fact 2 separate islands, as thought by many at the time, or one large continent.

The next European to see and visit the still unnamed mountainous area was Edward John Eyre in 1839, who undertook a series of exploration expeditions to the Flinders Ranges over the next two years. The travels of Eyre proved very successful, and he named a number of features during his visits. In a letter dated 10th July 1839 by the then Governor of South Australia, Governor Gawler to Colonel Torrens, which was published on page 3 of the Government Gazette, dated 11 July 1839, Governor Gawler described the work of explorer, Edward Eyre and advised that he had named the mountain range ‘Flinders Ranges’, after their discoverer.

In 1851 Benjamin Babbage was appointed by Earl Grey, at the South Australian government’s request, to make a Geological and Mineralogical Survey of the Colony. Babbage was appointed Commissioner of Gold licences and in 1853 government assayer. In 1856 Babbage was sent north to search for gold as far as the Flinders Ranges. He found none, but discovered MacDonnell River, Blanchewater and Mount Hopeful and was able to dispel the current idea of the impassability of Eyre’s horseshoe shaped Lake Torrens by ascertaining the existence of a north-east gap to the Cooper and Gulf country. Babbage had actually crossed the gap, but it was Peter Egerton Warburton, using Babbage’s detailed information to traverse this gap completely.

With the opening up and settlement in the Flinders Ranges, South Australian’s were looking for Copper throughout the region. By the late 1850’s a large copper ore deposit was discovered in Blinman. The Blinman mine then was worked on and off over the next 20 years, but was never a profitable venture to continue. Many other sites in the Flinders opened, all with the thoughts of finding that mother load. Sites like Nuccaleena, Sliding Rock, Prince Alfred, and Yudnamutana were just some of the sites that showed promise, but petered out after a few short years after mining commenced.

Copper was not the only mineral of importance that was discovered in the Flinders Ranges. There were a number of gold fields discovered, as well as silver and lead. Mining is still undertaken in the Flinders Ranges today, with coal, barites, talc and uranium being mined at various locations.