Arkaroola

The ridge top tour is only available in their vehicles but it was a great day. cost was about the same a couple of years ago I think but it might be less for kids. Ask if it's cheaper if they sit on the mudguards LOL
There are a few self drive tracks that are good to do as well and I believe they charge a fee for them now.
Service was good and friendly then too. Hope you got them on a busy day.
Cheers
des

The Arkaroola Ridgetop tour is one of the best you'll ever do. But it does cost money to cover their considerable expenses, and most likely, you'll do it once, but it should be a good memory. I haven't done the other tracks up there for a long time.

Of course there are other tracks that are equal or better than Skytrek. The Mt Gill (914m) trek at Warraweena was very good - takes you on your own ridgetop tour. And if you like a bit of walking, you can walk up the top of Mt Hack (1086m) .
And at Argadells, you can drive up to the top of Mt Arden (944m), and then along a length of the Heysen Trail, which again is a nice 4wd ridgetop track.

The Echo camp backtrack tour is self drive and now $40 per vehicle, well worth doing but was free until recently. The ridge top our can only be done with them but is still worth it. Generally I reckon Arkaroola is well worth this visit.

GB

Arkapena and Mulga View have self drive 4WD tours at $40ea the Arkapena drives are supposed to be the best in the Flinders.

The Mulga View drive is a beauty, with views of Mt John, the Banana Ranges, Wilpens Range, Lake Frome, Captain Starlights trail, Mt Chambers and much more, well worth the $40.

How's this for a view, and this point is campsite No 17 at Mulga View Station :-))






Baz.

Hi Janet

Arkaroola was nice place to visit, wasn't prepared to pay that much but might have if I could drive myself (there are bigger free hills in Vic ) , but considering other posts in this thread and our recent Warraweena trip I'm thinking there might be better value elsewhere.

Robin Miller

Janet,
We were there in september 2005.
We stayed at Grindels hut rather than Arkaroola, it is an hours comute to arkaroola. Its quite a nice spot and I think a muc hbetter place teh camping at Arkaroola. We went on Skytrek and found it to be enjoyable ( tho expensive with 3 billy lids). We also compelted the Echo camp back track and skytrek. Of the 4 self drive tracks we completed the ranking from best to not quite as goods was:
1 Arkapena Scenic Adventure
2 Mt Samuel Experience
3 Eco Camp Back Track
4 Skytrek.
Our experiece back in 05 was that Arkaroola was a place that was probably once great but has been declining ever since. They seems quite capable of removing your money but it did not seem to be being put back into infrastructure.
There are lot of great places to see in the flinders and gammon, and we certainly did not get to see them all. have pletny of time up you sleve.
Paul.

WOW !!!!!!Thanks everyone for the advice.
I think we will take a little from everyone's comments and make our decision when we get there.
Safe travels everyone...Janet

Arkaroola is the most overpriced private property in the state. They won a few tourist awards back in the 70's but little has changed since, including the accomodation, the terrible camp ground & the toilets.(Stuck in a time warp) There are no discounts for group bookings or doing all the tours with fuel & food prices dearer than similar more remote places. Private 4x4 tracks that have been free for years one now pays top dollar for & from my experience no the attitude was no better in person.
But don't let this put you off the scenery & geology of the place, it's truely spectacular.
Cheers Craig................

jfwaust, we were last year and did the Nooldoonooldoona and Bolla Bollana Waterholes which is good 4wd track, and there are a few other hills that u can climb as well. Never done the ridgetop tour as it comes out wayyyyyyyy to expensive for a family of 5.

cheers, Lance

Janet, we are just back from Arkaroola and Willow Springs.

While Willow Springs and generally all the central and southern Flinders is very green now, the north is dry, dust and rocks. It is an awesome landscape in its own right - very different to elsewhere in the Flinders and certainly worth the visit.

At Arkaroola, the bush camping is really only for touring tents or smaller as there is hardly a site that is even remotely flat. The CP sites (on top of the hill) are flat but small and very exposed. Take very large steel pegs and a 5lb hammer. Our camping companions bent everyone of their std sized steel pegs.

The best drive to do at Arkaroola is the Echo Camp Back Track at $40 a vehicle. It is shorter than SkyTrek at only 37 kms. They rate it as extreme 4x4, probably to cover their backsides, but apart from one rather steep incline and equally steep decline, its really just a rough track requiring no more than good clearance and good tyres. We drove it faster than most, it seemed and finished in just over 5 hrs (including a detour to the radioactive springs (not really worth the extra time). SkyTrek took us the entire recomended 6 hrs (and we didn't "dilly dally"). I can't say whether I enjoyed it more or less than SkyTrek as they were both so different.

All other activities at Arkaroola are very overpriced for what you get.

Cheers
Rohan

Hi everyone. Many thanks again for the fantastic advice.

Because we are coming down from Cameron Corner from Birsdville and Innaminka we have decided to stop overnight at Montecollina Bore on the Strezlecki and then push on to Rawnsley the next day and skip Arkaroola all together.

With the money saved from not doing the ridge top tour we are taking the kids on a flight over Wilpena instead and explore Arkapena which we have not done before all while enjoying the yummy kangaroo at the Woolshed.

Again thankyou to all who joined in.

Safe travels....Janet