Flinders Ranges in October

was there in may - great landscapes but very dry skytrek is a must.

kezza

Hi Moggs,

There is lots to see in the Flinders. Wilpena Pound and Arkaroola are tourist resorts and that speaks for itself. They are expensive. But both are worthwhile for an overnight stay. From Wilpena Resort you can access the pound. It is a good walk. Flinders Ranges NP has some good campsites but take your own wood. The tracks are easy and the place is very scenic. You can also access the Heysen Trail for a bushwalk if you are that way inclined. To the north of the park there are a few PAR (Public Access Roads) which offer serious tracks and rugged country. You may reseqarch these using Google. The Gammon Ranges NP is very scenic as well as Arkaroola Sanctuary. There are some good bush tracks and camping areas. You could also camp at Warraweena Private Conservation Park which has good facilities and some serious off road tracks. There are about twenty private 4x4 tracks in the Flinders area and they charge access fees from $15 to $40. Two fold-up maps to get are Hema Flinders Ranges and RAA Flinders Ranges. When the time gets nearer send me an email through my website www.kempen.id.au and drop in for a cuppa at Peterborough on your way through.
Cheers, Willem
Never a dull moment

hi moggs great place to holiday mate .we found wilpena pound to crowed and a bit pricie for us any way .next time we go were going to stay out at willow springs station home of the great skytrek for 15 dollars a night 2 minutes from a shower at the home stead and free fire wood and your not camping on each other,s door step willow springs station is 21ks north of wilpenaon the wilpena to blinmam rd any mate have a great time any way .were heading to birdsville, innamicka in 8 days time ca,nt wait cheer,s peter

Thanks Kezza, Willem and greendog for the info. We are really looking forward to seeing what the Flinders has to offer, and now are thinking that we willprobably only stay at the Wilpenia Pound Resort for 1 night after the long drive, then move onto Willow Springs as greendog suggested for a longer stay, then onto the Gammon ranges for a look-see at Arkaroola. Anyone know of some good stations to stay out there??

We will not be going over the October school holiday period, however we are wondering if there will still be crowds around 20 - 31 October - has anyone travelled at this time of the year through the area.

Thanks for the offer of a cuppa Willem, we will be coming in via Petersborough and would love to meet you and hear some of your travel tales. We will contact you prior to our departure.

Once again, thanks for the info, helped us decide to stay away from the 'tourist' developments (which is why the wife agrees to drive such distances!)

Moggs ( Normanhurst NSW)

Hi Moggs,
Meant to reply earlier, but couldn't find our diary for our trip in 2000. We stayed a night in Wilpena Pound Caravan Pk, then went and did a self guided tour of Alpana Station. Definately a highlight of our round Oz trip. We asked if we could camp rather than use their accomodation and they were more than happy. Heres a link to some info
http://www.hawkersa.info/alpana.htm
You wont be dissapointed, landscape was fantastic, great views from Mt Samuel all the way to the Lake Torrens salt pans, various degrees of difficulty 4WDing, only one tricky bit that my missus instisted on doing much to my dissapointment!
http://www.alpana-station.netfirms.com/MtSamuel.html
Oh yeah, not sure how it'll be at the time of year that you will be travelling, but take some flywire or something for your grille, as we encountered a locust plague travelling from Quorn to Wilpena, and found a group of vintage cars overheated on the side of the road...poor buggers.
Enjoy :-)

I was there over the last two weeks. You need to see Wilpena to say you've been there, but it wasn't our highlight. Skytrek was good, as was staying on Willow Springs - we had a bush camp with pit toilet to ourselves, could collect wood etc. Carmel Reynolds is very helpful too. The people at Alpana are excellent and let us pick our own camp site down on the creek for very little $. Close to Blinman etc. Their Mt Samuel track is marketed as more difficult than Skytrek, but really isn't - except for the sharp entry and exit to water courses that will make you scrape if you don't have good angles front and back. If you want a ROUGH track, go round the PAR track through Artimore - groan... Brachina gorge and Mt Chambers gorge were very good I thought. If you like well preserved station buildings etc, you might want to drop into Wirrealpa Station - we went there in search of outback graves, and found some beautifully preserved mid-1800s buildings that were still in use. They are dabbling in tourism too, so you could probably stay there. Thought the ridge top tour at Arkaroola was worth doing, and Bolla Bollana was worth a visit, but don't bother going all the way out to Yudnamatana (?) copper mine - my opinion. Had two tyre problems on the way to Arkaroola and return - BFG ATKO strikes again.
Can supply contacts/emails etc if you want, but they're easy to find. Hope you have a great trip.Russell S
Prado RV6

moggs,
I have not personally stayed at Willow springs but our club has close contacts and by what i hear, it is very comfy.
Weather can get hot at that time of year so be prepared.
All other info above is good advice but beware the slippery clay roads if damp or wet.
Hope you have a good time in SA
Wow! am I cute
Richard