The
Gawler Ranges are a range of mountains in
South Australia to the north of
Eyre Peninsula. The ranges were named by Edward John
Eyre after the Governor of
South Australia, George Gawler in 1839. This was on one of
Eyre's earlier expeditions before his famous crossing of the Nullarbor Plain further west.
This trek note starts at Port Augusta and heads towards the town of Iron Knob, through the
Gawler Ranges to Mount Ive Station. The trek continues west through the heart of the ranges until it heads back down to meet the
Eyre Highway at Wirrulla and then finally ending at Ceduna.
This trek is generally fairly reasonable and should take about 2 days with maybe a stop over at Mt Ive Station. This station is one of the few
places open to travellers in this region. They have a camping area and access to land bordering Lake Gairdner.
How to Use this Trek Note
Click the "Map" tab below to see the route we've provided. Icons on the map are the POIs you'll need for navigation purposes. Be sure to check the list of Nearby
Places on each POI page.
If you'd like to save this information there are a couple of ways to go about it, depending on what you're actually after:-
- Ideal solution - download the ExplorOz Traveller App from Google Play or the App Store. The app enables you to carry the ExplorOz Places, Treks, & Maps data offline in your mobile device ready for your adventures. It is a complete mapping, navigation and tracking app. For more details, read our ExplorOz Traveller page.
- You can print a paper copy of the text using the print icon button shown above, near the social media buttons. For the best output it is advised to open each tab/section to load all images and artwork. You will still need to click open each Place page (listed in Where to Stay, What to See) to print off all available information.
- If you have a Hema Navigator or use Mapping Software such as OziExplorer, or TrackRanger AND you are an ExplorOz Member, then you can click the Download Trek button at the top of this page to obtain the raw data files (eg. GPX) for this Trek.
- If you're not a Member, or you'd like to batch download the entire Treks database you can obtain this by buying a product called EOTreks Route Files from our online shop.
Environment
During spring, the Gawler Ranges offers a pretty trip especially when the wildflowers are in bloom. The area is an interface between the Eyre Peninsula mallee country and the drier arid zone to the north of the ranges. Plants and animals from both zones occur in the Gawler Ranges. There are over 970 flora species and around 162 fauna species, including birds such as Major Mitchell (Pink Cockatoo), Rufous Treecreeper, Malleefowl, Scarlet-breasted Parrot, Gilbert’s Whistler, and mammal species such as Hairy-nosed Wombat, Greater Long-eared Bat and Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby, Red and Grey Kangaroos and Euros.
