Wilpena Pound - Heart of the Flinders Ranges

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Wilpena is a small place in the heart of the magnificent Flinders Ranges National Park in South Australia. The Distance to Adelaide is around 430 kilometres. Wilpena is mainly a tourist information centre, a general store and the Wilpena Pound Resort with bar, restaurant and swimming pool. The general store has basic food supply with dairy products and a few frozen goods. Camping equipment is also on sale as well as souvenirs, books and ice-cream. Internet access is available at the store.

There is also a big caravan park located in 50 hectares of bush land along Wilpena Creek. The facilities are great, plenty of clean showers and toilets, laundry, barbeque places under roofs with benches and tables. There are lots of shady campsites.

See the website of the Wilpena Pound Resort for details

The main attraction is Wilpena Pound which is a natural crater or amphitheatre with a size of nearly 80 square kilometres. The Pound is not far away from the information centre. It is a 7.8 kilometre return walk away if you do the upper Wangara Lookout hike. The lower Wangara lookout hike is a bit shorter with a 7.2 kilometre return walk. The hikes are graded as moderate.

The Bridle Gap Hike takes you right into Wilpena Pound. You walk virtually through the floor. It is very flat for most of its way. Before you get to Bridle Gap, the last two kilometres go uphill. The trail is graded as moderate.

For the more energetic ones you can do the Mount Ohlssen Bagge Hike which is graded as hard. It is a 6.4 kilometre return hike with a recommended time of 4 hours.

Another hard graded walk is the St Mary Peak Hike. It gives you a breathtaking view over Wilpena Pound and the Flinders Ranges. St Mary Peak is the highest point in the Flinders Ranges with 1170 metres. The outside route is 14.6 kilometres return and takes 6 hours (return). There is also a loop route to St Mary Peak which is 21.5 kilometres (9 hours) return.

The Malloga Falls Hike takes you the Edeowie Gorge and is a 23.2 kilometre (9 hours) return hike. The hike is graded as hard.

Here are some easy graded hikes:

Hills Homestead Walk - 6.6 kilometres (2 hours) return.
Drought Busters Hike - 2 kilometres (1.5 hours) return.
The Living with Land Walk - 1 kilometre (2 hours) return.
Wilpena Solar Power Station Walk - 500 metres (30 minutes) return.

The Department of Enviroment and Natural Resources provides a good brochure with hiking opportunities in the Flinders Ranges. You can get the brochure at the Visitor Centre in Wilpena, and there is also a download from the DENR website available.

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