Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary

Arkaroola covers around six hundred square kilometres of the northern Flinders Ranges, bought in 1968 by geologist Reg Sprigg and run since as a private wilderness sanctuary rather than a pastoral lease, with feral animal control and protection of yellow-footed rock-wallabies. The country is rugged: quartzite ridges, granite, deep gorges and waterholes, with rock so radioactive in places that the area's uranium was mined historically. The Ridgetop Track, a four-wheel drive tour along a ridge to Sillers Lookout, is the signature experience, run by the sanctuary's own drivers. Two observatories operate on site, taking advantage of some of the darkest skies in the country, with public viewing sessions.

History

The Adnyamathanha are the first people of this country, and one of their creation stories tells of Arkaroo, a monster who drank Lake Frome dry and crawled into the mountains, making the waterholes and Arkaroola Creek as he went. Edward Eyre came in 1840 and the surveyor George Goyder in 1857, the Yudnamutana copper mine failed in the drought of 1863, settlement returned in 1903 with the finding of rubies and sapphires, and in 1910 William Bentley Greenwood found uranium at Mount Painter, identified by the geologist Douglas Mawson; the land was always marginal for farming, and pastoral ventures failed quickly (Wikipedia, Arkaroola).

What you'll find

• The Ridgetop Track - a guided four-wheel drive along a ridge to Sillers Lookout.
• The observatories - dark-sky telescope sessions run by the sanctuary.
• The rock-wallabies - yellow-footed rock-wallabies protected in the gorges.
• The waterholes - Arkaroola and Bararranna gorges holding permanent water.

When to go

April to October; summer temperatures exceed forty-five degrees and tours are reduced. Astronomy sessions run year-round on clear nights, best around new moon. Booking accommodation and tours ahead is necessary.

What to expect

The access roads are unsealed and long, with the last section rough. The Ridgetop Track can only be done with sanctuary drivers and is expensive. Private vehicles are restricted on many tracks. There is no phone coverage and fuel is limited.

Nearby

Copley and Leigh Creek lie southwest; the Flinders Ranges continue south.