The best way to spend 5 days in the Ikara-Flinders National Park

What to do, where to stay and everything else you need to now.

We recently returned from a 5 day trip to the magical Ikara-Flinders ranges. The Flinders ranges have been on our to do list ever since we came to South Australia and now that citrus season is over we finally had the opportunity to go explore them. While I was trying to research and plan our trip through the flinders ranges I found that there was very little information about travel/camping in the National park. After a frustrating search on the internet we decided to just pack the wagon and head of with no real plans. Here is how we spent our 5 days in Flinders and my suggested itinerary.

Sunrise at the Razor back lookout is mind blowing.

A few things to now before you head to Ikara-Flinders ranges Nation park

Ikara-Flinders National Park is located roughy 5 hours northwest of Adelaide
The Wilpena visitor centre is the best place to find information and where you pay for everything
You can only book camping at Wilpena Pound visitor centre or online, but there is little to no reception in the National Park so keep that in mind
You must pay an $11 park entry fee per vehicle
There is no free camping in the park
There is fuel and drinking water available
The majority of the park is 2wd accessible even the dirt tracks
The nearest town is Hawker 50 odd km from wilpena pound visitor centre

Things to do in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges

Plenty of hiking and bushwalking, trails ranging from short easily accessible trails to all day hikes
Scenic flights, ranging in duration and location
scenic drives and amazing lookouts
great camping
Aboriginal rock art sights
old ruins to explore

5 must do’s in the Ikara-Flinders National Park

Watch a sunrise/sunset from Razorback lookout
Go on a scenic flight over the Wilpena pound
Gaze upon some of the darkest night Skys in the world
Hang out by the campfire among the hills at either Aroona or Acraman Campsite
Go check out some ancient aboriginal art work

Here is a map of the National Park. The green is the route that we took and I have the campsites we stayed at marked, along with the Wilpena Pound Resort. The Orange represents dirt road and the pink are lookouts/sites to see

Day 1

We left the Riverland at about 8:00 AM and arrived to Hawker at about 1:00 in the after noon, where we made sure we had plenty of fuel so we would not have to pay for expensive fuel in the National Park. The National park and whole area is quiet remote so making sure you are well stocked with food before you leave will be the cheapest way to go about things. Food in the National Park and small surrounding towns is expensive and quiet limited so keep that in mind. We went straight to the Wilpena visitor centre to check out what was around and where the best places to stay would be. Camping is only permitted in certain areas of the Park and costs $16 a vehicle per night, this is quite expensive for camping but the camping areas are well maintained and all have toilets and drinking water. We decided to stay our first 2 nights at the Acraman camp site which is the closest to the Wilpena pound unless you are willing to pay extra to camp at the Wilpena Pound Resort. In hindsight if we were to do this trip again I would probably spend the extra $10 or so to stay at the Wilpena Resort the first night. This would eliminate the 30 odd km drive to our campsite that night and then back the next morning. We spent the afternoon checking out the Rawnlsey Lookout and Arkaroo rock walking track, both with stunning views of the surrounding peaks and amazing rock art. The National Park is set out like a big loop with the camp sites all along the Bunyeroo scenic road that hooks back up to the Flinders Ranges Way the main road hrough the park. The roads to the campsites are all dirt but reasonably well maintained and you should have no dramas accessing them in a 2wd as long as the car is not lowered or anything like that. Our wagon handled the roads no worries, you will just have to drive to conditions. We spent our first night making Gyoza and watching the amazing outback stars.

Day 2

We woke up early on the second day to catch the sunrise at Razor back ridge, one of the great things about the Acraman campground is that it just a short drive from this amazing lookout. Watching the sunrise paint the mountains with golden light is just something you have to do on your trip to the Flinders, the perfect way to start the day. After watching the sunrise we were of to Wilpena again to check out some more of the hiking trails and catch a scenic flight over the Pound in the afternoon. One thing I did notice is that a lot of the walking/hiking trails around the pound are very easy, we allowed a few hours for the Wangara lookout hike that was supposed to take 4 hours. But instead only took us an hour and a half and was accessible by bus until the last 400 metres. If you are looking for some serious hikes you will probably want to look past the hikes at Wilpena, although beautiful they are not very challenging. The afternoons scenic flight was worth every penny, at the time we were there the flights where on sale and a 20 minute flight was $99. I chose to take the latest flight at 3 in the afternoon when the sun was lower in the sky and making for amazing conditions to shoot in. The pilot Mark was great and very informative. This is definitely the best way to really see and appreciate the insane landscape. I cannot recommend this flight enough and I cannot believe how good some of the images I got turned out. I tried to get Elke to come on the flight but small planes are not her thing. We planned to shoot photos that afternoon but the conditions didn’t really work with us so we ended up going to our campsite and having an early night.

Best view in the house. The view from above is breathtaking.

Day 3

We took our 3rd day in the Flinders pretty slow, we had a bit of a sleep in and got our things ready to move to our next campsite further up the Bunyeroo scenic drive. After being so flat out hiking and getting up early for sunrises it was good to have a slow day and really just take in the amazing scenery in the National Park. Our next campsite was roughly 30km away along the Bunyeroo scenic drive. There are a lot of old ruins in this part of Australia and the Flinders is home to a whole bunch of them, between all the ruins and the look outs there is plenty to do between campsites. I would really suggest spending some time at the Aroona valley lookout, it would have been an amazing spot to shoot a sunrise or sunset but for some reason I did not get around to doing so. We set up camp at the Aroona campsite that afternoon where we had a campfire on the bank of a dried up river. The Aroona campsite is such a nice spot to set up camp, nestled between the pine trees and the trezona and Flatiron ranges. The campground is well maintained and there are even a few walking trails and ruins at the campground. It was great to spend the afternoon chilling by the fire listening too some music.

Coffee in bed makes for a happy camper. Aroona campground is perfect for a cup of coffee.

Day 4

On our fourth day I got up early to catch the sunrise over the massive rocky mountains by our campsite in the Aroona campground. Conditions where not particularly great for photography but its always nice to be out and watch the sunrise. Being able to just walk to where I want to be taking photos is really handy and a nice change from having to drive long distances to shoot. We spent the morning around the camp fire before going to check out the Aroona ruins and red hill lookout for some more amazing views. The Aroona campsite is great if you just want a relaxing time around the campfire among some amazing scenery. The pine trees and mountains mixed with the wild life is just a great relaxing environment. The afternoon again was spent around the campfire just relaxing and listening to music, it was such a peaceful evening.

The sunrising over the crazy landscape at the Aroona campground.

Day 5

After spending our last night in the National Park it was time for us to pack up and get ready to leave. After packing we where able to drive the last section of the Bunyeroo scenic drive and link back to the Flinders Ranges Way. Once on the Flinders Range Way back we checked out Stokes and Hucks lookouts. Stokes lookout has amazing panoramic views over a very arid, desert like part of the park and I would highly suggest visiting this lookout. It is amazing how the landscape in this particular National Park changes, from Stokes lookout you can see flat red dirt areas in one direction and mountains in the other. The track is quiet steep and rough so if you are not in a suitable vehicle you will want to rethink this lookout. We did not realise how steep and rough the track was until we where already half way up and things got a bit scary. If Stokes lookout is a bit much for you Hucks lookout is far more 2wd friendly, just a simple hundred metre drive of the main road. Hucks lookout offers an amazing view of the Wilpena Pound and all the other peaks around the National park. After visiting the last few sites it was time for us to start making our way home. We had one final destination on our way home and this one got me pretty excited. Our route home passes through a town called Burra, home of the iconic Midnight Oil house. If you where ever a fan of the band you probably now the house that I am talking about, I am of course talking about the house of the Diesel and Dust Album cover. It was pretty awesome to get the chance to shoot this iconic spot. Just a bit of advice to any one planning on shooting this spot, you have to be respectful of farmers property. The house is actually quiet far from the road and you cannot really get as close as you would like to shoot with out trespassing the farmers property. The fences have a whole bunch of no trespassing signs on them because people obviously insist on climbing the fence. Don’t be one of those people. This was the last thing we did before getting home and it was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

The infamous Midnight Oil house at sunset, what an absolute Aussie icon.

This is how we spent our time in the Ikara-Flinders Range National Park and I think probably the best itinerary if you are spending 5 odd days in the park, especially if you are on a budget. The one thing I would probably have done differently is spending the first night at the resort which would have saved a fair bit of unnecessary driving and hassle. Flinders is great if you are on a budget, we where able to spent 5 days int the park and only spend $375. That included 2 tanks of fuel our biggest expense, $80 of food, $11 park entry, 4 nights of camping($16 each night) and a scenic flight. If you compare that to a place like Kakadu where we had to pay $40 each for entry you will find Flinders very affordable, I think the biggest cost is getting there because it is so far away. Flinders is an absolute must see if you are in South Australia I can truely say you will not find another place like it.

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The best way to spend 5 days in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges