Arkaroo Rock Hike

Easy

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A 3.1km circuit walk to an Adnyamathanha rock art shelter (Akurra Adnya) depicting the creation story of Wilpena Pound, upgraded with new viewing facilities in 2025.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

2.55 km

Est. time

48 min

Elevation gain

91 m

Route type

Loop

Steepest stretch: +41m over ~300m (around the 0.3km mark)

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In an emergency

Call 000 for police, fire or ambulance — Australia's emergency number works even with a weak signal, and without a SIM if any carrier has coverage.

You're in Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park, Flinders Ranges, SA. Mobile reception in this area is not guaranteed — this is exactly why the offline map and GPS position on this page work without signal.

Tell someone your plan and expected return time before you set off. A PLB is the most reliable backup where there's no reception at all.

Tracks & plans

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About this hike

This circuit climbs to a rock shelter housing an Adnyamathanha art site depicting the creation of Wilpena Pound — known to the Adnyamathanha people as Ikara, meaning 'meeting place.' According to Adnyamathanha tradition, two Akurra (dreaming serpents) gorged themselves at a gathering here and became too bloated to move, their bodies eventually forming the Pound's encircling peaks, with the male and female serpents' heads said to have become St Mary Peak and Beatrice Hill. The paintings at Arkaroo Rock are a rare public record of that story, and the shelter received upgraded viewing facilities in 2025 to protect the art while keeping it accessible to walkers. It's an easy, family-friendly circuit, but the cultural weight of what's at the top makes it one of the most significant short hikes in the Flinders Ranges.

Species to look for on this trail

Ancient trees and rare flora confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Variable DaisyDocumented on this trail

Brachyscome ciliaris

Rare — SA: Rare▾

Rare — SA: Rare

Brachyscome ciliaris, commonly known as variable daisy, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae it is a small, bushy, perennial herb with white or mauve daisy-like flowers. It grows in the Northern Territory and mainland states of Australia with the exception of South Australia.

How to spot it

Brachyscome ciliaris is an upright or ascending perennial herb to 45 cm (18 in) high with smooth, occasionally woolly or soft glandular hairs. The leaves may be linear, divided or deeply lobed, narrow at the base and sessile. The white or mauve flower heads 7–15 mm (0.28–0.59 in) in diameter, peduncle thread-like, bracts green, pointed, jagged and lance-shaped. Flowering may occur throughout the year and the fruit is an oblong to egg-shaped, flattened achene 1.5–2.5 mm (0.059–0.098 in) long and

Family Asteraceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Variable Daisy

Photo via iNaturalist Australia (CC-BY 4.0 (Int)), collected by Kym Nicolson

White Cypress Pine

Callitris glaucophylla

Conifer of Central Australia's rocky ranges▾

Conifer of Central Australia's rocky ranges

A small evergreen conifer, 4-12 m tall (rarely to 20 m), found across much of arid and semi-arid Australia including the rocky ranges of Central Australia. Its aromatic, termite-resistant timber was historically prized for building.

How to spot it

Scale-like leaves 2-6 mm long in whorls of three; small globose cones about 1-2 cm across with six triangular scales; deeply furrowed dark bark. Grows on rocky slopes and sandy soils in gorge country.

Family Cupressaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Callitris glaucophylla (redirects to Callitris columellaris)

Margaret Donald, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Spotted Emu-bush

Eremophila maculata

Arid-zone shrub▾

Arid-zone shrub

A densely branched, drought-hardy shrub of inland Australia and a familiar sight on the rocky slopes of the Flinders Ranges, prized by nectar-feeding birds for its long tubular flowers that bloom through the cooler months.

How to spot it

Highly variable leaves from thread-like to almost round, always smooth-edged. Tubular flowers 25-35mm long in pink, mauve, red, orange or yellow, the throat often (but not always) speckled with darker spots.

Family Scrophulariaceae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Mark Marathon (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Elegant Wattle (Bramble Wattle)

Acacia victoriae

Drought-tolerant arid wattle▾

Drought-tolerant arid wattle

A spiny, multi-trunked wattle of the Flinders Ranges and inland Australia, remarkably drought-hardy thanks to roots that can extend up to 20m in search of water, and traditionally used by Aboriginal people as a food source from its seed and gum.

How to spot it

Small, sharp spines about 1cm long along the branches. Strongly scented, yellowish, ball-shaped flower clusters from August to December, followed by pale, flattened seed pods roughly 8cm long.

Family Fabaceae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Ian Sutton (CC BY 2.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Cotton Bush (Silver Bush)

Ptilotus obovatus

Arid silver shrub▾

Arid silver shrub

A silvery, densely woolly-haired shrub of arid and semi-arid Australia, common on the stony slopes and creek flats of the Flinders Ranges, where its pale foliage stands out sharply against red rock and mulga scrub.

How to spot it

Stems and egg-shaped leaves densely covered in white woolly hairs, giving the whole plant a silver-grey sheen. Pink to purplish, fuzzy, bottlebrush-like flower spikes 10-25mm long.

Family Amaranthaceae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Timothy Hammer (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Sticky Hop-bush

Dodonaea viscosa

Pioneer coloniser shrub▾

Pioneer coloniser shrub

One of the most widely distributed native shrubs on Earth, having spread naturally across tropical and warm-temperate coastlines worldwide via ocean-drifted seed capsules over the last two million years, and a common early coloniser after fire in the Flinders Ranges.

How to spot it

Leathery, resin-coated leaves that feel slightly sticky to the touch. Small yellow-orange flowers without petals, followed by distinctive papery, two-to-four-winged seed capsules that ripen from red to brown.

Family Sapindaceae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: J.M.Garg (CC BY 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Red Mallee

Eucalyptus socialis

Multi-stemmed mallee▾

Multi-stemmed mallee

A classic multi-stemmed mallee eucalypt of inland South Australia, resprouting from a woody underground lignotuber after fire, which lets individual plants survive and regenerate for centuries in the arid Flinders Ranges landscape.

How to spot it

Multiple slender trunks rising from a lignotuber, rough grey bark at the base with smooth grey bark shedding in ribbons higher up. Dull green-grey lance-shaped leaves, and white-to-pale-yellow flowers in clusters of 7-13.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Mark Marathon (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Wildlife you might see on this trail

Animals confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Chuditch

Dasyurus geoffroii

Endangered — AUS: Vulnerable, NSW: Extinct, SA: Endangered, WA: Vulnerable, NT: Vulnerable▾

Endangered — AUS: Vulnerable, NSW: Extinct, SA: Endangered, WA: Vulnerable, NT: Vulnerable

The western quoll is Western Australia's largest endemic mammalian carnivore. One of the many marsupial mammals native to Australia, it is also known as the chuditch. The species is currently classed as near-threatened.

How to spot it

The western quoll is about the size of a domestic cat. It is coloured a rufous brown and has 40–70 white spots on its back with a creamy white underside.

Family Dasyuridae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Chuditch

Photo via iNaturalist Australia (CC-BY-NC 4.0 (Int)), collected by scottyw

Little Eagle

Hieraaetus morphnoides

Vulnerable — ACT: Vulnerable, NSW: Vulnerable, VIC: Vulnerable, SA: Vulnerable▾

Vulnerable — ACT: Vulnerable, NSW: Vulnerable, VIC: Vulnerable, SA: Vulnerable

The little eagle is a very small eagle endemic to Australia.

How to spot it

The little eagle is a medium-sized bird of prey, measuring 45–55 cm (17–21.5 inches) in length and weighing 815 g (1.8 lb), roughly the size of a peregrine falcon. It has fully feathered legs and a square-cut, barred tail. Wingspan is about 120 cm with males having longer wings in proportion to their bodies, but being nearly half the weight of females. It is a powerful bird and during flight has strong wing beats, glides on flat wings and soars on slightly raised or flat wings. The little eagle

Family Accipitridae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Little Eagle

Western Grey Kangaroo

Macropus fuliginosus

IUCN Least Concern▾

IUCN Least Concern

A large, common kangaroo of southern Australia, ranging from south of Shark Bay across coastal Western Australia and South Australia into western Victoria and the Murray-Darling basin; it does not occur in Tasmania or far north Queensland.

How to spot it

Distinguished from the eastern grey kangaroo by darker grey-brown fur, darker colouration around the head, and sometimes a blackish patch near the elbow. Males can be up to twice the size of females; look for them grazing in open woodland, coastal heath and farmland edges across the southern mainland.

Family Macropodidae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Charles J. Sharp (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Wedge-tailed eagle

Aquila audax

IUCN Least Concern — common but iconic▾

IUCN Least Concern — common but iconic

The wedge-tailed eagle is Australia's largest bird of prey, with a wingspan of up to 2.84 metres. Once persecuted as a livestock threat, it is now widespread and secure across virtually every Australian habitat from desert to alpine woodland.

How to spot it

Unmistakable in flight: a huge dark raptor with a long, diamond-shaped tail, often seen soaring high on thermals over open or rocky country. Adults are blackish-brown with tawny-rufous hackles on the neck; juveniles are paler and more rufous. Despite its size, its call is a surprisingly thin, high whistle.

Family Accipitridae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: JJ Harrison (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Central bearded dragon

Pogona vitticeps

IUCN Least Concern — iconic arid-zone dragon▾

IUCN Least Concern — iconic arid-zone dragon

The central bearded dragon is a robust, spiny lizard of the semi-arid and arid woodlands of central Australia, named for the spiky, inflatable throat pouch ('beard') it darkens and flares as a threat and social display. It has since become one of the world's most popular pet reptiles, but the wild population remains a genuine outback local.

How to spot it

A stocky, flattened lizard up to 60cm long (over half of that tail), mottled in browns, reds, yellows and greys that shift with temperament and background. Look for it basking on fence posts, rocks or dead branches in open woodland during the cooler morning and evening, flattening its body and puffing out its spiny black 'beard' if it feels threatened.

Family Agamidae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Frank C. Müller, Baden-Baden (CC BY-SA 2.5) via Wikimedia Commons