Considering a riding holiday? Why not take a look at some of South Australia's less travelled paths? The Bear headed out to the Flinders Ranges and let us know all the "must-see's"!
The Flinders Ranges in South Australia are the Swiss Army Knife of motorcycling in Australia, and you don’t have to be McGyver to make the most of them. They offer spectacular sealed roads, wonderful gravel tracks, amazing dirt trails…
The road into the Wilpena tourist office is sealed. Keep in mind that a lot of the Ranges is national park, so keep an eye on the wildlife while you’re enjoying the scenery or the track.
Well, okay, they just call it that, but the pretence is fun. Last time I was there they were putting g in a brewery. The scenery is quite staggering, especially if you decide to blow the budget and take a flight over Wilpena Pound. But even from ground level, the Flinders Ranges are nothing short of beautiful.
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And when you think about it, the Ranges are not far away from any of the eastern Australian Capital cities. I got there comfortably from Sydney in two days on my BMW F 750 GS, and Canberra, Adelaide and Melbourne are closer. I know how tough Brisbane riders are, so they would probably make it in two days as well.
Creek beds are usually dry, and if they flood and destroy the tracks, these are graded again quite quickly.
Named after Matthew Flinders, who was probably the first European of rank to see the mountains (you don’t get anything named after you if you’re not at least a junior officer) the ranges have seen substantial erosion since they were formed. Laid down about 800 million years ago and folded into mountains 300 million years later, the Flinders Ranges have been the home of the Adnyamathanha or Rock People for many thousands of years. You can learn their stories from the Rock People themselves at Wilpena Pound Resort, and you can take one of those scenic flights from here.
“Flinders Ranges in South Australia offer spectacular sealed roads, wonderful gravel tracks, amazing dirt trails… and there’s even a pub at Parachilna where you can dine on roadkill.”
It is most likely that you will approach the ranges from the south, through Hawker. You can get there from the north as well, by way of the Strzelecki, Oodnadatta or Birdsville tracks to Lyndhurst but that takes a little more preparation than just rolling up the highway from Port Augusta or Adelaide. If you do come from the north, just follow the sealed road as far as Leigh Creek where you can get fuel – there is none at Lyndhurst unless you’re riding a diesel — and then tackle the ranges that way on to Arkaroola.
Signposting is generous. If you have a basic map you should be able to navigate easily.
From the south, Hawker also offers fuel as well as other shopping, and then two choices. If you’re mainly a sealed road rider, take the western route through Parachilna and Leigh Creek to Lyndhurst. There are several options to tackle the ranges themselves at Merna Mora, Brachina, Parachilna and Beltana before the Arkaroola turnoff at Leigh Creek. All of these options take you into the ranges on gravel and dirt tracks which are rideable with standard road bikes. It’s probably an idea to have a bit of dirt road experience, but if you take it slowly you should be fine. By the way, Beltana Roadhouse is no more. Don’t count on getting fuel there.
Parachilna, on the other hand, has the more or less famous Prairie Hotel with its ‘road kill ’menu. Renovations were still in the works last time I was there, but the pub and the brewery should be fully operational by now. The food is good, if a bit expensive, and the accommodation is the same. Parachilna also celebrates the Ediacaran Conservation Park to its north.
This is where a surveyor from Adelaide found an entirely new age of fossils, and it is an important scientific locale. The mockups of the Ediacaran flora/fauna at the railway siding are well done and worth seeing. There are some other displays too: one of them is an intriguing optical illusion of a diesel-powered train; since the mines at Copley were closed, there is no more actual rail traffic.
“The various turnoffs will take you into the scenic Bunyeroo, Edeowie, Brachina, and Parachilna gorges. Whatever you do, don’t miss at least a couple of these gorges.”
The various turnoffs will take you over quite well-maintained gravel roads into the scenic Bunyeroo, Edeowie, Brachina, and Parachilna gorges. Whatever you do, don’t miss at least a couple of these gorges. Not only is the scenery beautiful but you will get a real idea of old, rough and genuine Australia. The tracks are usually quite passable even on a road bike.
Like many other Outback pubs, the one at Copley was built for a much larger clientele than it has these days, now that the mine has closed.
The eastern alternative from Hawker is also sealed to Wilpena, where you can get fuel and information about the ranges, and on to Blinman. You can fuel up here – there’s a pub – but the bike can’t. The next petrol is at Arkaroola to the north or Leigh Creek to the west, in both cases over reasonably good but quite long gravel tracks.
There are lots of other routes to choose from, although the quality of most of the tracks in the Flinders depends entirely on when it last rained. You could do worse than inquire at Hawker or Wilpena how access is looking. One of the terrific things about the Flinders Ranges is that there are trails heading off in all direction from the main routes, and they often take you to wonderful views over interesting tracks.
If you have the time, it is well worth your while to head up to Lyndhurst. Like Blinman, Lyndhurst has a pub but no petrol station, only an automatic diesel pump. This is for the trucks and other machinery working on sealing the Strzelecki Track.
Not for me or you but so large equipment can be trucked out to the gas fields. A lot of road improvement in the Outback is done to help the exploitation of natural resources, although Copley, near Leigh Creek, demonstrates the other side of that coin. Once a major centre for coal mining, it is a ghost town now that the mine has closed. It still has a nice stone pub.
Talc Alf carves all kinds of things in the soft talc found near Lyndhurst. Drop in and see him.
The Lyndhurst pub is nice in a temporary-looking sort of way, and the accommodation in dongas is much the same. The main attraction up here is Talc Alf, the somewhat cantankerous but eventually really friendly and interesting character who carves stuff out of the talc stone that you can find to the north and holds forth on his political and social theories. He is not just a curiosity; Alf has some interesting and well-thought-out ideas. Perhaps a little off-centre (well, weird), but worth listening to.
Like I said at the beginning, the Flinders Ranges are Australia’s Swiss Army Knife for motorcyclists. You can find something for everyone. As for me, I’m hanging out for one of those house-brewed beers at the Prairie Hotel in Parachilna. Hold the camel stew, though.
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