Flinders Ranges and SA Outback - Introduction

The rugged and beautiful Flinders Ranges, with stunning Wilpena Pound at its hub, are about a 5 to 6 hour drive away from Adelaide.  The ranges are the gateway to the South Australian Outback, a vast and remote desert area with the fascinating opal mining centre of Coober Pedy the main town.

Flinders Ranges

Flinders Ranges National Park www.parks.sa.gov.au/flinders_rangesis 460 km north of Adelaide and it is possible to drive to these rugged desert ranges on sealed roads. From Port Augusta you can drive through Quorn and Hawker and then on to spectacular Wilpena Pound, where there is a range of accommodation in the area.
Wilpena Pound (pictured) itself is a huge amphitheatre-like rock structure ringed with steep cliffs on the outside. Inside the land slopes more gently down into an elevated basin so that it looks like a giant volcano, although it is actually the weathered remnants of a massive rock dome. You can walk into Wilpena Pound through a gorge, the only entrance.
There is accommodation in the Flinders Ranges at:

Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary	Wilpena Pound
Parachilna	Rawnsley Park Station

South Australian Outback

Beyond the Flinders Ranges, the South Australia Outback is a vast, fascinating desert area. This usually dry and dusty country can quickly flood in times of heavy rain and the huge salt lake, Lake Eyre, becomes a real lake again.
COOBER PEDY is in the heart of the Outback on the Stuart Highway and famous for its opal mining and underground dwellings. The landscape is pitted with thousands of opal miners' diggings and there are shops selling opals and jewellery in the town. Ordinary homes, churches, shops and the well known Desert Cave hotel are all built underground to escape the ferocious summer heat. Underground temperatures remain constant in the mid 20s C, giving summer cooling and winter warmth. There is a surprising amount of light in the 'buildings', from shafts cut to the surface. About 33 km north of Coober Pedy are the Breakaways (or Painted Desert, pictured), a unique example of arid scenery and made up of mesas - flat-topped hills with steep sides.
The main route from Adelaide to Alice Springs is the Stuart Highway, a sealed road. Even when travelling long distances on this main road it is necessary to be well prepared with spare petrol, tyres, food and water as there are long distances between supply centres. There is no mobile phone coverage in many remote areas and even when the phone does work, the nearest garage may be hundreds of kilometres away.
If you want to explore further 'off the bitumen', a small specialist operators offer safaris to the Strzelecki Desert, Lake Eyre, the Simpson Desert and along the Birdsville Track into Queensland (the picture below is of hot springs near the Mitta Mitta Bore on the Birdsville Track). You can of course hire 4WD vehicles and explore yourself but you do need to make careful preparations and do detailed research before attempting to travel into these vast, harsh areas. Remember, most vehicle hire companies specifically forbid the use of ordinary cars on unsealed roads and insist that you must have 4WD.
Useful sources of information include:

South Australia Outback Roads Reports - www.transport.sa.gov.au(Outback)
Royal Automobile Association (RAA) Outback Driving Advice - www.raa.net(Outback)
SA Parks and Reserves - www.parks.sa.gov.au/parks/parks/outback