The bushwalk up to Rawnsley Bluff is the second one on our road trip through the Flinders Ranges, with another early morning start to take advantage of the morning light (and avoid the afternoon heat).
It’s a very short drive to the Rawnsley Bluff trailhead as we’re staying at Rawnsley Park Station; from the Wilpena Pound Resort it would be about a 25min drive. Despite most of the walk being on the Rawnsley Park Station property, it’s just as well signposted as the trails in the adjoining national park.
It’s an easy start as the trail heads directly towards the imposing bluff, passing a junction on the left with a trail to Ferntree Waterfall (which is dry except after heavy rain) and then the Mawson Trail on the right (the Mawson Trail is a 900m mountain-biking trail that goes from just north of Adelaide to Blinman).
After about 2km the trail starts to climb more steadily, with cypress pine forest being gradually replaced by spinifex, eucalypts, native hop bush, acacias and yakkas (grass trees). Looking back across Rawsley Park Station are the Arkaba Hills and the Elder Range.
Another few hundred metres brings me to the start of the short but steep section of the Rawnsley Bluff bushwalk, where the trail gains about 200m of elevation in just under a kilometre.
Just before the top of the long ridge is reached, Lone Pine Lookout offers a nice spot for a break, with views to the west and south-west, including the prominent Elder Ranges. The lookout commemorates the Australian soldiers who landed at Anzac Cove in 1915, which included Australian attacks at Lone Pine.
From the lookout there’s a final steep section before the trail reaches the long ridge-line.
From the ridge-top there are some great views out to the Elder Ranges, even on a fairly overcast day (you can see Lone Pine Lookout almost directly below).
The trail now levels out as it follows the top of the cliffs on the southern side of Bluff Ridge, with a series of vantage points out to the west.
A junction is soon reached with a trail through the thick scrub to Wilpena Pound Lookout. A sign documents some of the European history of the area…
The pound area was first surveyed in 1851 by Frederick Sinnett who worked for the Browne brothers who had trained in France as doctors before coming to South Australia to set up a pastoral empire.
As well as surveying Wilpena, he also surveyed Arkaba and Aroona, two huge stations.
In 1895, another surveyor, William Greig Evans, surveyed the Hundred of Moralana and renamed the peaks on the western side of the pound after relatives and members of the survey party.
Some names included Beatrice Hill, after a daughter, and Harold Hill named after his son. Reggies Nob was named after his brother and Snaves Hill is Evans spelt backwards.
The narrow track is well-defined despite the encroaching scrub, and is mostly fairly flat.
Towards the end it climbs over a few rocky platorms requiring some easy scrambling, before reaching the signposted lookout.
Wilpena Pound Lookout offers a completely different outlook to the rest of the views on this bushwalk, with one of the best views over Wilpena Pound. The highest peaks of the Wilpena Pound Range include St Mary Peak (the highest mountain in the Flinders Ranges at 1,117m) and Pompey Pillar (1,168m).
Once back on the main track, it’s easy and level walking for while, with lots of good views out to the south. The trail crosses a number of rocky platforms, with a combination of arrows and painted stripes marking the way.
After about kilometre from the junction with the Wilpena Pound Lookout the track climbs up to the end of Rawnsley Bluff, crossing a number of rocky ledges.
Along the short climb are some more great views, both south-west to the Elder Range and north to St Mary Peak and part of the Wilpena Pound Range.
The trail ends near the impressive Rawnsley Bluff trig cairn, which was erected in 1858, with signage that describes the history of the trig and the expansive views:
Rawnsley Bluff is the southern rampart of Wilpena Pound – 970m above sea level.
The ‘bluff’ is named after H.C. Rawnsley, a Government Surveyor who visited the area in 1951.
The Elder Range is on the western horizon and the Chace Range is in the middle distance to the south east.
The elevation of Rawnsley Bluff is 964m above sea level, making it the tenth-highest peak of the southern Flinders Ranges. The trig point sits on the Rawsley Bluff South Peak, which is 943m in height.
The Rawnsley Park Airstrip is clearly visible to the south. The buildings of Rawnsley Park are visible to the south and west. Prelinna Homestead is visible to the east.
Continue through the scrub for another couple of hundred metres to the end of Rawnsley Bluff for even better views: from here you can see the entire length of the Chace Range, the Elder Rage and the Bunkers.
Looking north are the rugged cliffs and honeycombed rocks of the main Rawnsley Bluff peak (which is about 20m higher in elevation than the South Peak).
I return the same way encountering a few people making their way up the trail as I descend – and a few bushwalkers with dogs. As almost the entire walk is within the Rawnsley Park Station, dogs are permitted on the trail (but smaller pets would struggle to negotiate the steep ascent).
The Rawnsley Bluff bushwalk is one of the easiest southern Flinders Ranges; while Rawnsley Bluff delivers an equally good view as the other walks in the area, it has only one relatively short but steep climb, and less overall elevation gain. It’s also shorter than the signposts indicate – about 11km return including the side-trip to Flinders Pound Lookout (compared to the official length of 12.6km return).
Getting to the Rawnsley Bluff bushwalk
The Rawnsley Bluff trailhead is located within Rawnsley Park Station, which is 38km (30min drive) from Hawker or 26min (25min drive) from the Wilpena Pound Visitor Centre. Turn into Rawnsley Park Station off the Flinders Way Road and contine for 3.4km along the unsealed road towards the campground, then turn right onto a signposted road to the start of the trail (where there is a parking area).
More information
- Rawnsley Park Station – Walking and Cycling Trails [PDF]
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