Acacia Ridge – a short Arkaroola walk with awesome views

One of the most popular day-walks around Arkaroola in the northern Flinders Ranges, the Acacia Ridge bushwalk starts along Arakaroola Road and finishes at Arkaroola Village. A shuttle drops off guests from the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary at the (A2) trailhead twice a day, before continuing along the road to the Oppaminda Nudlamutana trail. Although we’re staying at the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary on the second half of our Flinders Ranges road trip, I’m getting dropped off later in the day when it’s slightly cooler.

The trail crosses a dry creek just after the trailhead and immediately starts to ascend Acacia Ridge. There’s almost no shade along the entire trail in the afternoon; it’s a little more shaded in the morning.

After a couple of hundred metres the trail passes a Mulga grove, which has a number of dead trees, as well as a number of small trees that date from 1974 when there were good rain. Acacia Ridge gets its name from seven species of acacia that grow on the ridge.

The trail ascends gently up Acacia Ridge. with frequent views of Arkaroola Road which follows the valley below. The ridge is a Blue Mine Conglomerate Formation; formed around 800 million years ago it contains fragments of blue quartz from the 1.59 billion year old Mount Neil Granite Formation.

At about the 1.8km mark, the track passes the base of a large, sloping slab of rock which gathers water when there is rain and provides a different habitat – some of the more unusual plants growing here include the Fringe-myrtle and Green Fuchsia bush.

Wooltana Saddle is about the halfway point, and is just below the summit (Checkpoint A3). A short track doubles back to the highest point of the ridge. From here there is a great view of the rippled hills on the other side of the valley.

It’s an easy 200m stroll from Checkpoint A3 to the Acacia Ridge summit (566m), which is only about ten metres higher in elevation. There’s a rock cairn on the summit, a directional signage plaque pointing out the major peaks and landmarks – and a bit odf shade under a large shrub.

The 360-views are spectacular – as good as or perhaps even a little more impressive than those from Mt Warren Hastings on the Oppaminda Nudlamutana bushwalk (and al lot easier to get to).

Looking west is Arkaroola Village, and a multitude of peaks including Sitting Bull, Sprigg Nob and Mount Oliphant.

To the north is the Freeling Heights plateau, Mount Painter (Ngumbambadanha), Mount Gee and The Armchair.

Lake Frome is to the east, the vast salt lake appearing as a thick white line on the horizon.

Arkaroola Road snakes its way down the valley to the south; also in this direction is Nepouie Peak and Mount Jacob.

An eagle soars gracefully above, while a gulp of swallows swoop past so quickly I have no chance of getting a photo.

I spend over an hour on the Acacia Ridge summit, watching the colours deepen as the sun gets lower in the sky.

I leave the summit and continue the bushwalk just before sunset, so I can get back to the village just before dark.

Acacia Ridge gets narrower as the track descends its western side, and there are a number of vantage points that provide great views towards the south and west.

The north-facing side of the the ridge has very sparse vegetation, offerings views again in most directions.

The track heads almost directly west.

Almost directly below is the steep cliff face above Arkaroola Road (Devil’s Slide) and one of the Arkaroola observatories, situated on top of a small hill above the village.

The trail starts to descend more steeply down the side of Acacia Ridge, through low scrub.

A gap in the rocky spine of the ridge provides a natural “window” ocer Arkaroola Road.

Looking back up Acacia Ridge, you can see the summit and the bushwalking track making its way through the scrub.

The track follows an old fenceline as it drops towards the road.

The sun sets just before I reach the bottom of Acacia Ridge.

I’ve got another half an hour before it get dark, and just over a kilometre to Arkaroola Village (if you’re doing this as a sunrise/sunset walk, there are great views for almost the entire ascent or descent from the summit to the village).

The trail reaches Mt Elva Dam, built in 1986 to provide supplementary water for Arkaroola but almost always dry, and descends to the (dry) creek.

For the last few hundred metres the trail follows Arkaroola Road, before finishing at the village.

You can do the Acacia Ridge in under two hours – it’s a fairly easy bushwalk – I ended up taking 3.5 hours as I spent well over an hour on the summit, waiting for the sun to set.

Getting to the Acacia Ridge (Arkaroola) bushwalk

The easiest way to do the short Acacia Ridge bushwalk is by getting dropped off at the trailhead (which is about 4km along Arkaroola Road from the village) and walking back to the village. A twice-daily shuttle service leaves at 9am and 2pm from Arkaroola Village to drop off bushwalkers. Even better would be to organise a lift so you can start just before dawn or very late afternoon, to enjoy sunrise or sunset from the ridge. Arkaroola Village is 154km (2:30min drive) north of Blinman or 133km (2:10min) east of Leigh Creek in the northern Flinders Ranges.