Bushwalking Inside Wilpena Pound

Wilpena Pound is a natural amphitheatre which can be found in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. With the growth of the Wilpena Pound Resort, tourism has flourished here and there are a number of great tracks for bushwalking. When you reach higher ground you can see beautiful views for miles around you, one of which being the feature image for this post. The Adnyamathanha people that dwell there translate the name Wilpena to ‘Ikara’ which then translates to meeting place.

Facts aside (there are plenty on wikipedia, and they’re really worth a read), the bushwalking opportunities at Wilpena Pound are vast, and you see a lot of amazing landscapes as you make your way through. You’ll probably have stopped by Adelaide already if you’re heading out backpacking, but once you finally make your way a little north of Hawker you’re finally ready for some proper bushwalking fun.

Like us, you’ll most likely set out from Wilpena Pound Resort. It’s a good place to grab a drink and get yourself sorted for a couple of hours of hiking. Don’t forget, you’re probably going to want to be wearing boots, and you’ll almost definitely want a decent supply of water. You don’t have to, I’m just saying you might. I’d advise that you do. Don’t forget your camera either, you wouldn’t want to miss some of the stuff you’ll see.

At the lower parts of Wilpena Pound you’ll get plenty of sights like these. Red river gum trees (aka eucalyptus something or other in Latin) are pretty much everywhere. There also seems to be an insane amount of deadwood/”driftwood”, although it clearly isn’t drifting. Eucalyptus trees are apparently known for having their lower branches fall off which is why you end up with so much on the floor, and also why you’re supposedly not supposed to sleep and take shelter under a eucalyptus tree. More on that another time.

Before long you’re bound to find yourself walking uphill. It isn’t strenuous so I wouldn’t worry about it. Uphill is good, that’s where you find the best views. On your ascent you’ll pass a fair bit of water. Granted, the water seems really thick and gloopy, and it’s green. Really green. Although it looks like a swamp I’m fairly sure you aren’t likely to have crocodiles jump out at you, but hey, I could be wrong. This is the kind of thing I’m talking about, I guess one is stagnant and the first picture here is flowing. It’s quite odd how some of the water is ridiculously clear and well, the second shot speaks for itself:

After a while you start heading a bit higher up on some nice bushy bushwalking tracks. There’s a lot more greenery and you start seeing more and more stuff like rock formations, fauna and these funky bee hive type things. I actually knew what they were once, I forgot. Remind me I need to figure it out and stick it into another post (which is also a reason why this is so relevant). If anyone does know, then please drop a comment and save me from painful googling. You might also wish to consider that this is pretty much the start of winter. I’d love to know what this place is like at the height of summer.

For reference I’ve seen a few peoples pictures that were taken in Wilpena Pound. It appears I’m not the only one that thought this random rock was pretty cool. Keep your eyes peeled for it and you can join my group of people that love this cool rock. Pictures are required. You might’ve noticed we’re seemingly out of the “forest” at this point. Don’t be fooled.

There’s actually a bit of a pit stop along the track (at least the one we were on) which is a good point to nip to the loo if you’ve already managed to drink your entire water supply. I know people did it, I saw them. From memory though, these ARE bush toilets. Don’t expect any fancy flushing or anything like that. Do expect a massive stinking hole in the ground surrounded by flies. It’s a beautiful sight, really!

You can tell we stopped here for a while for a rest for a couple of slackers (I love you guys really, and I forgive you for making us walk slowly @Jenny) because well, the skies are completely different colours for one. In all fairness though, this point is nice and flat and has some information boards lying around which are certainly worth a read. I won’t upload them because I don’t want to spoil it for would-be travelers that intend to visit Wilpena Pound in the future. Just enjoy the pictures for now!

And as well as enjoying the pictures, you really have to enjoy these cool guys. I wouldn’t mind having a statue made just like this for me to take home and put in the middle of my living room. But I don’t have a living room. So I can’t.

I’ve got a fair few pictures from when we reached the upper echelons of Wilpena Pound, but if I’m completely honest, I think they deserve to have their own post. I’m saving them for that reason. What I’ll leave you with as a parting gift is this slightly macabre picture that I took of a wallaby while we were en route to the look out points. It’s quite a smaller, narrow trail to bushwalk along but as I said before, you see some pretty cool, unusual stuff. Hopefully you aren’t eating dinner right now, if you are, sorry! 🙂