Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary South Australia Australia

Winner of South Australia’s Major Tourist Attraction and best Ecotourism Product Awards in 2005, Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary is a travel destination you just can’t miss. Home to some of Australia’s most spectacular and arid mountain landscapes, Arkaroola has something for everyone.

A second generation, privately owned sanctuary bordering the vast Vulkathunha Gammon Ranges National Park, Arkaroola sits at the heart of South Australia’s rugged Northern Flinders Ranges. Few other places in Australia offer such ease of access to so many sheltered waterholes, deep plunging gorges, and breathtaking mountain top views of vast desert plains and distant salt lakes. From a comfortable base, visitors need only travel short distances to experience the profound silences of outback Australia or observe the beautiful Yellow-footed rock wallaby in its natural habitat.

Visitors can choose from a range of fully accredited Advanced Ecotourism products, including the world-famous Ridgetop Tour, the ultimate four wheel drive vehicle experience, Astronomical Tours of the dark dazzling Southern skies, and guided nature walks. With 130 kilometres of graded public access tracks, Arkaroola’s visitors can wander through a landscape of deep time in which human intrusions are minimal, taking short two wheel drive vehicle tracks to secluded waterholes, or more challenging four wheel drive vehicle tracks across rugged mountains to spine-tingling lookouts.

For the ‘universal’ traveller, Arkaroola provides the largest privately owned astronomical facility in the state. Observatory tours are offered every cloud-free evening, and that means most nights at Arkaroola, with some of the best viewing conditions in the world. With three observatories, two equipped with 14 inch computer-controlled telescopes, and the third with Star Chairs bearing powerful astronomical binoculars, Arkaroola’s visitors can observe sibling planets, distant galaxies, globular clusters, emission nebulae and more. Astrophotography equipment and piers for bring your own telescopes are available for hire to amateur astronomers.

Within the sanctuary, Arkaroola Village provides all the comforts sought by the contemporary traveller including air conditioned motel lodges, a caravan park with powered and un-powered sites and bush camping areas, a licensed restaurant and lounge bar, fuel outlet, complimentary barbecue facilities, a large in-ground swimming pool and a visitor information centre. Come and stay with us and be changed forever.