Big Skies Inland Loop
Giant granite, wave rock and outback ranges
The plan
Most visitors hug the Eyre Peninsula's coast, but the interior holds a quieter kind of wonder: giant granite domes marooned in wheat fields, a wave-shaped rock to rival the famous one in the west, and the volcanic ramparts of the Gawler Ranges under some of the biggest skies in the state.
This loop suits travellers who like space, geology and free campgrounds. Carry water and fuel, and time your rock visits for the golden light of dawn or dusk.
Day 1 - Wudinna's granite giants
Base at Wudinna and climb Mount Wudinna, one of the largest granite monoliths in Australia. Walk among the balancing boulders of Tcharkuldu Rock nearby, and watch the colours shift across the stone as the sun drops.
Day 2 - Pildappa Rock and the plains
Drive to Pildappa Rock near Minnipa, where a smooth pink granite wave curls out of the dome, a friendlier rival to Western Australia's Wave Rock. Climb to the summit for plains views, explore the gnamma holes, and camp at the base under a sky thick with stars.
Day 3 - Into the Gawler Ranges
Push north into the Gawler Ranges, where the Organ Pipes rise in red and grey columns from the arid earth and Kolay Mirica Falls hides its rock pools among the ironbark. It is the inland loop at its wildest, and a fitting finale.
Day 1
2 stops-
1
-
2
Day 2
1 stop-
1
Day 3
2 stops-
1Gawler Ranges National Park
Organ Pipes Lookout
Stand beneath ancient volcanic rock columns.
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2Gawler Ranges National Park
Kolay Mirica Falls
Find the hidden rock pools deep in the ranges.
On the map
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Image credits
- Pildappa Rock View 7-1.jpg by Thilver , CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons