Listed: Seven lesser-known wonders of South Australia that you may never get to see
The mysterious giant of the Outback, Stonehenge-style standing stones and our own mini Dead Sea – these are the seven lesser-known wonders of South Australia.
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Here in South Australia we love our major tourism attractions and festivals – and most of us have been to them.
Places like Adelaide Oval for the footy or cricket or even RoofClimb; the Glenelg foreshore; Tour Down Under; Barossa Valley and other wine country; the Fringe; river fun on the Murray … the list goes on.
But what about the best places you’ve never been in SA, or possibly even heard of?
Like the state’s highest mountain? Our own mini Dead Sea?
The mysterious giant of the Outback? The ancient Stonehenge-style standing stones?
Or wonders that are just plain off limits?
Here are seven lesser-known wonders of SA.
1. Mt Woodroffe
At 1435m elevation, Mt Woodroffe is SA’s highest peak, and not nearly as easy to climb as, say, Mount Lofty at 710m which attracts around 350,000 hikers a year walking well-worn and signposted tracks with cafes and kiosks as the base and summit.
This is because it is located in the remote Musgrave Ranges near the Northern Territory border in the APY Lands and, as well as being difficult to get to, permission is needed from the traditional owners to visit the mountain.
The five hour return hike is difficult, and is not on a marked trail, so while climbers who manage to get there do not need specialised equipment, they must be fit.
However, you forget about ticking it off your bucket list in the short term.
When the pandemic hit the APY, traditional owners put a ban on outsiders going to the area, and it remains in force with no indication it will be lifted.
2. Pearson Island
Among SA’s 300-plus islands, Pearson Island with neighbouring Veteran and Dorothee Islands is a place once visited, never forgotten.
Part of the Investigator Group Wilderness Protection Area off Elliston which recognises the immense ecological value of the region, the 213ha island has spectacular eroded rock formations to rival Remarkable Rocks, abundant marine wildlife and negligible signs of human activity as it was never farmed.
It’s been likened to our own Galapagos Islands, or a step into Jurassic Park, as a place that time forgot.
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The surrounding waters are part of a sanctuary zone in the Investigator Marine Park.
The area is home to wildlife such as Australian sea lions, New Zealand fur seals, Cape Barren geese and the Pearson Island black-footed rock-wallaby.
I was lucky enough to visit once long ago, but past visitors will soon be a select club as visiting now is logistically illegal and soon is likely to be simply prohibited.
Technically you don’t need a permit to visit. However there is only one suitable landing spot and that is home to a sea lion colony so landing now would breach marine mammal regulations.
A proposal to prohibit general access has been out for consultation and if adopted, for most people Pearson Island will be a slice of Eden to only see from the sea.
3. Dalhousie Springs
Fancy a swim in a desert oasis? Witjira National Park about 900km north west of Port Augusta on the edge of the Simpson Desert has more than 120 mound springs.
Hot spring water bubbles up from underground and the temperatures vary in the different pools from the ancient artesian water which rises through fissures in subterranean strata.
The water in Dalhousie Main Spring is around 37C “making it perfect for a relaxing soak” according to the SA National Parks and Wildlife Service.
There are some visitor and unpowered camping facilities and walking trails.
This is 4WD country, a SA Desert Parks Pass is needed to visit and sensible safety precautions of Outback travel should be taken.
An alternative is a day trip flying with air operators such as Wrightsair from William Creek or Arid Air from Marree.
4. Marree Man
You’ll need to be in a plane to see this mystery of the Outback.
The Marree Man, or Sturt’s Giant, was first spotted by charter pilot Trec Smith in June 1998 and it remains one of the state’s most intriguing mysteries – whodunit?
The geoglyph, or design made from earthen materials, is some 4km from tip to toe.
The outline of what appears to be a hunter holding a stick or boomerang is so big it has to be seen from the air to understand it is a male figure.
Etched into an isolated plateau about 60km from Marree, it is now off limits by land – but someone did get there, with the skill and equipment to carve the industrial-scale artwork.
Theories abound of who may have done it but even a reward offered by adventurer Dick Smith failed to solve the mystery.
Satellite images indicate it appeared between May 27 and June 12, 1998.
Arid Air operator and Marree Hotel owners Phil and Maria van Wegen who fly from Marree to places like Lake Eyre, Dalhousie Springs and Birdsville as well as over Marree Man say the huge outline remains very clear.
“At the moment it is really clear, and the only way to see it is from the air,” Mr van Wegen said.
“There is no land access and even if you did go there overland it is so big you would not realise it was there.”
It is a magnificent sight to behold – and an enduring whodunit.
5.Murphy’s Haystacks
England may have Stonehenge, but SA has Murphy’s Haystacks. Unlike Stonehenge, these spectacular standing stones are natural formations.
On privately owned land with a gold coin donation requested to help maintain the picnic area and toilets, these amazing rock formations of pillars and boulders give visitors reason to pause and consider their place in the scheme of things.
These ancient inselbergs – German for “island mountain” – have been sculpted by the wind over eons and the South Australian Tourism Commission suggests sunset photos as a “must” as the light brings the colours in the pink granite to life.
The formations named after landowner Denis Murphy came from rock some three billion years old, eroding to expose the hard granite pillars around 1500 million years ago, and you’d better be quick to see them as constant erosion means they may be gone in another billion years.
On Calca Road, Calca, on the Eyre Peninsula, about 40km south of Streaky Bay off the Flinders Highway.
6. Pool of Siloam
Near Beachport is our own mini-Dead Sea where through the miracle of salt you can float on your back and read a book.
The Pool of Siloam is a place where you can float away your cares.
The salt lake is reputedly seven times more salty than the sea giving swimmers almost eerie buoyancy, making swimming a cinch, and it supposedly possess therapeutic qualities for arthritic aches.
Although close to the sea, its depth does not fluctuate with the tides.
It is a place of deep mystery, unless you look for the pretty straightforward geographic facts about it being fed by springs.
Entry, via McCourt Road, Beachport, is free and there are picnic tables and change rooms.
7.Woomera Prohibited Area
As the name bluntly states, entry is prohibited at certain times for Defence purposes including weapons testing so you can’t just wander in, but you can get close.
The WPA about 450km northwest of Adelaide encompasses an area of 122,000 sqkm – about the size of England – but has been as big as 270,000 sqkm, about the size of New Zealand.
Travellers can access the following areas in the WPA without a permit as long as they don’t leave the authorised route: Stuart Highway, Olympic Dam Highway (B97), Woomera Village, Lake Cadibarrawirracanna Road (Public Access Route) and William Creek Road.
But must apply for a tourist permit to access all other roads and tracks, including the Anne Beadell Highway.
For a fascinating taste of the WPA head to Woomera Village to discover the extraordinary history of the area.
After WWII the Anglo-Australia Joint Project established the long-range weapons testing facility at Woomera.
The area was declared a Prohibited Area in 1947 and a decade later the area became a global focal point for space activity and was chosen as the launch point for the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO).
At the height of its space activity, Woomera had the second highest number of rocket launches in the world after NASA’s facilities at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The Woomera Heritage Centre and Woomera Aircraft and Missile Park recounts the extraordinary history of the area and has well preserved examples of many of the rockets launched at Woomera.
The WPA encompasses the traditional lands of six indigenous groups: Maralinga Tjarutja, Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara, Arabana, Gawler Ranges and Kokatha.
Check the WPA website for exclusion period notifications.
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