Ikara–Flinders Ranges National Park

For millennia, the Adnyamathanha people have inhabited the Flinders Ranges. On 12 February 2016 the park was renamed to include the Adnyamathanha word, Ikara, "meeting place", referring to the traditional name for Wilpena Pound. ==Features and accessibility==

The park lies around north of Adelaide city centre, and covers , between Hawker and Blinman. The Heysen Range is within the park. and the Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands Association (since 2011). ==Geology==

The Flinders Ranges are largely composed of folded and faulted sediments of the Adelaide Geosyncline. This very thick sequence of sediments were deposited in a large basin during the Neoproterozoic on the passive margin of the ancient continent of Rodinia. During the Cambrian, approximately 540 million years ago, the area underwent the Delamerian orogeny where the geosynclinal sequence was folded and faulted into a large mountain range. Since this time the area has undergone erosion resulting in the relatively low ranges today. Most of the high ground and ridgetops in the Flinders are sequences of quartzites that outcrop along strike. The high walls of Wilpena Pound are formed by the outcropping beds of the eponymous Pound Quartzite in a synclinal structure. The same formation forms many of the other high parts of the Flinders, including the high plateau of the Gammon Ranges and the Heysen Range. Cuesta forms are also very common in the Flinders. ==Paleontological significance==

Ikara–Flinders Ranges National Park is part of the Flinders Ranges geological successions, where abundant and diverse arrays of fossils show how animal life began on Earth over a period of 350 million years. World Heritage bid The park is one of a group of seven geographically separate areas that were submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre for consideration as a World Heritage Site under criterion (viii) on 15 April 2021, and remain on the "tentative" list. A 1947 study by Reg Sprigg and two 1949 studies by Sir Douglas Mawson are cited to support the application, which will be voted on in 2026. The complete bid for World Heritage listing was submitted to UNESCO Paris in March 2026. ==Flora and fauna==

The flora of the Flinders Ranges is composed largely of species adapted to a semi-arid environment such as cypress-pine, mallee, and black oak. Moister areas near Wilpena Pound support grevilleas, Guinea flowers, lilies and ferns. Reeds and sedges grow near permanent water sources such as springs and waterholes. Since the eradication of dingos and the establishment of permanent waterholes for stock, the numbers of red kangaroos, western grey kangaroos and euros in the Flinders Ranges have increased. The yellow-footed rock-wallaby, which neared extinction after the arrival of Europeans due to hunting and predation by foxes, has now stabilized. Other endemic marsupials include dunnarts, planigales. Efforts to reintroduce the western quoll and the brushtail possum in the park have been ongoing since 2014. Echidnas are the sole monotreme species in the park. Insectivorous bats make up significant proportion of mammals in the area. Reptiles include goannas, snakes, dragon lizards, skinks and geckos. The streambank froglet is an endemic amphibian. ==Heritage listings==

There are a number of state-heritage-listed sites within the national park, listed on the South Australian Heritage Register: • Eddie Pumpa Outstation • Hayward Homestead Ruins • Impact Ejecta Horizon Late Precambrian Shales Geological Site • Enorama Mail Station and Rubbish Dump • Oraparinna Diapir • Wilpena Homestead Complex • Wilpena Pound (geological landform) • Stromatolites in the Precambrian Trezona Formation, Enorama Creek • Wills Homestead Complex Ruins • Appealinna Mine Ruins and Miners Hut • Wilkawillina Archaeocyathae Geological Site • Dingley Dell Homestead Ruins • Hill's Cottage, Wilpena Pound • Enorama Diapir • Oraparinna Station Blacksmith's Shop ==See also==