Moolooloo Station; magic camping in the Flinders Ranges
The Flinders Ranges surprised me on so many levels, and after leaving Mern Merna Station we thoroughly enjoyed Parachilna Gorge, and wondered what our next stop would offer. As it turns out Moolooloo Station ended up being even better, and we thoroughly enjoyed our 2 night stay here.
Where is Moolooloo Station?
Moolooloo is only 20km north of Parachilna Gorge, and about 170km south west of Arkaloola. It’s also 27km from Angorichina tourist village, and 18 from Blinman.
The roads in are reasonable, but narrow and you need to take your time. I saw a fairly new Mazda 2WD wagon (not even an SUV style) that had made it in with no issues, so its entirely possible. A 4WD is far preferred though.
Do you have to book?
Booking a site is advisable. In the November school holidays, we rang with two days notice and scored a nice unpowered site suitable for off-road rigs only. We paid our fees for the camp site and gorge in one transaction over the phone, but I suspect getting a site is only going to get harder here; its getting more and more popular.
What does it cost to stay?
It’s $33 per night for an unpowered site in the bush, and you get the entire site to yourselves, with your nearest neighbours several kilometres away, which is amazing. We stayed at Witchies and rated it one of the best camp sites in the Flinders Ranges that we went to. It was stunning, with a beautiful creek bed, great eco toilet, and amazing rock formations and scenery that had a real wow factor.
What’s the scenery like?
After seeing photos of the Flinders Ranges, I wasn’t expecting anything like what we saw at Moolooloo. There’s a huge change between it and Mern Merna Station, with everything far more green and a lot more trees.
In parts, this property is like a giant pine plantation. In others, it has huge rock formations along the river beds, extensive bushland and everything in between. I was thoroughly shocked to see how beautiful parts of this property was, and it paints a stark contrast to some of the dryer parts of the Flinders Ranges.
It is similar in many ways to parts of the beautiful Pilbara in Western Australia, and even parts of the Kimberley, which are one of the most picturesque places in Australia.
Keen to see more on YouTube?
We’ve got a vlog covering this amazing part of the world, which you can see here:
Attractions on and around Moolooloo Station
Ferguson Gorge
Not too long ago a beautiful gorge on the property became accessible to the public via a fun 4WD track, and then walk in. We spent half a day exploring this gorge, and had an amazing time, but have done a separate post that you’ll be able to read here shortly.
Nuccaleena copper mine ruins
If you want a nice, fairly easy 4WD track to some pretty incredible ruins in the Flinders Ranges, the copper mine is it. Head out the driveway, and turn right, following the track until you come to a steep, but easy hill climb and then the car park of the ruins.
You’ll see the stack way in the distance, and can walk around the mine and its ruins. I was a bit sad to see the information sign no longer legible, but did some research after we got back into reception and found it all quite interesting.
This was built back in the 1850’s, and whilst more than 100 tonnes of copper was pulled from the ground, it ran at a major loss and soon wound up as a major financial flop. It would have been incredible to see how lives were lived back then!
Sunset Boulevard
Right near the homestead is a short 4km loop track that takes you past the shearers shed, and then up and down two big hills where the views are stunning. From here, you head down the hill, across a dry creek bed and back to the homestead. It would be incredible to watch the sunset from these hills. Unfortunately we didn’t do this, as sunset is well past the kids bed time and it was pouring with rain on the second night!
Knob Hill
On the way out to Ferguson Gorge is another 4WD track that takes you to the top of Knob Hill. We didn’t do this, as we were happy just kicking back at Witchies camp site, but I’m sure it would be worth the drive, as is everything else on the property.
Is Moolooloo Station worth a visit?
We really enjoyed Moolooloo Station, and found the bush camping to be nothing short of amazing. Our nearest neighbour would have been several kilometres away, and the station has enough on it to keep you busy for a couple of days. Compared to the many other places we went in the Flinders Ranges, this is up there with one of the better spots.
Yep, its worth a visit, and if you are calling through, book a night or two!
