Mount Remarkable National Park is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

located about north of the state capital of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and east of

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...

. It is also the name of the highest peak in the park, with a height of . On 26 November 2021 a non-contiguous portion of the park to the south of the park, known as the Napperby Block, was combined with several other conservation parks to create the new Wapma Thura–Southern Flinders Ranges National Park.

History

Land associated with the Park at Mambray Creek and Alligator Gorge first obtained protected area status in 1952 as 'national pleasure resorts' declared under the then ''National Pleasure Resorts Act 1914''. They were managed by the South Australian Government Tourist Bureau from 1952 to 1967.DEH, 2006, page 40 In 1964, the National Parks Commission submitted a proposal to the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

for "comprehensive national parks" covering an area larger than that of the existing national pleasure resorts. This resulted in the creation of three separate reserves - the Alligator Gorge Wildlife Reserve, the Mambray Creek Wildlife Reserve and the Mount Remarkable Wildlife Reserve, that were respectively constituted in July 1965, September 1967 and March 1966. In 1972, the three wildlife reserves were re-proclaimed under the ''

National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 Protected areas of South Australia consists of protected areas located within South Australia and its immediate onshore waters and which are managed by South Australian Government agencies. As of March 2018, South Australia contains 359 sepa ...

'' as the Mount Remarkable National Park. Between 1972 and 1993, the park doubled in size from an area of by the addition of land including the Black Range Lookout and the Bluff in 1976, and by the addition of an "area west of Alligator Gorge containing The Battery", two parts of the Willowie Forest Reserve, and the Napperby Block in 1993. The Napperby Block consists of of land, and is non-contiguous to the park. Instead, it is located on the other (southern) side of the Telowie Gorge Conservation Park, immediately east of the town of Napperby, about south of Telowie Gorge and about north-east of the city of

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South ...

. In 2000, further land was added to the park, which was subsequently named The Warren Bonython Link in honour of Warren Bonython’s "long personal interest in the area" and "his association with the National Parks Foundation".DEH, 2006, page 41 The park had a total area of after this addition. On 26 November 2021, the Napperby Block was combined with the former Telowie Gorge Conservation Park, Wirrabara Range Conservation Park, Spaniards Gully Conservation, to form the Wapma Thura–Southern Flinders Ranges National Park. CC-BY icon

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Description

The national park consists of two separate areas.DEH, 2006, pages 1-2 The first is the parcel of land (often called a "block) located immediately west of the town of Melrose and consists of three areas: the Warren Bonython Link, Mambray Creek and

Mount Remarkable Mount Remarkable is a mountain in South Australia located in the Flinders Ranges about north of the centre of the capital city of Adelaide and immediately north-west of the town of Melrose, which was once named Mount Remarkable itself, and wh ...

. This block occupies . The second parcel of land is known as the Telowie Block and has an area of . It is located on the west side of the old Telowie Gorge Conservation Park (now part of Wapma Thura–Southern Flinders Ranges National Park) about east of the town of Port Germein and about south of the block located at Melrose. Its area was including the Napperby Block (that is, until 26 November 2021). The park is classified as an

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

Category VI protected area.

Flora and fauna

It is filled with a wide variety of animals and birds such as

goanna A goanna is any one of several species of lizards of the genus '' Varanus'' found in Australia and Southeast Asia. Around 70 species of ''Varanus'' are known, 25 of which are found in Australia. This varied group of carnivorous reptiles ranges ...

emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...

echidna Echidnas (), sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the family Tachyglossidae . The four extant species of echidnas and the platypus are the only living mammals that lay eggs and the ...

and

kookaburra Kookaburras are terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus ''Dacelo'' native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between in length and weigh around . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri ''guuguubarra'', onomatopoeic of its call. The ...

s, which can be seen walking around the park. Besides these, it is home to 117 native bird species, including

Australian ringneck The Australian ringneck (''Barnardius zonarius'') is a parrot native to Australia. Except for extreme tropical and highland areas, the species has adapted to all conditions. Treatments of genus ''Barnardius'' have previously recognised two sp ...

s and

wedge-tailed eagle The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lon ...

s. Unique mixture of arid and temperate flora intermixing within the region makes the Mt. Remarkable a biodiversity hotspot. Temperate trees common in the Great Dividing Range such as White Box, Long Leaved Box, Grey Box and South Australian Blue Gum ( Eucalyptus Leucoxylon Pruinosa) have a presence here. The unique Sugar Gum is a forest forming Eucalypt that is a relict tree of wetter times in South Australia. The Flinders Ranges variety of Sugar Gum is Cladocalyx Petila. Capable of growing to 40 metres tall and along with Long Leaved Box forms the most northerly biome of open forest in South Australia. Rusty Pods, a bush with beautiful purple flowers, is another unique plant that can only be found in the higher parts of the Great Dividing Range. It can be commonly found only along Mt Remarkable Range; with a few outliers in Wirrabara forest, Mount Brown and Mt Aleck. The Southern Flinders Ranges also provide a geographical barrier between semi-arid plants between the Eastern and Western halves of Australia.