Nilpena Ediacara National Park

Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park offers two guid­ed tours the Edi­acara Expe­ri­ence Tour (2‑hours) and the Fos­sil Field Explo­ration Tour (3‑hours). We advise book­ing your tour well in advance of travel.

Please note tours may be sub­ject to change, see book­ing page for cur­rent avail­able tours. We wel­come school or spe­cial inter­est groups book­ings, please con­tact us with your query 

Edi­acara Expe­ri­ence Tour (2‑hour experience) 

This tour includes:

• Ful­ly guid­ed tour from the Entrance Gate to the Vis­i­tor Precinct and back (in a wheel­chair acces­si­ble bus)
• Tour of the His­toric Woolshed
• Geo­log­i­cal Time­line walk
• Black­smith’s Shop AV Display

Tours: Days & Times

Mon­days, Wednes­days and Sat­ur­days – 1.30pm

Prices (1 July 26 – 30 June 27)

Adult: $88.00
Child: $52.50
Con­ces­sion: $70.50
Infant: No cost
Com­pan­ion: No Cost

Book your tour here.

For large groups, those with time con­straints or young chil­dren this offers a great option with the oppor­tu­ni­ty to see and touch fos­sils in spe­cial­ly con­struct­ed fos­sil plinths at the Vis­i­tor Precinct with­out trav­el­ling out to the fos­sil field.

Please note: This tour does not include a vis­it to the fos­sil field. 

Fos­sil Field Explo­ration Tour (3‑hour experience)

Dive deep­er into the Edi­acaran peri­od on a 3‑hour guid­ed tour which includes:

• Ful­ly guid­ed tour from the Entrance Gate to the Vis­i­tor Precinct and Fos­sil Field and back (in a wheel­chair acces­si­ble bus)
• Tour of the His­toric Woolshed
• Geo­log­i­cal Time­line Walk
• Black­smith’s Shop AV Display
• Tour of the Fos­sil Field research site

Tours: Days & Times

Mon­days, Tues­days, Wednes­days, Fri­days and Sat­ur­days – 9.30am

Addi­tion­al Tours (10 April – 15 October)

Tues­days and Fri­days –1.30pm

Prices (1 July 26 – 30 June 27)

Adult: $176.00
Child: $105.00
Con­ces­sion: $141.00
Infant: No cost
Com­pan­ion: No Cost

Book your tour here.

Know before you go:

Meet at the park entrance (please arrive 15 min­utes pri­or to your tour time). Your guide will trans­port you by wheel­chair acces­si­ble bus into the park to the Vis­i­tor Precinct, point­ing out areas of interest. 

On the dri­ve through the park, you’ll expe­ri­ence the unique beau­ty of this spec­tac­u­lar loca­tion. A land of extreme con­trasts – both ​‘hard and soft’ — rugged and harsh and yet serene and cap­ti­vat­ing. The spec­tac­u­lar land­scape fea­tures vast open spaces and gen­tle rolling hills with red and orange rock hues con­trast­ing against deep blue skies.

Edu­ca­tion and Spe­cial Inter­est Groups

Nilpe­na is able to offer some­thing tru­ly unique, an out­door class­room at an active fos­sil research site. There is a clear edu­ca­tion­al fit with geol­o­gy, deep time, evo­lu­tion and the fos­sil record as part of the greater Flinders Ranges. Our skilled guides can tai­lor tours to suit school groups or spe­cial inter­est groups. Con­tact us via email for enquiries DEW.​NilpenaEdiacaraNP@​sa.​gov.​au. 

Please note there is lim­it­ed phone cov­er­age in and around Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park. 

Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park — Park man­age­ment
Con­tact us for gen­er­al or group book­ing enquiries
Email: DEW.​NilpenaEdiacaraNP@​sa.​gov.​au 

Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park – After-hours duty offi­cer
Phone: 0408 378 284

Port Augus­ta Nation­al Parks Wildlife Ser­vice South Aus­tralia Office
Phone: (+61 8) 8648 5300
Email: dew.​flindersandoutback@​sa.​gov.​au

Media enquiries
Depart­ment for Envi­ron­ment and Water’s media contacts.

Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park is locat­ed in the Flinders Ranges and Out­back region of South Aus­tralia, approx­i­mate­ly 511km north of Adelaide.

The park entrance is via the Out­back High­way, 115km north of Hawk­er or 41km south of Leigh Creek. View map to gate entrance.

Entry to the park is only by guid­ed tour, at des­ig­nat­ed times. On arrival at the park entrance gate, you will board a wheel­chair acces­si­ble bus to con­tin­ue to the Vis­i­tor Precinct.

The infor­ma­tion below describes the ter­rain, trails, facil­i­ties and sup­port avail­able so you can make an informed choice about vis­it­ing Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park. Nilpe­na meets the Aus­tralian Stan­dards for Acces­si­bil­i­ty and is clas­si­fied an Acces­si­ble Park. 

Spe­cial Requirements

When book­ing your tour let us know if you have any access or spe­cial require­ments. Tours are capped at 15 vis­i­tors, and our skilled guides will work to accom­mo­date vis­i­tors needs.

Acces­si­ble Bus

Nation­al parks have wheel­chair acces­si­ble bus with a lifter to enable those that use wheel­chairs or walk­ers to be able to board the bus.

Toi­lets

At the Black­smith Shop, there is one acces­si­ble toi­let, right hand trans­fer. In the main toi­let build­ing there is one acces­si­ble toi­let left hand transfer.

Trans­fer from Park Entrance to Vis­i­tor Precinct

The dri­ve into the Vis­i­tor Precinct takes about 10 min­utes (14km) and, depend­ing on the require­ments of the group, the tour gen­er­al­ly begins at the for­mer Woolshed. 

Wool­shed

The inte­ri­or fea­tures a con­crete floor, and wheel­chair access is avail­able in the front sec­tion only.

Vis­i­tor Precinct Trails

From the Wool­shed, vis­i­tors pro­ceed along the Dawn of Life Time­line trail to the Black­smith Shop. This trail is rel­a­tive­ly flat and con­sists of com­pact­ed gravel.

Black­smith Shop

The Black­smith Shop hous­es the fos­sil bed known as Alice’s Restau­rant Bed. The fos­sil bed is dis­played on a pur­pose-built table designed to be acces­si­ble to a wide range of vis­i­tors, includ­ing those who use wheel­chairs. Vis­i­tors will be tak­en on a jour­ney immers­ing them­selves in an Edi­acaran fos­sil expe­ri­ence with the use of light­ing and cut­ting-edge audio-visu­al tech­nol­o­gy. Please note that light­ing con­di­tions will change through­out the audio­vi­su­al expe­ri­ence, which may affect indi­vid­u­als with light-relat­ed sen­so­ry sen­si­tiv­i­ties. The door can be left open to allow nat­ur­al light to come in if necessary.

Fos­sil Field Transfer

For vis­i­tors head­ing to the Fos­sil Field, it is approx­i­mate­ly a 10-minute dri­ve from the Vis­i­tor Precinct. The dri­ve to the fos­sil field involves uneven ter­rain, includ­ing a creek bed cross­ing which may result in a mod­er­ate­ly bumpy journey.

Fos­sil Field Trail

At the Fos­sil Field, vis­i­tors will fol­low a trail con­sist­ing of com­pact­ed grav­el, with sec­tions of large, flat boul­ders (designed to assist with drainage and min­imise ero­sion to the fos­sil field site). For those using a man­u­al wheel­chair, the use of a free­wheel attach­ment is recommended.

The trail extends approx­i­mate­ly 500 metres return. The pri­ma­ry fos­sil bed is accessed via a set of stairs. Guides are able to tai­lor the expe­ri­ence to accom­mo­date vis­i­tors with mobil­i­ty require­ments and pro­vide a com­fort­able and inclu­sive vis­it. Please nom­i­nate your require­ments when book­ing to ensure the team can deliv­er a great experience.

Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park is open 16 March to 30 Novem­ber each year.

Mild tem­per­a­tures from April to Octo­ber make this peri­od the most com­fort­able for vis­it­ing the Flinders Ranges region.

Resources for students

Edicara activ­i­ty book

The Edi­acara activ­i­ty book is a great resource and fun way for young school chil­dren to learn about fos­sils and the dis­cov­er­ies at Nilpena.

Pro­duced by the Depart­ment for Envi­ron­ment and Water.

Fos­sil Rock YouTube series 

Fos­sil Rock is a free, fun-filled YouTube series that brings sci­ence to life with catchy songs and excit­ing adven­tures for kids and fam­i­lies. Filmed at our very own Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges, it’s packed with music, learn­ing, and the fas­ci­nat­ing sto­ry of the world’s old­est fos­sils. Aligned with the Aus­tralian Cur­ricu­lum across Sci­ence, HASS, Eng­lish, and Per­form­ing Arts, Fos­sil Rock is also a ready-made class­room resource. Teach­ers can access activ­i­ty sheets and cur­ricu­lum guides to inspire curios­i­ty in their students.

Host­ed by children’s per­former Lucy Rasheed and guid­ed by palaeon­tol­o­gist Pro­fes­sor Mary Dros­er, Fos­sil Rock turns com­plex sci­en­tif­ic ideas into unfor­get­table songs and stories.

Pro­duced by Flinders Ranges Edi­acara Foundation.

Explore the Edi­acara Bio­ta in an inter­ac­tive environment

The Edi­acara Bio­ta edu­ca­tion­al web­site brings the world’s ear­li­est com­plex life to life in a fun, inter­ac­tive way. Explore ani­mat­ed seafloor scenes, 3D mod­els of key Edi­acaran organ­isms, and the pio­neer­ing dis­cov­er­ies made at Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park.

Designed for stu­dents and the broad­er com­mu­ni­ty, it’s an easy-to-use, visu­al­ly rich resource that com­ple­ments the on-site expe­ri­ence and helps peo­ple every­where dis­cov­er South Australia’s ancient geo­log­i­cal story.

Pro­duced by Flinders Ranges Edi­acara Foundation

Resources for teachers

Edi­acaran Fos­sils of the Flinders Ranges ebook

The Edi­acaran Fos­sils of the Flinders Ranges ebook,is an excel­lent teach­ing resource for upper pri­ma­ry and high school children.

Pro­duced by the South Aus­tralian Depart­ment for Education

Year 8 Edi­acaran Unit

Sup­port­ing teach­ing of Year 8 Earth and Space Science.

Pro­duced by Flinders Ranges Edi­acara Foundation.

Learn more about Edi­acaran Bio­ta — Good Liv­ing Blogs

• Read about Nilpe­na: A land of won­der and con­nec­tion for Tra­di­tion­al Owners
• Dis­cov­er Why vis­it­ing Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park should be on your 2023 buck­et list
• Meet the who’s who of the Edi­acara world
• Read about Dis­cov­er­ing the dawn of ani­mal life 

Sir David Atten­bor­ough vis­it­ed Nilpe­na as part of the First Life BBC tele­vi­sion series. David Attenborough’s First Life is avail­able on ABC iview, Episode 1 Arrival, 5 Novem­ber 2010. Refer from 32:40. 

Dogs are not per­mit­ted in this park.

Dis­cov­er which parks you can walk your dog by using our find a park tool, or read our blog, 17 dog-friend­ly walks in Ade­laide Parks, for inspiration.

Assis­tance dogs are per­mit­ted in most pub­lic places and are there­fore wel­come in South Australia’s parks and reserves. Assis­tance dogs must be appro­pri­ate­ly restrained on a lead and remain under your effec­tive con­trol at all times while in a park or reserve.

As per the dogs in parks and reserves pol­i­cy, if the dog is not an accred­it­ed assis­tance dog, they must be trained to assist a per­son with a dis­abil­i­ty to alle­vi­ate that dis­abil­i­ty and meet stan­dards of hygiene and behav­iour appro­pri­ate for a dog in a pub­lic place. How­ev­er, refusal may be giv­en if the per­son with the dis­abil­i­ty is unable to pro­duce evi­dence the dog is an assis­tance dog with the appro­pri­ate training.

Before tak­ing your assis­tance dog into a park that does not nor­mal­ly allow dogs, it is high­ly rec­om­mend­ed that you con­tact us so we can pro­vide you with the lat­est infor­ma­tion on any poten­tial haz­ards with­in spe­cif­ic parks that may affect your dog. Please con­tact the park via the con­tact details pro­vid­ed under the con­tact tab or con­tact the vis­i­tor ser­vice cen­tre via email or on Face­book.

There are acces­si­ble toi­lets.

Please bring plen­ty of drink­ing water for the dura­tion of your vis­it. Food and drinks are not avail­able for purchase. 

The Adnya­math­anha peo­ple (mean­ing rock peo­ple) are the Tra­di­tion­al Own­ers of the Flinders Ranges. Their con­nec­tion with the land stretch­es back many thou­sands of years. 

We encour­age you to find out more about the Adnya­math­anha cul­tur­al con­nec­tion to coun­try and to be respect­ful and respon­si­ble travellers.

The Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park Co-Man­age­ment Board pro­vides an advi­so­ry role to Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park. 

Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park is locat­ed on the tra­di­tion­al lands of the Adnya­math­anha peo­ple (mean­ing rock peo­ple). The Tra­di­tion­al Own­ers of this land trad­ed and con­duct­ed impor­tant cer­e­monies and camped along­side the per­ma­nent springs which still exist at Nilpe­na today. 

Pas­toral

In the 1980s, Ross Fargher lease­hold­er of Nilpe­na Pas­toral Sta­tion, found Edi­acaran fos­sils on his recent­ly-acquired prop­er­ty when a fam­i­ly friend noticed rip­ple rocks of the ancient sea floor used as the floor­ing of Nilpena’s Woolshed.

Sci­en­tif­ic Discovery

In 2016, Nilpena’s most superbly pre­served beds, now known as Alice’s Restau­rant Bed, was unearthed by lead­ing palaeon­tol­o­gist Pro­fes­sor Mary Dros­er and her team from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia River­side. The bed con­tains many rare species, with evi­dence depict­ing the seafloor was once a habi­tat and com­plex envi­ron­ment, where there was activ­i­ty of mobil­i­ty, feed­ing and reproduction.

The fos­sil bed got its name in ref­er­ence to the US singer/​songwriter Arlo Guthrie who, in his song Alice’s Restau­rant (1967), sang ​‘You can get any­thing you want at Alice’s Restau­rant…’ – just like the restau­rant there is plen­ty on offer with an amaz­ing diver­si­ty of fos­sils to be found.

Renowned geol­o­gist late Reg Sprigg AO first dis­cov­ered fos­sils in the Edi­acara Hills, at the north­ern end of the Nation­al Park, in 1946. The Edi­acaran geo­log­i­cal peri­od was sub­se­quent­ly named after the dis­cov­ery loca­tion, and the fos­sil Sprig­gi­na was named in his hon­our. Sprig­gi­na lat­er became South Aus­trali­a’s fos­sil emblem. To date, more than 47 fos­sil species have been record­ed at Nilpena.

Sig­nif­i­cance

Nilpe­na was placed on Australia’s Nation­al Her­itage List in 2007 for its qual­i­ty of intact fos­sil specimens. 

The World Her­itage bid for the Flinders Ranges com­pos­es sev­en sites (includ­ing Nilpe­na) with geo­log­i­cal and palaeon­to­log­i­cal sig­nif­i­cance. A deci­sion on World Her­itage sta­tus is expect­ed in mid-2027.

Nilpe­na con­tains new­ly described taxa, includ­ing one named after Sir David Atten­bor­ough (Atten­bori­ties janeae) who vis­it­ed Nilpe­na to film part of the BBC Doc­u­men­tary ​‘First Life’ and anoth­er after Pres­i­dent Barack Oba­ma (Oba­mus coro­na­tus) for his com­mit­ment to sci­en­tif­ic research.

The cre­ation and estab­lish­ment of Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park was realised through South Aus­tralian Gov­ern­ment fund­ing and Com­mon­wealth Gov­ern­ment grants, in part­ner­ship with the Flinders Ranges Edi­acara Foun­da­tion, Wyss Foun­da­tion Cam­paign for Nature, and Foun­da­tion for Nation­al Parks and Wildlife. 

Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park was cre­at­ed in 2021 and offi­cial­ly opened 27 April 2023. 

Found­ed in 2018, the Flinders Ranges Edi­acara Foun­da­tion exists to con­serve the Edi­acara fos­sils of the Flinders Ranges in per­pe­tu­ity, and to ensure the world ben­e­fits from the knowl­edge they embody. 

The Foun­da­tion achieves its pur­pose through in situ con­ser­va­tion, and sup­port­ing edu­ca­tion and tourism, mak­ing the fos­sils and their sig­nif­i­cance acces­si­ble for all.

Learn more about the Flinders Ranges Edi­acara Foundation. 

Explore oth­er parks in the Flinders Ranges 

• Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al park
• Vulkathun­ha-Gam­mon Ranges Nation­al Park

Learn more about the Flinders Ranges and Out­back region.

World Her­itage List­ing for the Flinders Ranges is being pur­sued for its geo­log­i­cal and palaeon­to­log­i­cal sig­nif­i­cance. The pro­posed nom­i­na­tion is focused on some of the world’s most out­stand­ing and acces­si­ble fos­sil records, includ­ing those at Nilpe­na, that evi­dence how com­plex ani­mal life evolved on our planet.

Like nowhere else on Earth, the fos­sil evi­dence found at Nilpe­na takes us to the dawn of ani­mal life – the Edi­acaran bio­ta – and the emer­gence of thriv­ing eco­log­i­cal com­mu­ni­ties. The sea floor cap­tured at Nilpe­na is a place of firsts: the ear­li­est ani­mals, and eco­log­i­cal inno­va­tions such as the advent of mobil­i­ty, of scav­eng­ing, and of sex­u­al reproduction. 

The com­plet­ed nom­i­na­tion was sub­mit­ted to the UNESCO World Her­itage Cen­tre in Paris in Jan­u­ary 2026. After a fur­ther assess­ment process, a final deci­sion on World Her­itage sta­tus is expect­ed in mid-2027.

Learn more about the Flinders Ranges World Her­itage bid.