Nilpena Ediacara National Park

Nilpena Ediacara National Park

Park fees:
Tours only ($80)
511km from Adelaide
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Embark on a mes­meris­ing jour­ney into the past at Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park, a liv­ing chron­i­cle of Earth­’s ear­li­est com­plex ani­mal life. This park offers an unpar­al­leled glimpse into the ori­gins of life itself, mak­ing it a must-vis­it for any his­to­ry, nature, or sci­ence enthusiast.

Nes­tled on the west­ern fringes of the Flinders Ranges, this park spans over 60,617 hectares of land­scapes. Here, you’ll find your­self stand­ing on the grounds of the for­mer Nilpe­na Pas­toral Sta­tion, which bor­ders Lake Tor­rens Nation­al Park.

Enter the park by join­ing a guid­ed tour. These tours are in high demand and are best booked at least a week in advance. Tours begin at the Nilpe­na gate­way, a dra­mat­ic stone wall stand­ing as the entry point to the park.

Immerse your­self in an Edi­acaran fos­sil expe­ri­ence at our on-site facil­i­ty, the for­mer black­smith shop. With curat­ed light­ing and cut­ting-edge audio-visu­al tech­nol­o­gy, you will have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to close­ly exam­ine these fos­sils, includ­ing the star of the show, Alice’s Restau­rant Bed.

A four-hour Fos­sil Field Explo­ration Tour is also avail­able and run by Nilpe­na Edi­acara Tours in con­junc­tion with the Prairie Hotel. Vis­it the Prairie Hotel web­site to book.

Please note, the park is a site of inter­na­tion­al sig­nif­i­cance that requires pro­tec­tion. Access to the park is by guid­ed tour only. We appre­ci­ate your under­stand­ing in pre­serv­ing this invalu­able tes­ta­ment to our plan­et’s history.

Nilpe­na also serves as a pho­tog­ra­pher’s par­adise with panoram­ic views of the north­ern Flinders Ranges and the peren­ni­al springs offer­ing unique shoot­ing opportunities.

Learn more about Nilpe­na, the sin­gle most impor­tant site on the plan­et for the Edi­acaran rise of ear­ly ani­mal life.

The cre­ation and estab­lish­ment of Nilpe­na Edi­acara Nation­al Park has been 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.