Visitors to the Flinders Ranges, one of SA’s most popular tourist locations, have always been keen to learn more about the region, but this has been difficult in the past.
The Friends of Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park (1995), accepted the challenge. They developed a comprehensive eGuide Discover the Flinders Ranges as a free smartphone app. This app was a Friends of Parks Community Engagement winner in 2018, received a Premier’s Certificate for Outstanding Volunteer Service, and recently featured in the Weekend Australian Travel section. Since 2017, over 8000 local, interstate and international tourists have downloaded the app.
The app provides user-friendly features such as proximity-based narration, high-quality photos, and maps showing points-of-interest in relation to current GPS location. It has downloadable guides for tourists, introducing the flora, birds, geology and cultural history of the region. Users do not need an active Internet connection, provided they have downloaded their choice of tours and guides before arrival.
Self-guided driving or walking tours, using accessible 2WD roads and short walks from car parks, take visitors to most of the scenic locations and historic sites within the Park. Overall, the app describes 200 points-of-interest and contains almost 1300 photos and sketches, some from the early 1800s.
It is suitable for both first-time visitors, and those who are returning to further explore the Park’s iconic flora and fauna, geological features, arid lands scenery, indigenous rock art, and ruins from mid-19th to early 20th centuries.
The comprehensive photographic guides Flora of the Central Flinders Ranges and Birds Commonly Seen, include photos and text to identify the most common species and are invaluable. Living in the Flinders Ranges: the first one hundred years provides a unique insight into the lives of the pioneer settlers and the Adnyamathanha people.
To encourage app users to visit local tour and service operators, this app offers discount vouchers.
Included are tours of each of the major areas in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park.
• Appealinna
• Aroona Valley
• Brachina Gorge Geological Trail
• Brachina: a journey through time in verse
• Bunyeroo Valley
• Do-It-Yourself
• Ikara (Wilpena Pound)
• Old Wilpena Station