[SA] Hidden Gorge Mt Remarkable Nat Park

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[SA] Hidden Gorge Mt Remarkable Nat Park

Postby philm » Sun 06 May, 2012 8:57 am

On 18th April we spend some time in the southern Flinders ranges staying at Melrose - the best town in the south at the foot of Mt Remarkable itself. On 19 April we had an early start to drive 65km to the eastern side of the ranges to Mambray Creek for the start of the Hidden Gorge walk. The Mount Remarkable National Park consists of a large pound and a number of great gorges that have been formed after centuries of water and rain entering the pound. There are a number of great day walks and between May and October you can do several 2-3 day walks camping in the park.
The hidden gorge is an 18 km loop and we started at 8am and finished at 1pm. The tempurtures started at 20 degrees and by the time we finished were 32 degrees - unusually hot for this time of year.

The walk is fairly straight forward and enters the pound through a dry creek bed and you follow the creek for about 6 kms by which time you are in the pound itself. Then taking a trun left you commence a slow and steady climb through a narrow gorge with towering rock faces on either side. Given the tempuratures this is a good summer walk as in the gorges the tempuratures are a good 5 degrees cooler than out in the open sun. We saw a feww emus and wallabies.
IMG_1161.JPG
Hidden Gorge


The walk through the narrow gorge is great and there are a few major rockfalls that you need to navigate over but no major issues. After about 4-5 hours you emerge from the gorge and start a steeper ascend up to about 1100 metres to the range that overlooks the Spencer Gulf - this is a great spot for lunch and the view is excellent.

The last 4 km of the walk you have a choice of walking doen the fire track (no recommended) or taking the bush track back to the Mambray creek car park. The walk down is also great as you follow a few ridge lines along the range with great views of the gulf most of the way.

We did not see another person on the trip and being so close to Adelaide this is a great place for a weekend walks. We have walked a lot int he Flinders and Mount Remarkable is similar to walks much further north such as those in Wilpena Pound. So worth while considering.
Attachments
IMG_1165.JPG
In the gorge
IMG_1169.jpg
The gorge walls again
IMG_1179.jpg
View to the Spencer Gulf
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Re: [SA] Hidden Gorge Mt Remarkable Nat Park

Postby north-north-west » Sat 12 May, 2012 10:08 am

Oh, lordy, that takes me back . . . My first visit to the Flinders . . . it really is time to go back . . .
"Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens."
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Re: [SA] Hidden Gorge Mt Remarkable Nat Park

Postby freemandale » Mon 21 May, 2012 4:06 pm

Great Pics! Did this hike a year or so ago (mmm.. maybe two?) The late autumn afternoon sun onto the rocks is just spectacular! Time to go again! Mambray Creek lends itself to a few days walking. Hidden Gorge, Mt Cavern, The Battery.. Overnighters through Kingfisher Flat or a car shuffle through to Mt Remarkable. Now is a great time of year to go but... water does weigh heavy! That's just SA.... weight saved in wet weather gear is more than made up for in water.

I have been attempting to walk the Heysen - more northern sections - but is much easier to walk a loop rather than using a car shuffle. Does anyone have ideas for walking sections that do not use to many roads to loop around? Prefer more off road walking.
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Re: [SA] Hidden Gorge Mt Remarkable Nat Park

Postby eggs » Mon 21 May, 2012 5:42 pm

We have done a Heysen Trail section Black Jack through Tourilie Gorge to Mt Bryan over 2.5 days [http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=5013&hilit=bryan] and
Horrocks Pass to Pichie Richie over 2.5 days [http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2501&hilit=mt+brown], but these walks used a car shuffle.

We recently did 2 day walk loops on / near the Heysen Trail over the Bluff and into Telowie Gorge [http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9771].
We have also done a couple 5 day loop walks in the Gammon Ranges - well north of the Heysen Trail,
and a 3 day loop walk crossing the last part of the Heysen Trail passing through Blinman Pools and Mt Faulkner [http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7740&hilit=blinman].

We have done a 2 day walk along the Battery and back through Alligator and Hidden Gorges [http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1345&p=10902&hilit=mambray#p10799]- but this does not involve the Heysen Trail which is further east on the Black Range.
If / when we get around to that - it would be a car shuffle again - although you could marry parts of that to a walk back along the Alligator Creek to make a longer loop out of it.
Maybe 3 or 4 days walking, but a lot of fire roads involved.
A lot of the Heysen Trail is along dirt roads, but we have tried to avoid those in what we have done.

We are also considering the section north of Woolshed Flat in Pichie Richie which could be made into a loop incorporating the Dutchmans Stern.
Some long loops could also work through Wilpena Pound - using Edeowie Gorge.
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