Yuluna Circuit Hike (8.5km)

The Yuluna Circuit Hike is an 8.5 km loop in South Australia's Ikara–Flinders Ranges National Park. Graded at level 4, it typically takes between three and four hours to complete, offering a rewarding journey through striking geological features and rich pastoral history.

The trail begins at the Aroona Trailhead, beside the historic Aroona Homestead. Here, a restored pug-and-pine hut stands as a quiet reminder of a bygone era, when Frederick Hayward first settled the land in the 1850s. Not much remains of Hayward’s early ambitions—only a solitary willow tree by the spring, crumbling stone borders from his garden, and the foundations of his once-proud home. Despite arriving to find sparse grazing land, Hayward’s sheep thrived on the native shrubs, allowing him to amass a fortune before returning to England. By the 1880s, the homestead had already fallen into ruin.

Nearby, closer to the creek, sits the modest pine-and-pug homestead built by Eddie Pumpa in 1925, now partially restored. This outstation of the Oraparinna pastoral lease once hosted the renowned artist Hans Heysen, who spent many evenings here during his painting expeditions, captivated by the shifting light across the rugged ranges.

From the homestead, the trail crosses Aroona Creek, skirting past the Koolaman Campground before entering the embrace of Yuluna Creek. The name "Yuluna" stems from the Aboriginal word Yurla, meaning kingfisher. As the creek carves its way through the ABC Range, its blocky quartzite structures and clearly visible layers of ancient sediments tell a story stretching back millions of years. Entering the creek bed itself reveals intricate ripple marks, folding, and even a minor fault line etched into the stone. During warmer months, small frogs endemic to the Flinders Ranges, identified by the dark bands along their backs, can sometimes be spotted among the shallows.

Further along, an old stone cairn hints at the pathways once used by Hayward and his overseers. A short 200-metre side track leads to the weathered remains of Bendowta Hut, a shepherd’s shelter perched above the creek. Walking through the pines, traces of an old bridle track emerge—an avenue through the trees marked by a scarred blaze on a long-dead tree. It’s easy to imagine stockmen riding between Aroona and Monela Hut, navigating the rugged terrain by memory and subtle signs.

Crossing Yuluna Creek once more, the trail winds through groves of pine and silver wattle, gradually merging into Bulls Gap Track. Here, the contrast between the landscape’s slopes becomes apparent: the sun-drenched, north-facing hills are dominated by tough porcupine grass and the silvered trunks of coolibahs, while the cooler southern slopes shelter a softer understorey of pines and wattles.

A short detour leads to Heysen Lookout, where Hans Heysen himself would pause in the evenings, glass in hand, to absorb the quiet majesty of the Aroona Valley. The lookout offers a sweeping view of the ranges, a landscape that still holds the same sense of timelessness that drew Heysen back time and again.

The final stretch of the walk takes you down a gentle slope to a boom gate, before crossing Aroona Creek one last time to return to the trailhead car park.

For those with a deeper interest in the region's pastoral and geological history, the Yuluna Circuit forms part of the wider Hayward’s Huts Hike Network. These trails offer glimpses into the early European occupation of the area, following in the hoofprints of Frederick Hayward and his overseer Douglas Bruce, who journeyed regularly between the remote shepherds' huts in the mid-1800s. Along these routes, the landscape itself tells a story—from the faulted cliffs of the ABC Range to the fossil-rich beds of the Trezona Range, and the softly undulating hills of Brachina Formation siltstones. In spring, the rolling hills come alive with the colour of flowering hopbushes, adding another layer of vibrancy to an already evocative landscape.