Nilpena Ediacara National Park, which gives visitors a unique look into life on Earth 550 million years ago, is celebrating its first anniversary.
Located on the western fringes of the Flinders Ranges, Nilpena Ediacara is regarded as the richest, most diverse Ediacaran fossil site on Earth, with specimens dating back about 550 million years.
The national park, which recently reopened following its summer closure, is home to fossils with global interest, including the Spriggina – the planet's first evidence of a creature with a head and exclusive to our state.
Spanning more than 60,000ha, with cultural significance to the Adnyamathanha people, the Nilpena Ediacara National Park was opened in late April 2023. To preserve the integrity of the fossils, access to the site is via pre-booked guided tours only.
A new Fossil Field Exploration experience has been launched for visitors, which takes in the historic Nilpena Woolshed, the Blacksmith’s Shop and the world-renowned fossil beds.
Nilpena Ediacara, which was a former cattle station, was delivered by the SA Government, with funding support from the Australian Government and the Flinders Ranges Ediacara Foundation.
The Flinders Ranges, which is more than 500 million years old, is the only place on Earth where 350 million years of near-continuous geological sequence can be seen, demonstrating the rise of a habitable planet and the dawn of animal life.
As such, a bid for the Flinders Ranges to be given World Heritage status is underway.
In April 2021, UNESCO accepted Australia’s inclusion of the Flinders Ranges on its World Heritage Tentative List – an exciting and significant first step in pursuing World Heritage Listing.
South Australia has only one World Heritage site - the Naracoorte Caves National Park (Australian Fossil Mammal Sites in Riversleigh / Naracoorte) which was declared in 1994.
Our state also has 10 sites on the National Heritage List – Australia’s list of natural, historic and Indigenous places of outstanding significance to the nation - including:
- Adelaide Park Lands and City Layout
- Australian Cornish Mining Sites – Burra
- Australian Cornish Mining Sites – Moonta
- Australian Fossil Mammal Sites – Naracoorte
- Cuttlefish Coast Sanctuary Zone – Whyalla
- Edicara Fossil Site – Nilpena
- Koonalda Cave
- South Australian Old and New Parliament Houses
- The Burke, Wills, King and Yandruqandha National Heritage Places
- Witjira-Dalhousie Springs
For more information and to book a guided tour Nilpena Ediacara National Park, visit the National Parks and Wildlife Service website.
