This SA National Park Has Been Named a Top Travel Destination for 2024

Newly declared Nilpena Ediacara National Park is gaining global recognition for its fossil sites that provide insight into lifeforms that represent the dawn of animal life on Earth.

More and more people are recognising South Australia’s Flinders Ranges as a one-in-a-lifetime bucket list adventure, in particular Nilpena Ediacara National Park, which has made its way onto Explore Travel’s ‘Best Places to Visit in 2024’ list. The national park, which was only created in 2023, made the list alongside destinations like Hawaii, New Zealand, and Egypt.

‘This is a place where visitors can have the unique experience of witnessing the first evidence of animal life on Earth, which is truly amazing’, said Kym Geue, Ranger-in-Charge of Nilpena Ediacara National Park.

The ancient landscape preserved in the national park has even drawn the attention of NASA and David Attenborough – not too shabby SA!

There’s also an active bid for Flinders Ranges to be included on the UNESCO World Heritage List, enabling global recognition of this insanely magical area of the world.

‘This recognition is just another shining example of the wonder of the Flinders Ranges and adds further legitimacy for the World Heritage listing’, said Kym.

What’s so great about Nilpena Ediacara National Park?

Around five hours’ drive north of Adelaide, the Flinders Ranges is a hub for geological and wildlife diversity, and is one of the only places in the world where 300 million years of near continuous geological sequence can be visualised.

In 2023, Nilpena Ediacara National Park officially opened within the northern area of the Flinders Ranges, protecting fossil sites that contain lifeforms that existed on Earth a casual 560-542 mil­lion years ago, rep­re­sent­ing the dra­mat­ic ini­tial radi­a­tion of ani­mal life on Earth – no biggie! This fossil site consists of over 40 species of lifeforms that have been found in the sediments of what was once an ancient seafloor at Nilpena, including the first multi-cellular creatures that moved, ate, and reproduced sexually.