Mount Woodroffe

Mount Woodroffe (Ngarutjaranya)
Elevation	1,435 m (4,708 ft) AHD
Prominence	South Australia's highest mountain
Location
Location	South Australia, Australia
Range	Musgrave Ranges
Coordinates	26°19′S 131°44′E / 26.317°S 131.733°E / -26.317; 131.733Coordinates: 26°19′S 131°44′E / 26.317°S 131.733°E / -26.317; 131.733
Climbing
Easiest route	Hike

Mount Woodroffe

Location in South Australia

Mount Woodroffe is South Australia's highest peak, at 1,435 metres.

Cultural Significance

The mountain is known to the Pitjantjatjara Indigenous Australians as Ngarutjaranya.^[1] In Indigenous Australian mythology, the mountain embodies the mythological creature Ngintaka.

Geography

Mount Woodroffe is located in the far northwest of South Australia, in the Musgrave Ranges. The mountain range rises some 700–800 metres from the surrounding plains and comprises massifs of granite and gneiss.

History

Mount Woodroffe was named by William Christie Gosse, who first sighted it on 20 July 1873 and is named after George Woodroffe Goyder, Surveyor-General of South Australia and an early explorer of South Australia and the Northern Territory himself.^[2]

In the 1960s Mount Woodroffe was considered as a potential site for the proposed Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT). It lost out due to its remoteness compared to Siding Spring in New South Wales, where the AAT sits today amongst other astronomical observatories ^[3].

Access

Access is limited as a permit is required to enter the Anangu Pitjantjatjara lands.^[4]

References

1. ^ "Mount Woodroffe". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government. http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/gazd01?rec=201845. 
2. ^ "Mount Woodroffe, South Australia". Place Names Online. Government of South Australia. http://www.placenames.sa.gov.au/pno/pnores.phtml?recno=SA0072655. Retrieved 2006-07-30. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Biographical Memoir of Arthur Robert Hogg, 1903-1966, Australian Academy of Science [1]
4. ^ "Permits". PYMedia. http://www.waru.org/resources/permits.php. Retrieved 2006-07-30. 

Further Links

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