Mount Woodroffe
Highest point
Elevation1,435 m (4,708 ft)AHD 
ProminenceSouth Australia's highest mountain
Coordinates26°19′13″S 131°44′38″E / 26.320329°S 131.743936°E / -26.320329; 131.743936[1]
Geography
LocationAnangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara
South Australia, Australia
Parent rangeMusgrave Ranges
Climbing
Easiest routeHike

Mount Woodroffe, also known as Ngarutjaranya (officially Ngarutjaranya/Mount Woodroffe), is a mountain in the Australian state of South Australia, located in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands in the state's northwest.[1] It is South Australia's highest peak, at 1,435 metres (4,708 ft).

Cultural significance

The name of the mountain comes from the Pitjantjatjara language.[2] In Pitjantjatjara 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

William Ernest Giles was the first European man to pass through the area and camped to the south of Woodroffe on September 7, 1873. William Christie Gosse had previously named it Mt Woodroffe on July 20 that same year.[3] Woodroffe was named after George Woodroffe Goyder, Surveyor-General of South Australia and an early Australian explorer.[4]

In the 1960s, Ngarutjaranya 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.[5]

Access

Access is limited as a permit is required to enter the Anangu Pitjantjatjara lands.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Search result for "Mount Woodroofe" with the following datasets selected - 'Suburbs and Localities','SA Government Regions' and 'Gazetteer'". Location SA Map Viewer. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  2. ↑ "Mount Woodroffe". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
  3. ↑ "Plaque on the summit of Woodroffe". state8.net/sa.htm.
  4. ↑ "Goyder, George Woodroffe (1826-1898)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. 1972. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  5. ↑ Biographical Memoir of Arthur Robert Hogg, 1903-1966, Australian Academy of Science "AAS-Biographical memoirs-Hogg". Archived from the original on 2007-08-10. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  6. ↑ "Permits". PYMedia. Archived from the original on 2004-07-25. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
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