Ngarutjaranya, also known as Mount Woodroffe (officially Ngarutjaranya/Mount Woodroffe), is a mountain in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, located in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands in the state's northwest. It is

's highest peak, at .

Cultural significance

The name of the mountain comes from the Pitjantjatjara language. In Pitjantjatjara mythology, the mountain embodies the mythological creature Ngintaka.

Geography

Ngarutjaranya is located in the far northwest of

, in the Musgrave Ranges. The mountain range rises some 700–800 metres from the surrounding plains and comprises massifs of

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

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. Woodroffe was named after George Woodroffe Goyder, Surveyor-General of South Australia and an early Australian explorer. 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 New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, where the AAT sits today amongst other astronomical observatories.

Access

Access is limited as a permit is required to enter the Anangu Pitjantjatjara lands. As of October 2024, it is confirmed Ngarutjaranya cannot be climbed anymore as no more permits to climb it are issued by the APY lands (Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara).

References

External links