Mount Schank – Volcano Walk (State Heritage Area)

About

A 2km walk around the dormant volcano crater’s rim provides sensational views of Mount Gambier and surrounding areas.

The signposted walk from the car park to the top is about 900m and is estimated as being moderate difficulty. Limestone steps have been installed, which may make it possible for some all-terrain wheelchairs to ascend.

The track descending into the crater is not maintained or recommended.

Named by Lieutenant Grant and part of Kanawinka Geopark (Kanawinka.org.au), Mount Schank is slightly older than Mount Gambier, which represents the most recent volcanic activity in Australia.

The volcanic cinder cone of Mount Schank is a striking landscape 12 kilometres south of Mount Gambier. The cone has been little affected by erosion and rises approximately 100 metres above the flat coastal plain.

The Mount Schank state heritage area is around 150 hectares and includes land around the volcano. An extension of the original volcanic fissure is protected to the north, while land within a 50 metre radius of a blowhole on the eastern side is also part of the state heritage area.

Mount Schank’s cone-shaped form is a rare South Australian example of volcanic activity in recent geological time, and a South Australian Geological Monument.