Mount Augustus
The largest monolith in the world
Located 320 km east of Carnarvon, Mount Augustus is the largest monolith in the world. It is 2.5 times larger than Uluru (Ayers Rock) standing 858 m above the surrounding plain and 1105 metres above sea level.

On 3 June 1858 Francis Gregory, during his epic 107 day journey through the Gascoyne, became the first European to climb the mountain. Some weeks later he named the monolith after his brother, Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (1819-1905). At the time Augustus was on his last expedition, an unsuccessful foray into western Queensland in an attempt to discover the whereabouts of Ludwig Leichhardt.

The journey to Mount Augustus is far from easy but the result of the effort is a rare opportunity to see one of the wonders of Australia. As the world's largest monocline Mt Augustus has a central ridge which is almost 8 kilometres long and it is estimated that the rock of the mountain is some 1000 million years old. It was formed from an uplift which raised an ancient seabed of sandstone conglomerate and folded it into a dramatic anticline (like an inverted V shape). The granite rock which lies beneath Mt Augustus is said to be 1650 million years old.

The most significant difference between Uluru and Mount Augustus is that the former has a hard coating on its exterior which has, very distinctively, created a situation where there is no scree slope at the bottom of the monolith. In the case of Mount Augustus there is a scree slope so it lacks the distinctive shape of Uluru although it does change colour during the day. Mount Augustus also has considerable vegetation on its slopes.

	Caravan Parks
	Mt. Augustus Outback Tourist Resort foot of Mount Augustus Mount Augustus WA 6705 Telephone: (08) 9943 0527
	Restaurants
	Mt. Augustus Outback Tourist Resort foot of Mt. Augustus Mount Augustus WA 6705 Telephone: (08) 9943 0527