The Ediacara Hills, also called the Ediacaran Hills, are a group of low hills located in the northern part of the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. They are about 650 kilometers (400 miles) north of Adelaide, the state capital. The hills are inside the Nilpena Ediacara National Park.

These hills are famous for being the place where important fossil tracks from the Ediacaran biota were first found. The fossil beds there contain some of the oldest known multicellular lifeforms. These discoveries were so important that they led to the naming of the Ediacaran geological period.

Etymology

The name "Ediacara" comes from a local Indigenous language near the Flinders Range area, but its exact origin is not certain. It was first used in the middle of the 19th century. Earlier Australian records suggested that "Ediacara" or "Idiyakra" might be from an Indigenous word meaning a place near water.

Another idea is that the name might be a mistake in saying "Yata Takarra," which means hard or stony ground. This is linked to the flat Ediacara plateau made of dolomite, which is at the center of the Ediacara syncline. Some people argue that the name does not include any words for water in local languages. Local tradition says the name might mean "granite plain," but since there is no igneous rock in the area, it could instead refer to the hardness of the ground.

Beverley Patterson, an Adnyamathanha woman, said that Ediacara was the Adnyamathanha word for the zebra finch, a bird found only in this area. She shared this before the national park opened in April 2023.

However, it is difficult to know for sure where the name "Ediacara" came from, and no one has found a clear answer.

Paleontological and geological significance

The hills are found in the area called Ediacara, which is mainly named after the hills themselves. They are also part of the Nilpena Ediacara National Park and are sometimes called the Ediacaran Hills. These hills contain fossils of early multicellular life forms, known as the Ediacara biota (lagerstätte), and are the source of the name "Ediacaran."

Two fossil sites in the region are protected by Australian laws. The Ediacara Fossil Site – Nilpena is on the Australian National Heritage List (added on January 11, 2007). Another site, the Ediacara Fossil Reserve Palaeontological Site, is located 20 kilometers (12 miles) north and is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register (added on March 4, 1993).

The Nilpena Ediacara National Park is one of seven separate areas in the Flinders Ranges that are part of a long series of rock layers showing how animal life began on Earth over 350 million years. These areas were sent to UNESCO for review as a potential World Heritage Site under criterion (viii) on April 15, 2021. As of August 2025, they remain on the "tentative" list, and the nomination will be decided in 2026.

Mining

The area contains many old copper and silver mines from mining activities that happened in the late 1800s. Mining was first reported there in 1888, and a part of the area became known as the Ediacara Mines after more costeans were dug.

In 1967, a company called C.R.A. Exploration tried mining the area again. They used diamond drilling to examine the ground, but this effort was stopped later because it did not find useful minerals.

As of 2012, the area was still open for "licensed mineral exploration or mining activities."