Mount Schank
Mount Schank is a 100-meter-high dormant volcano in the southeast of South Australia, near Mount Gambier. It was seen by explorer James Grant on 3 December 1800 and named after Admiral John Schank, who designed the ship HMS Lady Nelson.
It is part of the Newer Volcanics Province, the youngest volcanic area in Australia. Mount Schank last erupted about 4,500–5,000 years ago, around the same time as Mount Gambier. It is an ash cone, and the crater base does not go below the water table, so there is no crater lake like at Mount Gambier. There are two small nearby craters and some lava flows. The northern crater is circular, about 300 meters wide and 100 meters deep; the southern crater is about 200 meters wide and partly overlaps the northern one.
The local Aboriginal Bunganditj people have stories about the eruptions. A written account from 1880 records a tale of Craitbul, a giant who camped at Mount Schank and Mount Muirhead but was scared away by a moaning bird spirit.
Today, you can visit Mount Schank from the Riddoch Highway, about 20 kilometers south of Mount Gambier. There’s a small car park and a picnic table, with steps up to the crater rim. The walk is short but steep and exposed, so be careful in windy weather.
Spelling note: Schanck was common until about 1916, when Schank spelling was adopted, possibly to Anglicise German names. The Schank family, including Admiral Schank, used that spelling.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 17:13 (CET).