It was on this expedition that Edward John Eyre made the first recorded sighting of South Australia's floral emblem, the Sturt desert pea, in 1839 during an early exploration of the region.

[4] Stephen Hack explored the range in 1856 and in 1857 the first pastoral lease was taken up in the area,[5] Yardea, which was set up on the site of a former Aboriginal camp and included a freshwater spring later used as the station's water source.

The original crater was possibly as large as 90 km in diameter and flung fist-sized debris several hundred kilometres to the east, where it has been preserved in sediments which now comprise the Flinders Ranges.

No major rivers drain the ranges, however several internal catchments feed the modern playa lakes Gairdner, Acraman, Everard, McFarlane, Harry and Island Lagoon.

There are some 140 species of birds in the Gawler Ranges, including the emu, wedge-tailed eagle, Major Mitchell's cockatoo and singing honeyeater.

[4] The Gawler Ranges are home to several larger mammals, like the southern hairy-nosed wombat[9] and the endangered yellow-footed rock wallaby.