Mount Augustus, Sandstone summit in Western Australia.

Mount Augustus is a sandstone summit in Western Australia with a distinctive central ridge that dominates the surrounding landscape. The mountain rises from flat terrain and covers a substantial area with varied rock formations.

An explorer named Francis Gregory reached the summit in 1858 and named the formation after his brother Augustus Charles Gregory. This European naming became the official designation used on maps and in records.

The Wadjari people call the mountain Burringurrah, after a Dreamtime boy who was speared and turned into rock. Engravings at Mundee, Ooramboo and Beedoboondu show Dreamtime stories and are reached on the loop walking trail.

Two main trails reach the summit, each requiring several hours of hiking through challenging rocky terrain in the national park. Proper footwear and physical fitness help you manage the steep sections safely.

Mount Augustus is an asymmetrical anticline, steeper on its north-eastern side than the south-west, not a monolith like Uluru. The sandstone and conglomerate were buckled into this arch about 900 million years ago by compression along faults in older granite beneath. At The Pound, erosion has stripped the sedimentary rock from the north-western end, exposing that granite.