Yardea Station is a pastoral lease in the Australian state of South Australia that operates as a sheep station. It is situated approximately north east of Minnipa and west of Iron Knob in the Gawler Ranges. Yardea was established at some time prior to 1865, and was the first property taken up in the Gawler Ranges. At one time an estimated 80-90,000 sheep were shorn there. In 1865, the station overseer, John Edmondson, was lost in the bush. A police camp was established at Yardea in 1871 after being transferred from the nearby Paney Station homestead. By 1881 the property was owned by Main, Sells and Company, in which year it is recorded they sold 750 head of cattle and 7,000 wethers to A. Wooldridge of Arcoona Station. Main and Sells placed Yardea up for auction along with Wilgena Station in 1882. At that time, Yardea occupied an area of and was stocked with 54,000 sheep. In the early 1890s, the pastoral lease over Yardea expired. The run was deserted from that time. By 1901 the lease was still abandoned like many others in the area, but did have a caretaker. At this time the property was said to encompass an area of only. The Station remained unlet until it was re-established by Andrew Tennant and James Moseley in 1904. James Moseley also acquired Paney Station, and made Paney Station part of Yardea Station. In 1916, the property, now consisting of, was sold to A.J. and P.A McBride after much improving of the property, for a sum of £72,000. At this time it was stocked with 40,000 sheep. In 1926, the McBrides cut the property into five blocks and sold three blocks by auction to Harry Bouily, and the other two to T. H. MacKay & Son of Thurlga Station. In 2000, the State Government purchased the part of Yardea that had been Paney Station and converted it to Gawler Ranges National Park. The land occupying the extent of the Yardea pastoral lease was gazetted as a locality on 26 April 2013 under the name 'Yardea'. Yardea will see four total solar eclipses in the 21st century, on 4 December 2002, 25 November 2030, 26 December 2038, and 31 May 2068.
