touring

The Darling River, part of the Murray Darling Basin which covers a vast area of New South Wales as well as south-east Queensland and northern Victoria, is an area steeped in Indigenous history and culture in addition to being an area synonymous with early European exploration and pastoral history. The Darling is probably the most iconic river in Australia and is synonymous with the likes of George Evans, John Oxley, Charles Sturt, Major Thomas Mitchell, Burke & Wills, and many other early explorers.

Being the closest city to Broken Hill, Adelaide’s proximity to the Silver City provides the traveller with several great touring options between Broken Hill and the City of Churches’ that also can include some of the wonderful attractions around Adelaide.. particularly the world famous wine regions of the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley and the Adelaide Hills.

Driving to Broken Hill from Brisbane, or to Brisbane from Broken Hill, is a great outback adventure taking in the remoteness of south west Queensland and north west NSW – an area know as Cameron Corner and includes the eastern South Australian outback around the Strzelecki Desert.

Driving to Broken Hill from Sydney, or to Sydney from Broken Hill, is a wonderful way to experience some of the best features of not only outback NSW but also the Alpine regions of Victoria and NSW, the Murray Riverland along the border of NSW and Victoria, the iconic Murray River towns of Echuca (Port of Echuca) and Swan Hill, the wonderful Wine region of the Hunter Valley, and the icon Darling River.

Driving to Broken Hill from Melbourne, or to Melbourne from Broken Hill, is a wonderful drive across the Murray/Darling Riverland area and through the vast Mallee area of north-west Victoria.

Broken Hill also provides the perfect base for exploring the area – be it outback attractions just out of town or further out into the great Australian outback. Close to town are attraction like the Sculpture Symposium, Silverton and Mundi Muni Plains. Slightly further away there are two amazing National Parks (Mutawintji and Kinchega), the mighty Darling River (and the iconic Australian driving tour “The Darling River Run”) and the Opal town of White Cliffs.

Broken Hill, known as 'The Silver City', is the largest centre in Outback New South Wales and is often referred to as its “Jewel". Located 1,160 km from Sydney, the city came into existence in 1885 after Charles Rasp had recognized the mineral potential of the area two years earlier. Today the city sits on one of the world's largest known silver-lead-zinc lodes – a deposit which is 7 km long and over 220 metres wide.

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Darling River Run: The Darling River, Australia's longest, runs 2,740km through Outback NSW. Part of the Murray-Darling basin, the Darling River system is fed primarily from the summer rains of southern Queensland and makes its journey south-west across the state via Bourke, Wilcannia and Menindee to Wentworth where it joins the mighty Murray River. The two rivers continue their journey (as the Murray River) to Lake Alexandrina and into the Great Australian Bight.