The 10 Most Famous Outback Icons To See Once In Your Life

The outback icons you know and love.

These renowned outback destinations are icons and on the national radar for a reason, but they still hold some remarkable secrets.

1. Uluru, NT

Uluru, in the heart of the Red Centre, began to form some half a billion years ago, rising 348 metres out of the Central Desert. This ancient monolith is a sight to behold at any time of the day, from its iconic rusty red to purple when the sun melts into the desert.

sunset in Uluṟu, NT — Orange sunset hues paint the sky over Uluru. (Image: Emily Murphy)

For the Anangu people, Uluru is a deeply spiritual place entwined in traditional Tjukurpa lore. After dark, Wintjiri Wiru tells the ancestral Mala story through more than 1000 choreographed drones, lasers and projections in the night sky. The 10-kilometre base walk is a must and weaves through pockets of lush vegetation including the Mutitjulu Waterhole.

Wintjiri Wiru Kurpany — After dark, Wintjiri Wiru tells the ancestral Mala story. (Image: Getty Images for Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia. Acknowledgement: Anangu share the Mala story, from Kaltukatjara to Uluru, through a drone, sound and light show designed and produced by RAMUS.)

Insider tip: Uluru is in one of the driest regions in Australia, but occasional heavy downpours can occur between November and March resulting in majestic waterfalls.

2. Kakadu National Park, NT

Kakadu is a place of staggering numbers. Stretching for 20,000 square kilometres, it encompasses a rich environment of vast savannah woodlands, stone escarpments, tropical waterholes and swollen wetlands.

The national park is home to about one-third of the country’s bird species and provides habitat to some 10,000 crocs. You’ll find some of these salties lurking beneath the surface at Yellow Water (Ngurrungurrudjba).

The Bininj/Mungguy people have lived in the area for 65,000 years and it has the world’s greatest concentration of rock art sites; there are about 5000 known sites scattered throughout the park, with some paintings dating back 20,000 years. Let that sink in.

View of Burrungkuy, Kakadu — Kakadu is home to the world’s greatest concentration of rock art sites.

Insider tip: After viewing first contact paintings at Nanguluwurr and the Creation Ancestor Lightning Man (Namarrgon) at Burrungkuy (Nourlangie), be sure to visit Marrawuddi Arts & Culture centre to ethically purchase art from Kakadu and West Arnhem Land artists.

3. Ningaloo, WA

The palette of Ningaloo is almost inconceivable: red desert abruptly clashes with turquoise ocean. It’s home to the world’s largest fringing reef frequented by manta rays, sea turtles and the world’s largest fish, the whale shark.

Ningaloo landscape — The palette of Ningaloo is almost inconceivable. (Image: Tourism Australia)

These gentle and placid creatures visit between March and July each year in conjunction with the reef’s annual coral spawning. Swimming with them is an otherworldly experience.

A whale shark in Ningaloo — Swimming with whale sharks is an otherworldly experience. (Image: Exmouth Dive and Whalesharks Ningaloo)

Insider tip: Fly over sunburnt desert, rugged ranges, empty beaches and a colour wheel of ocean blues on a scenic flight. There are several operators in the area.

4. Coober Pedy, SA

This isolated town halfway between Adelaide and Alice Springs was put on the world map after opal was discovered here a century ago.

Coober Pedy comes from an Aboriginal term for ‘white man in a hole’, a moniker given because the miners built their homes – and now restaurants, bars and churches – into the lunar-like landscape as an antidote to scorching daytime temperatures and cold desert nights.

Coober Pedy in outback South Australia at sunset — Coober Pedy comes from an Aboriginal term for ‘white man in a hole’. (Image: Tourism Australia)

Insider tip: Head 25 kilometres north to Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park , an Indigenous-owned area comprising the Breakaways, an ethereal landscape of hills where the colours are amplified at sunset.

5. Broken Hill, NSW

In the late 19th century, the discovery of ore on a lonely broken hill containing one of the world’s richest deposits of silver, iron and zinc led to a mining boom and the establishment of two Aussie icons – Broken Hill and BHP (Broken Hill Proprietary).

Coined the Silver City, Broken Hill became Australia’s first heritage-listed city. It’s also the birthplace of the late Australian artist Pro Hart, a legendary setting for The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Mad Max 2 (filmed in the nearby village of Silverton) and the country’s largest base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Emus in a paddock in Broken Hill — Broken Hill was Australia’s first heritage-listed city.

Insider tip: Stop by Australia’s longest running milk bar Bells , a nostalgic 1950s diner, for a soda or shake and some jukebox tunes.

6. Katherine, NT

An oasis in the Top End, Katherine is bulging with gorges, waterfalls, monsoon rainforests and hot springs. Nitmiluk National Park is a highlight, where the Katherine River cuts through a series of 13 gorges that stretch for 11 kilometres and reach more than 70 metres in height.

Cruise through this mesmerising landscape, paddle through on a kayak or join a cultural tour with a Jawoyn guide to gain a deeper understanding of local Indigenous culture.

Insider tip: Made famous by the 1908 novel, We of the Never Never, Elsey National Park is home to Mataranka Thermal Pools and Bitter Springs, alluring swimming holes fringed by ferns and palms.

7. Mparntwe/Alice Springs, NT

The Arrernte people are the Traditional Custodians of Mparntwe/Alice Springs. The town itself was established during the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line in 1872 and named after a local waterhole and the wife of Sir Charles Todd, South Australia’s Superintendent of Telegraphs; the Telegraph Station is the best-preserved along the line.

Alice Springs was also the final settling point for the Afghan cameleers who built the railway that now connects Adelaide to Darwin. Nestled between the East and West MacDonnell Ranges, the red desert landscape is resplendent in spinifex dunes, rocky escarpments and chasms – including the 80-metre-high Standley Chasm/Angkerle Atwatye.

Aerial shot of the outback red centre in Northern Territory Australia — The Arrernte people are the Traditional Custodians of Mparntwe/Alice Springs. (Image: Tourism Australia)

Insider tip: Representing more than 400 Anangu/Yarnangu female artists from remote communities in the Central and Western desert regions, Tjanpi Desert Weavers is a public gallery that showcases baskets, sculptures, jewellery and more.

8. Birdsville, Qld

A group of stockmen held the first Birdsville Races on the border of South Australia and Queensland in 1882. More than a century later – with the help of then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser who attended in 1978 – about 6000 people now attend the event.

Despite the arduous journey to get to Birdsville, this tiny outback town on the edge of the Simpson Desert has become a pilgrimage for music lovers, too, with the even bigger Big Red Bash held annually on the dusty gibber plains. A visit is incomplete without a frosty beer at the Birdsville Hotel.

Birdsville Hotel in Queensland — A visit is incomplete without a frosty beer at the Birdsville Hotel. (Image: Tourism Australia)

Insider tip: Big Red Bash gets its name from the Big Red sand dune west of town. Part of a series of more than 1000 dunes, it’s a great place to go four-wheel-driving, sandboarding or to watch an uninterrupted sunset.

9. Longreach, Qld

Named after the ‘long reach’ of the Thomson River, this central Queensland town is better known as home to Australian civil aviation. The Qantas Founders Museum includes a replica of our national airline’s first carrier and a heritage-listed hangar.

You can also gallop in a stagecoach along the original Cobb & Co Longreach to Windorah mail route and wander through the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame, which celebrates the country’s stockmen, acknowledges the important role of Indigenous stock workers and features a live show that includes a muster.

Boat on the Thomson River in Longreach — Cruise the Thomson River in Longreach. (Image: Tourism Australia)

Insider tip: Travel the 1325 kilometres from Brisbane to Longreach aboard the Spirit of the Outback sleeper train.

10. Gibb River Road, WA

This epic 660-kilometre road in Australia’s north-western corner has made a permanent mark on the bucket lists of intrepid travellers. Constructed in the 1960s to transport stock, the mostly unsealed bone-rattling Gibb River Road cuts through the belly of the Kimberley from Derby to Wyndham and is known as one of the country’s last true outback adventures.

It passes through vast wilderness and outback cattle stations the size of small countries, leading to old cave systems, rock art sites, thundering waterfalls, striking gorges and pools, many of which you may have all to yourself along the way. While camping is the norm, there are comfortable station stays and even luxe lodges that you wouldn’t expect in such a remote location.

The Kimberly and Gibb River Road — The epic Gibb River Road has made a permanent mark on the bucket lists of intrepid travellers. (Image: Sean Scott)

Insider tip: Ellenbrae is a cattle station that has become a favourite pit stop for a cuppa and fluffy scones.

Epic railway journeys to the outback

Completing its first journey almost a century ago when a track was built between Adelaide and Alice Springs, The Ghan is the country’s most iconic train. Now connecting through to Darwin, the 2979-kilometre, three-night journey includes stops in Coober Pedy and Alice Springs.

Coober Pedy landscape from The Ghan — *The Ghan* travels through Coober Pedy.

Stretching even further at 4352 kilometres, its transcontinental counterpart, Indian Pacific , connects Perth and Sydney passing through Broken Hill, Adelaide and the arid and infamous Nullarbor Plain.

Indian Pacific next to Lake Hart in South Australia — *Indian Pacific* passes through Lake Hart.

Operating since 1878, the Pichi Pichi Railway travels along the original Ghan route between Port Augusta and Quorn in the rugged South Australian outback. Four restored heritage steam and diesel trains operate half- and full-day tours.

Queensland’s outback is easily reached via train, with three overnight railway journeys. The Spirit of the Outback travels between Brisbane and Longreach, the spiritual home of Qantas, The Westlander between Brisbane and Charleville, a town immortalised by Slim Dusty’s song, and The Inlander between Townsville and mining town, Mt Isa.

Or take it slower on The Savannahlander , a four- and six-day return railway tour from Cairns to Forsayth with visits to Cobbold Gorge and Undara, home to 190,000-year-old lava tunnels.

Railway Adventures are fully escorted tours that incorporate rail and land journeys. Launched by TV personality Scott McGregor, 2024 tours include a 10-day NSW Outback journey to Parkes, Broken Hill and Lake Mungo; a 12-day Outback Queensland trip to Longreach and Winton; and a 13-day Western Australia tour including Kalgoorlie and the Pinnacles.

Video credit: Visit Victoria/Tourism Australia

The Grampians just might be the ultimate antidote for the metropolis, writes one returning Aussie ready to disconnect from the modern world and reconnect to the Great outdoors.

There are no kangaroos back in Chicago: they’re all here in the Grampians/Gariwerd . In the heart of the Grampians National Park’s main gateway town, Halls Gap, pods of eastern greys are eating grass beside my parked rental car beneath the stars. Next morning, when I see the backyard of my rented villa on the edge of town for the first time, there are kangaroos feeding beside a slow-moving creek, lined with river red gums.

Five hundred metres up the road, 50 or so of them are eating by the side of the road in a paddock. I pull over to watch and spot three emus. Yellow-tailed black cockatoos fly overhead towards the tall green mountains just beyond town.

‘Kee-ow, keee-oww’… their calls fuse with the maniacal cackle of a kookaburra (or 10). Gawd, how I’ve missed the sound of them. Far above, a wedge-tailed eagle watches, and there you go: the ‘great birds of Australia’ trifecta, all half a kay from the town limits.

Exchanging city chaos for country calm

kangaroos near Halls Gap, Grampians National Park — The park is renowned for its significant diversity of native fauna species. (Image: Visit Victoria/Robert Blackburn)

I’ve come to the Grampians to disconnect, but the bush offers a connection of its own. This isn’t just any bush, mind you. The Grampians National Park is iconic for many reasons, mostly for its striking sandstone mountains – five ridges run north to south, with abrupt, orange slopes which tumble right into Halls Gap – and for the fact there’s 20,000 years of traditional rock art. Across these mountains there are more than 200 recorded sites to see, created by the Djab Wurrung, Jardwadjali and Gunditjmara peoples. It’s just like our outback… but three hours from Melbourne.

I’ve come here for a chance at renewal after the chaos of my life in America’s third-largest city, Chicago, where I live for now, at the whim of a relative’s cancer journey. Flying into Melbourne’s airport, it only takes an hour’s drive to feel far away from any concept of suburbia. When I arrive in Halls Gap two hours later, the restaurant I’m eating at clears out entirely by 7:45pm; Chicago already feels a lifetime ago.

The trails and treasures of the Grampians

sunrise at Grampians National Park /Gariwerd — Grampians National Park /Gariwerd covers almost 2000 square kilometres. (Image: Ben Savage)

Though the national park covers almost 2000 square kilometres, its best-known landmarks are remarkably easy to access. From my carpark here, among the cockatoos and kangaroos on the fringe of Halls Gap, it only takes 60 seconds’ driving time before I’m winding my way up a steep road through rainforest, deep into the mountains.

Then it’s five minutes more to a carpark that serves as a trailhead for a hike to one of the park’s best vantage points, The Pinnacles . I walk for an hour or so, reacquainting myself with the smells and the sounds of the Aussie bush, before I reach it: a sheer cliff’s edge lookout 500 metres up above Halls Gap.

walking through a cave, Hollow Mountain — Overlooking the vast Grampians landscape from Hollow Mountain. (Image: Robert Blackburn)

There are hikes and there are lookouts and waterfalls all across this part of the park near town. Some are a short stroll from a carpark; others involve long, arduous hikes through forest. The longest is the Grampians Peaks Trail , Victoria’s newest and longest iconic walk, which runs 160 kilometres – the entire length of Grampians National Park.

Local activities operator Absolute Outdoors shows me glimpses of the trail. The company’s owner, Adrian Manikas, says it’s the best walk he’s done in Australia. He says he’s worked in national parks across the world, but this was the one he wanted to bring his children up in.

“There’s something about the Grampians,” he says, as he leads me up a path to where there’s wooden platforms for tents, beside a hut looking straight out across western Victoria from a kilometre up in the sky (these are part of the guided hiking options for the trail). “There are things out here that you won’t see anywhere else in Australia.” Last summer, 80 per cent of the park was damaged by bushfire, but Manikas shows me its regrowth, and tells me of the manic effort put in by volunteers from town – with firefighters from all over Australia – to help save Halls Gap.

wildflowers in Grampians National Park — Spot wildflowers. (Image: Visit Victoria)

We drive back down to Halls Gap at dusk to abseil down a mountain under the stars, a few minutes’ walk off the main road into town. We have headlamps, but a full moon is enough to light my way down. It takes blind faith to walk backwards down a mountain into a black void, though the upside is I can’t see the extent of my descent.

Grampians National Park at sunset. (Image: Wine Australian)

The stargazing is ruined by the moon, of course, but you should see how its glow lights up the orange of the sandstone, like in a theme park. When I’m done, I stand on a rocky plateau drinking hot chocolate and listening to the Aussie animals who prefer nighttime. I can see the streets of Halls Gap off in the distance on this Friday night. The restaurants may stay open until 8pm tonight.

What else is on offer in The Grampians?

a boat travelling along the Wimmera River inDimboola — Travelling along the Wimmera River in Dimboola. (Image: Chris McConville)

You’ll find all sorts of adventures out here – from rock climbing to canoeing to hiking – but there’s more to the Grampians than a couple of thousand square kilometres of trees and mountains. Halls Gap may be known to most people, but what of Pomonal, and Dimboola, and Horsham? Here in the shadow of those big sandstone mountains there are towns and communities most of us don’t know to visit.

And who knew that the Grampians is home to Victoria’s most underrated wine region ? My disconnection this morning comes not in a forest, but in the tasting rooms and winery restaurants of the district. Like Pomonal Estate, barely 10 minutes’ drive east of Halls Gap, where UK-born chef Dean Sibthorp prepares a locally caught barramundi with lentil, pumpkin and finger lime in a restaurant beside the vines at the base of the Grampians. Husband-and-wife team Pep and Adam Atchison tell me stories as they pour their prize wines (shiraz is the hero in these parts).

dining at Pomonal Estate — Dine in a restaurant beside vines at Pomonal Estate. (Image: Tourism Australia)

Three minutes’ drive back down the road, long-time mates Hadyn Black and Darcy Naunton run an eclectic cellar door out of a corrugated iron shed, near downtown Pomonal. The Christmas before last, half the houses in Pomonal burnt down in a bushfire, but these locals are a resilient lot.

The fires also didn’t stop the construction of the first art centre in Australia dedicated to environmental art in a nature-based precinct a little further down the road (that’s Wama – the National Centre for Environmental Arts), which opened in July. And some of the world’s oldest and rarest grape vines have survived 160 years at Best’s Wines, outside the heritage town of Great Western. There’s plantings here from the year 1868, and there’s wines stored in century-old barrels within 150-year-old tunnels beneath the tasting room. On the other side of town, Seppelt Wines’ roots go back to 1865. They’re both only a 30-minute drive from Halls Gap.

Salingers of Great Western — Great Western is a charming heritage town. (Image: Griffin Simm)

There’s more to explore yet; I drive through tiny historic towns that barely make the map. Still part of the Grampians, they’re as pretty as the mountains behind them: full of late 19th-century/early 20th-century post offices, government offices and bank buildings, converted now to all manner of bric-a-brac stores and cafes.

The Imaginarium is one, in quirky Dimboola, where I sleep in the manager’s residence of an old National Australia Bank after a gourmet dinner at the local golf club, run by noted chef and teacher, Cat Clarke – a pioneer of modern Indigenous Australian cooking. Just south, I spend an entire afternoon at a winery, Norton Estate Wines, set on rolling calico-coloured hills that make me think of Tuscany, chit-chatting with owners Chris and Sam Spence.

Being here takes me back two decades, when I lived here for a time. It had all seemed as foreign as if I’d driven to another planet back then (from Sydney/Warrane), but there seemed something inherently and immediately good about this place, like I’d lived here before.

And it’s the Australian small-town familiarity of the Grampians that offers me connection back to my own country. Even in the better-known Halls Gap, Liz from Kerrie’s Creations knows I like my lattes with soy milk and one sugar. And while I never do get the name of the lady at the local Ampol station, I sure know a lot about her life.

Kookaburras on a tree — Kookaburras are one of some 230 bird species. (Image: Darren Donlen)

You can be a local here in a day; how good is that? In Chicago, I don’t even know who my neighbour is. Though each day at dusk – when the kangaroos gather outside my villa, and the kookaburras and the black cockatoos shout out loud before settling in to sleep – I prefer the quieter connection I get out there in the bush, beneath these orange mountains.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

Sleep beside the wildlife on the edge of Halls Gap at Serenity .

Playing there

abseiling down Hollow Mountain — Hollow Mountain is a popular abseiling site.

Go abseiling under the stars or join a guided hike with Absolute Outdoors . Visit Wama , Australia’s first environmental art centre. Check out Dimboola’s eccentric Imaginarium .

Eating there

steak, naan bread and beer at Paper Scissors Rock in Halls Gap — Paper Scissors Rock in Halls Gap serves a great steak on naan bread.

Eat world-class cuisine at Pomonal Estate . Dine and stay at much-revered icon Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld. The ‘steak on naan’ at Halls Gap brewhouse Paper Scissors Rock , can’t be beat.

Dunkeld Arboretum in Grampians National Park — The serene Dunkeld Arboretum.

For Halls Gap’s best breakfasts head to Livefast Cafe . Sip local wines at Great Western’s historic wineries, Best’s Wines , Seppelt Wines and Norton Estate Wines .

two glasses of beer at Paper Scissors Rock in Halls Gap — Sink a cold one at Paper Scissors Rock.

The 10 most famous outback icons to see once in your life