Broken Hill day trip: Silverton and the outback

A Broken Hill day trip works best as a loop: spend the morning in the city, drive 26 km north-west to the old silver town of Silverton for lunch, and come back past the Living Desert sculptures for sunset. Broken Hill sits in the far west of New South Wales, about 1,150 km from Sydney, so most visitors arrive by plane or on a long drive and then stay a few nights. This guide shows how to fit the best of it into one day.

Sources for this section: Wikipedia, Broken Hill and Silverton, New South Wales; Visit NSW, Broken Hill Area.

The plan at a glance

Distances come from Visit NSW and Wikipedia. Check drive times on a map, and leave the city by about 10 am.

Sources for this section: Visit NSW, Broken Hill Area; Wikipedia, Silverton, New South Wales.

Broken Hill in the morning

Broken Hill became the first city in Australia on the National Heritage List in 2015. It began in 1883, when boundary rider Charles Rasp found silver and lead on a rocky ridge that early settlers called the broken hill. Miners later called the ore body the Line of Lode. The city is still known as the Silver City.

Start with a walk along Argent Street, where the Palace Hotel, the Post Office and the Town Hall are all heritage listed. The Palace Hotel is the one with the painted mural seen in the film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. The Pro Hart Gallery shows the work of the local artist Pro Hart, including a Rolls-Royce painted in his style. The Albert Kersten Mining and Minerals Museum, on Bromide Street, covers the town's mining history through rocks and minerals.

The Line of Lode lookout and Miners Memorial sits on top of the original mine. It remembers about 800 miners who died at the site over the years. It is a quiet stop and gives a good view of the town.

One thing surprises many visitors. Broken Hill is in New South Wales, but its clocks follow Australian Central Time, the same as South Australia. That puts the city half an hour behind Sydney, so check opening hours in local time.

Sources for this section: Wikipedia, Broken Hill; Wikipedia, Pro Hart.

Silverton, the silver town that stayed

Silverton is a small village about 26 km north-west of Broken Hill. Silver was found there first, and by the 1890s about 3,000 people lived in the town. Then the far richer ore body at Broken Hill drew the miners away. Wikipedia lists a permanent population of about 50 at the 2016 census, so the town feels like a movie set, and it has been used as one in more than 140 films and commercials.

• The Silverton Hotel: the walls inside are covered in memorabilia. Visit NSW notes that films such as Razorback, Mission Impossible II and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert were shot here.
• The Mad Max 2 Museum: a privately run museum about the 1981 film made in the region. Visit NSW calls it Australia's first and only museum on Mad Max 2.
• Galleries and the old gaol: several artists live in or near the town and some keep their own galleries, including the John Dynon Gallery. The Silverton Gaol is one of the older buildings that still stands.

Allow two to three hours for lunch and a slow walk around the few streets.

Sources for this section: Wikipedia, Silverton, New South Wales; Visit NSW, Broken Hill Area.

Mundi Mundi and the sculptures

From Silverton, the Mundi Mundi Plains lookout is only a few kilometres north. Visit NSW says the hill drops away and the flat desert seems to run on forever. It is a good place to see how big the outback is.

On the way back, stop at the Living Desert Sculptures. They stand 9 km north of Broken Hill in the Living Desert State Park. Twelve artists from different countries carved the sandstone sculptures as a tribute to the desert. The stone changes colour with the light and glows at sunset, which is why most people come late in the day. Visit NSW lists the sculptures and the flora and fauna sanctuary as the two main attractions in the reserve.

Sources for this section: Visit NSW, Broken Hill Area.

Outback road tips

The road to Silverton is short, but a day out here is still remote. The NSW National Parks service gives plain advice for Outback NSW, and most of it applies even on a day trip.

• Carry water. The service suggests 4 litres per person per day, plus 20 litres for emergencies on longer trips.
• Plan for no phone signal. It warns that your mobile phone may not work in the outback. Tell someone your route and when you expect to be back.
• Check road conditions. Unsealed roads may be impassable after rain, and many outback roads are not suited to 2WD vehicles. Roads can also close because of flooding, so contact the local council or traffic authority first.
• Avoid sunrise and sunset driving where you can. Native animals are active then, and livestock can be on the roadside at any time. Plan to be off the road, or driving slowly, at the end of the sunset stop.
• Stay with your vehicle if it breaks down or gets stuck. You are easier to find.

Heat matters too. The service says parts of Outback NSW can reach 50°C, and nights can fall well below zero in winter. It names autumn and spring as the best seasons for long drives. Fill the fuel tank in town before you leave.

Sources for this section: NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Stay safe in Outback NSW.

Getting to Broken Hill

Broken Hill is 1,150 km west of Sydney, and Visit NSW says the drive takes 13 hours. Regional Express flies to Broken Hill from Sydney, Dubbo, Adelaide, Griffith and Mildura. You can hire a car at the airport. Adelaide is about 510 km away by road.

Sources for this section: Visit NSW, Broken Hill Area; Wikipedia, Broken Hill.

Sources

1. Visit NSW, Broken Hill Area (archived 20 October 2021): visitnsw.com
2. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Stay safe in Outback NSW: nationalparks.nsw.gov.au
3. Wikipedia, Broken Hill: en.wikipedia.org
4. Wikipedia, Silverton, New South Wales: en.wikipedia.org
5. Wikipedia, Pro Hart: en.wikipedia.org