Coober Pedy

• Summary
• Weather for Coober Pedy

The small mining town of Coober Pedy in northern South Australia is a remote and quirky desert outpost which lies 846 kilometres north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway.

The scorching outback heat has driven most of the towns 2,000 residents underground, where they live in refurbished caves created in old mines. Coober Pedy is also the worlds largest opal mining town, because of the huge quantity of precious opals that are mined there.

Visitors flock from far afield to glimpse the curious underground living arrangements of the towns residents, and to try their luck at opal mining. The landscape of Coober Pedy and the surrounding hinterland is curiously lunar-like, and has been the setting for many films including Opal Dream, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

• Start of Farina Adventure Trail (4WD)
• Town Walking Trail
• Close access to the interesting Olympic Dam Mining Project (tours available)
• Venture out to the vast salt lake of Lake Torrens
• Chimney Hole Dam
• 'Noodle' or fossick for opals.