Far West
The Far West of Outback New South Wales is what some would call as "NSW's true Outback". Its only city, Broken Hill, is famed for being the "Wild West" of the state, while neighbouring Silverton a few kilometres to the northwest is popular among Mad Max fans, as it contains various Mad Max filming locations.
Cities
- 1 Broken Hill (including Silverton) – famed as the Wild West of NSW
- 2 Menindee – a base for exploring the Menindee Lakes
- 3 Tibooburra – a small remote town that's a good base for exploring Sturt National Park
- 4 Wilcannia – a notorious town for crime with the average male life expectancy of just 37.
Other destinations
- 1 Kinchega National Park – home to the Menindee Lakes
- 2 Mutawintji National Park
- 3 Narriearra Caryapundy Swamp National Park – one of the state's newest national parks
- 4 Sturt National Park – home to Cameron Corner, a hard-to-get-to tripoint between NSW, South Australia and Queensland
- 5 White Cliffs – a tiny village
Understand
Get in
This region of the state is far from nearly every other region. A lot of people from the East Coast usually choose to fly rather than drive, though the drive from Adelaide is a lot more manangeable.
Most travellers who choose to fly usually fly to Broken Hill Airport (BHQ IATA) and rent a car from there (Avis and Hertz have branches at BHQ). Broken Hill's range of flights are somewhat limited, though – see Broken Hill#By plane for detailed information.
For travellers choosing to hit the road, there are three paved highways into the region:
- Barrier Highway (A32) from South Australia and Northwestern New South Wales
- Silver City Highway (B79) from the Lower Darling
- Cobb Highway (B75) from the Riverina
If you're a rail enthusiast, there are trains to Broken Hill and Menindee operated by NSW Trainlink. The Indian Pacific Railway also passes by Broken Hill – see rail travel in Australia for details.
Get around
You will need a car to get around. While there are trains operated by NSW Trainlink, it is not a practical way of getting around.
See and do
For fans of Mad Max (that includes Mad Max 2), many Mad Max sites are in the Far West. If you don't want to venture out too far, the Mad Max 2 Museum in Silverton has many artifacts and car models used in Mad Max 2. A bit further northwest and you'll hit Mundi Mundi Lookout, an actual film location (and yes, Mundi Mundi Lookout really does look like a post-apocalyptic site with virtually zero signs of human development apart from the road).
Broken Hill has a few sites relating to its mining history and a museum exhibiting the minerals found in the Far West region. Apart from the massive open-cut mine that's visible from every corner of Broken Hill, Broken Hill is a great place to visit for mining-buffs.
Cameron Corner is a tripoint marks the border between NSW, Queensland and South Australia. Perhaps there's no other place in Australia to have a Queensland postal code, a South Australian phone number, geographically situated in New South Wales.
Eat and drink
Food is limited here, and is no different from the rest of Outback New South Wales.
Stay safe
Crime here is a lot higher than the rest of the state, especially in Wilcannia.
Go next
- The Far West region of New South Wales has always had a strong connection to South Australia ever since the early mining days of Broken Hill. Almost the entirety of this region is closer to Adelaide than Sydney in almost every aspect. This region also provides a good base for exploring the Flinders Ranges and eastern Outback regions of South Australia, which as of 2023, is on the tentative list for world-heritage.
- If the weather is forgiving and your car allows for it, the Lower Darling is a small region to the south of this region but is just as sparsely populated with most settlements concentrated along the Murray River. This region is home to Mungo National Park, which contains the second oldest remains of human bodies outside Africa.