Guide to Alpha Queensland Australia

Alpha is a town of about 350 people on the Capricorn Highway, 170 kilometres west of Emerald and 140 kilometres east of Barcaldine. It sits at the foot of the Drummond Range, where the highway drops from the hills onto the western plains.

Known For

• A town of murals
• Fossilised wood
• The first town of the west

Things To Do in Alpha

Murals

More than two dozen murals painted by local artists cover walls around town, showing scenes from the district’s past. A leaflet from the visitor centre maps them.

Fossilised forest sculpture

A sculpture in the main street is built from petrified wood found in the district, the remains of forests that grew here millions of years ago.

Jane Neville-Rolfe gallery

The works of an Englishwoman who painted station life near Alpha in the 1880s are shown in a small gallery; ask at the council office or visitor centre.

Drummond Range

East of town the highway and railway wind over the range. The lookout near the top is a good place to stop.

Where To Stay

There is a motel, a hotel and a caravan park.

Eat & Drink

The hotels serve meals and there is a bakery and roadhouse.

History

This is the country of the Wangan and Jagalingou people. Alpha grew in 1884 as a railway construction town. Large coal projects in the Galilee Basin to the north have been proposed for years and have changed little here so far.

Getting to Alpha

Alpha is on the Capricorn Highway, two hours west of Emerald. The Spirit of the Outback train stops twice a week. Jericho is 55 kilometres west.