Guide to Lightning Ridge New South Wales Australia

Lightning Ridge is a town of about 2,000 people six kilometres off the Castlereagh Highway, 74 km north of Walgett and about 60 km south of the Queensland border. It is the world’s main source of black opal, and it has a character all its own: miners’ camps built from whatever was to hand, car doors nailed to trees as road signs, and a population that nobody has ever counted accurately.

Known For

• Black opal
• Free hot artesian bore baths
• Underground mines and galleries

Things To Do in Lightning Ridge

Artesian Bore Baths

The free public baths are open around the clock, apart from a short cleaning break on some mornings. The water is between 40 and 50 degrees, so soak in short spells.

Car Door Tours

Four self-drive routes, each marked by coloured car doors, lead around the diggings, the mullock heaps and oddities such as Amigos Castle and the Astronomers Monument.

Underground

The Chambers of the Black Hand is an old mine whose walls have been carved with hundreds of figures. Other mines offer tours and the chance to fossick, or noodle, on the heaps.

Opal Shops and Galleries

Dozens of dealers sell from shops and from their homes. The John Murray Art Gallery shows the outback paintings the town is known for. A new building for the Australian Opal Centre has been delayed.

Events

The Opal Festival is held in late July, and the Easter weekend brings goat races to the main street.

Where To Stay

There are several caravan parks, including the BIG4 Opal Holiday Park, which is close to the bore baths, the Crocodile Caravan Park in the main street, and Lorne Station, a property five kilometres south. The town also has motels and cabins.

From April to September every park is busy, so book ahead.

Eat & Drink

The bowling club and the pub serve meals, and there are cafes and a bakery in Morilla Street.

History

Opal was found here in the 1880s and mined seriously from about 1903, when Charlie Nettleton sank the first shaft. The name comes from a story that a shepherd, his dog and several hundred sheep were killed by lightning on the ridge.

Getting to Lightning Ridge

Lightning Ridge is about 730 km from Sydney and 350 km north of Dubbo, on sealed roads. Summers are very hot; the cooler months are the time to come.