Outback & Western Downs

If you are looking for an authentic Australian experience, get out and explore Queensland's spectacular Outback.  From the magnificent natural diversity of the Channel Country in the south west, the Western Downs in the south east, the heritage-rich Matilda Country in the centre, and the ancient lands of the dinosaurs in the north, there is nowhere in the world quite like it.

Exploring the colourful and inspiring history of Queensland’s Outback is easy, following the Queensland Heritage Trails Network. The Network links fabulous learning opportunities - at each attraction, you will discover the Outback's fascinating stories.

The Roma Big Rig museum celebrates the unique history of Australia’s oil and gas industry from the first discovery to today. A visit to the ‘Oil Patch’ leads you up close to the impressive rigs that made the industry possible.

At the Cosmos Centre & Observatory in Charleville, you can marvel at crystal clear night skies and learn how Indigenous people used them for food gathering and navigation.  

A true icon of the Outback, the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame in Longreach exhibits our pioneering past. Here, the stories of mustering cattle, natural disasters, and life in the saddle come alive.

Queensland's Outback was once part of the 'Great Inland Sea', making the area rich in fossils. The world-heritage listed Riversleigh fossil deposits are among the richest and most extensive in the world, dating back 15-25 million years! At the Riversleigh Fossil Centre in Mount Isa, you can take a guided tour to experience a reconstructed world as it was millions of years ago and learn from the local palaeontologists. Lark Quarry contains the world’s only record of a dinosaur stampede.

Mount Isa makes the dramatic world of underground mining more accessible. Here, visitors are taken below ground into the Hard Times Mine to learn about the area’s mining history.

Queensland’s Outback is where Australia’s national airline Qantas was born. You can learn about the history of the airline at the Qantas Founders Outback Museum. At the School of Distance Education in Mount Isa, Longreach or Charleville, visit one of the largest “classrooms” in the world. Listen to a lesson from the ‘School of the Air’ providing education by radio to children on isolated properties.

Organised tours take in Outback highlights to make it easy for you to explore the many national icons.

Places of Interest

• Standing at 30 metres in height, the ‘Big Red’ is the first of more than 1,100 sand dunes of the Simpson Desert, Queensland’s largest National Park.
• Boulia is home to the Min Min light, mysterious lights that hover elusively out of reach. The phenomenon is yet to be explained, but many theories about the lights exist, from Australia’s Aboriginal Dreamtime spirits to balls of luminous gases.
• Lark Quarry Dinosaur Trackways near Winton are the world’s only evidence of a dinosaur stampede. More than 3,000 fossilised dinosaur footprints capture a moment in time from 95 million years ago.
• Australian Workers Heritage Centre, Barcaldine — a heritage attraction that pays homage to the contributions of the nation’s workers.
• Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame, Longreach — a tribute to Australia’s pioneers.
• Qantas Founders Outback Museum — displays and a tour of its newest attraction, a decommissioned 747 jumbo jet.
• Take a tour of Queensland’s largest and longest established practical agricultural and vocational training facility, the Longreach campus of the Australian Agricultiral College.
• Lark Quarry Dinosaur Trackways, 110 km from Winton — the world’s only recorded evidence of a dinosaur stampede.
• World-Heritage-Listed Riversleigh Fossil Fields at Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park, featuring some of the richest and most extensive fossil fields in the world.
• Cosmos Centre & Observatory, Charleville — take a guided tour of the night sky and find answers to all your questions about the universe.
• Kronosaurus Korner, Richmond — museum housing some of Australia’s best-preserved marine reptile fossils that were found locally.
• Outback at Isa, Mount Isa — take a tour through a maze of underground mine tunnels at the Hard Times Mine and get up close to 25 million year old fossils.

Fast Facts

• Mount Isa is a modern, growing city of some 25,000 residents. It is the region’s largest centre and one of the world’s largest local government areas, covering 41,000km2 (15,830 square miles) — about the size of Switzerland. It is one of the top 10 producers in the world of copper, silver, lead and zinc.
• In 1892 blade shearer Jack Howe set a world record by shearing 321 sheep in 7 hours and 40 minutes.It actually took another 58 years before anyone could match this feat and that was by machine shears!
• Back in 1893 Thargomindah was the first town in Australia and the third in the world to Paris and London to have electric street lighting! A hydroelectric scheme powered by a high-pressure artesian bore supplied electricity for the town until 1951.
• Eromanga is the town furthest from the ocean in all of Australia.