Adelaide to Streaky Bay road trip: Best stops, distance & drive time

The best stops on an Adelaide to Streaky Bay road trip are Mount Remarkable National Park and Kimba. By car, the distance from Adelaide to Streaky Bay is 699km, with a driving time of around 7h39m.

An Adelaide to Streaky Bay road trip takes you from the South Australian capital to the most attractive beach town on the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula.

Adelaide brings food tours of the fabulous Central Market, Torrens River cruises, swimming with dolphins and the chance to walk across the roof of the Adelaide Oval. To book Adelaide accommodation, step this way. For a full range of Adelaide tours and experiences, explore here.

To investigate Streaky Bay accommodation options, head here.

Adelaide to Streaky Bay distance and driving time

By car, the distance from Adelaide to Streaky Bay is 699km. That makes for a driving time of roughly seven hours and 39 minutes.

The best stops to add to an Adelaide to Streaky Bay road trip itinerary include Mount Remarkable National Park and Kimba.

Adelaide to Streaky Bay road trip: Adelaide to Port Wakefield

Leaving Adelaide via the northern suburbs, the drive from Adelaide to Streaky Bay heads north along the Princes Highway (also known as the Port Wakefield Highway in these parts) towards Port Wakefield.

There are plausible, but eminently missable, detours available to the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary and Thompson Beach along the way.

The mangrove swamp of the Clinton Conservation Park is the highlight of Port Wakefield.

Adelaide to Streaky Bay drive: Port Wakefield to Mambray Creek

The Wakefield Highway then becomes the Augusta Highway, and the next stop worth considering is Lochiel. Here, you can get great views over Lake Bumbunga, which often turns pink due to the micro-organisms living in it.

The Adelaide to Port Augusta leg of the Adelaide to Streaky Bay journey continues north towards Port Pirie. However, for a more scenic route, swinging through the Clare Valley wine region only adds half an hour onto the drive.

Underwhelmingly industrial Port Pirie is a place best skipped, and the Augusta Highway continues north. Telowie Beach and the Port Germein Jetty are slightly more appealing diversions

Mambray Creek is better, though, as it is the gateway to the rugged walking trails of Mount Remarkable National Park.

Click through to the next section: Port Augusta to Iron Knob.

Adelaide to Streaky Bay road trip: Port Augusta to Iron Knob

Otherwise, continue to Port Augusta, Australia’s ultimate junction town at the top of the Spencer Gulf.

The best things to do in Port Augusta include the Wadlata Outback Centre, which looks at Aboriginal and outback life, and the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden.

Leaving Port Augusta on the Eyre Highway, you’ll reaching the junction with the Lincoln Highway at Lincoln Gap shortly after the Tanks Rest Area. If you were heading to Whyalla or Port Lincoln, you’d branch off here.

The next notable stop is Iron Knob, which bills itself as the birthplace of the Australian steel industry. The iron mine here closed in 1998, but it is still open for surprisingly fascinating tours. These mine tours have to be booked in advance, however.

The town still, just about, lives on and you’ll almost certainly see emus strutting through it.

Attractions between Adelaide and Streaky Bay: Iron Knob to Wudinna

The Port Augusta to Streaky Bay leg of the journey then passes south of Lake Gilles. There are 4WD tracks up to the edge of this stark salt lake if you have the right vehicle.

Otherwise, the next stop is quirky Kimba. Here you can admire the colossal scale mural on the grain silos and see the statues of Edward Eyre and Wylie at the Whites Knob Scenic Lookout. For cheesy photos, there are also the Big Galah and the Halfway Across Australia Sign.

There are a few Kimba accommodation options if you want to break your journey for the night here, with the Kimba Units and Chrissie’s Dongara the best bets.

The Eyre Highway then passes Kyancutta and Lake Wannamana on the way to Wudinna, which is the main base for exploring the Gawler Ranges to the north.

Gawler Ranges Wilderness Safaris runs day tours from Wudinna. If you’re shorter on time, the wave-like Pildappa Rock makes for a quicker diversion.

For Wudinna accommodation, choose between the more practical Wudinna Gawler Ranges Motel and Caravan Park and the more personal Wudinna Farm View.

Adelaide to Streaky Bay drive: Wudinna to Streaky Bay

Otherwise, keep going towards Minnipa, where Tcharkuldu Rock – a big outcrop covered in boulders – is both near the highway and easily accessible in a 2WD vehicle. Then, at Poochera, take the turn off down the Streaky Bay Road. It’s a 62km drive into Streaky Bay from here.

Things to do in Streaky Bay include seeing the Australian sea lions at Point Labatt, enjoying the beaches on Sceale Bay and admiring the giant pink granite boulders of Murphy’s Haystacks.

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