Charters Towers to Hughenden: Distance & road trip stops

The Charters Towers to Hughenden drive covers a 248km distance in an approximate driving time of 2h40m. The best stop to add to a road trip itinerary is White Mountains National Park.

The Charters Towers to Hughenden drive is, practically, one that’s likely to be undertaken as part of a longer road trip. If you’re heading from Townsville to Darwin or Alice Springs, you’ll pass along the way.

It’s hardly the most exciting drive in Australia, but there are a couple of attractions you might want to add to a road trip itinerary.

Charters Towers to Hughenden distance and driving time

By car, the Charters Towers to Hughenden drive is 248km in distance. That makes for a driving time of around two hours and 40 minutes, all along the Flinders Highway.

Top Charters Towers experiences

Delve in to the gold-mining past – on a tour of the Venus Gold Battery. You’ll be wowed by the sheer size of it.
Hear entertaining stories from the golden era – on a Charters Towers walking tour.
Listen to spooky stories – on a Charters Towers ghost tour.

Best Charters Towers accommodation

The best accommodation options in Charters Towers are:

For families: Big4 Outback Aussie Oasis Holiday Park.
For high quality adults-only apartments: Kernow Charters Towers.
For a good value motel with a pool: Charters Towers Motel.

After leaving Charters Towers, the first two settlements of any size are Homestead and Pentland. Of these, Pentland is marginally more interesting – it has a caravan park and a racecourse, plus the three star Pentland Hotel Motel. The latter serves food and drinks.

Charters Towers to Hughenden road trip: White Mountains National Park

The next road trip stop of interest is White Mountains National Park. This little-known national park is rugged and diverse, and effectively for 4WDers only. One of the best tracks goes to the Sawpit Gorge Lookout, while a longer, more challenging track leads to Poison Valley. You can also go camping at Canns Camp Creek.

In a conventional vehicle, your best bet is to stop at the Burra Range Lookout on the Flinders Highway, right at the southern end of the park.

Charters Towers to Hughenden drive: Torrens Creek and Prairie

Shortly after passing the White Mountains National Park, Torrens Creek is the next settlement where you can fuel up and buy snacks. The Exchange Hotel offers accommodation and meals.

There’s a similar story in next village Prairie, where the Prairie Hotel does the honours.

But you may as well just keep going to Hughenden. Here, you can learn about locally-found dinosaur skeletons at the Flinders Discovery Centre and the lookouts at Mount Walker give great views over the volcanic plains.

Hughenden is also the gateway to Porcupine Gorge.