Port Augusta to Cobar road trip: Best stops, distance & drive time

The distance from Port Augusta to Cobar is 869km, with a driving time of 9h17m. The best road trip stops along the way are Peterborough and Broken Hill.

Planning a Port Augusta to Cobar road trip itinerary

A Port Augusta to Cobar road trip is an epic journey through the outback. Most travellers will not pass this way – it’s realistically a section on a mammoth cross-country odyssey from Perth to Cairns or Perth to Townsville.

To fix up your Port Augusta accommodation at the cheapest rates, look over here.
To secure the best Cobar accommodation deals, head here.

This guide should help you plan your perfect Port Augusta to Cobar road trip itinerary.

If you need to hire a car, find the best rental deals. And don’t forget to do all your pre-road trip shopping.

Port Augusta to Cobar distance and driving time

By car along sealed roads, the distance from Port Augusta to Cobar is 869km. Without stopping, that makes for a Port Augusta to Cobar driving time of around nine hours and 17 minutes.

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

Port Augusta accommodation picks

Port Augusta accommodation tends towards the functional. Few people stay here more than one night. Booking site Wotif lists options for from $89, if you’d like to check what’s available.

However, these Port Augusta accommodation choices are particularly worth looking at:

For heritage and character: Pampas Motel.
For green credentials: Crossroads Ecomotel.
For overall quality: Majestic Oasis Apartments.
For cheap rates and a pool: Discovery Parks – Port Augusta.

Port Augusta to Cobar road trip: Peterborough and Broken Hill

Getting to New South Wales involves taking the Augusta Highway south, then joining the Horrocks Pass Road and B56 towards the Barrier Highway. This will take you to Broken Hill, one of the best outback towns in Australia.

Stops along the way include the giant red gum tree at Orroroo and railway town Peterborough. Here, the Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre is devoted to all things rail and puts on impressive evening sound and light shows.

The Peterborough Motel and Roundhouse Motel are solid bets for overnight accommodation.

Things to do in Broken Hill include the Big Picture at the Silver City Mint, the Living Desert sculptures and Silverton’s Mad Max 2 Museum.

Broken Hill accommodation picks

Australia specialist accommodation booking site Wotif offers stays in Broken Hill for from $105 a night. Check out the best deals page here.

To narrow it down a little, you should probably look at the following Broken Hill accommodation choices first.

For families: Broken Hill Tourist Park.
For good value on a budget: Lodge Outback Motel.
For art deco glamour near the train station: Royal Exchange Hotel.
For central location with a pool: Ibis Styles.
For character: Astra Hotel.

Port Augusta to Cobar drive: Wilcannia and Cobar

Two possible diversions on the way from Broken Hill to Cobar are opal hub White Cliffs and the Menindee Lakes.

In White Cliffs, go on a tour of the Red Earth opal mine, sleep in the Underground Motel and discover Paroo-Darling National Park.

Menindee, meanwhile, is the base for lakes and Darling River cruises plus Kinchega National Park.

In Wilcannia, the Queens Head Hotel now hosts an art gallery.

Cobar is more worth a stop, though. Things to do in Cobar include the Great Cobar Museum, which is mainly about copper mining heritage.

You can see the current mining operations from the Fort Bourke Hill Lookout. But Cobar also has an eccentric side, as typified by the Cobar Sound Chapel art installation/ This weird public space plays decidedly odd music inside an old water tank.