Oodnadatta - Oodnadatta visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Oodnadatta' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from South Australia.

Oodnadatta is an interesting and unusual town in outback South Australia just over 1,000km north of Adelaide and 112m above sea level. Oodnadatta was once an important stopover town on the old Ghan railway but since the railway line was closed in 1981 population has rapidly declined.

Oodnadatta is probably an adaptation of an Aboriginal word 'utnadata' meaning 'blossom of the mulga'. Today, the town is a stopover point for tourists travelling the unsealed Oodnadatta Track.

Oodnadatta was proclaimed a Government Township on October 30 1890. On 7 January 1891 the railway line from Warrina to Oodnadatta was opened. Around this time good quality artesian water was located in the region and permanent waterholes supplied by natural springs were tapped.

Camels were introduced and with them the Afghans who tended them. By 1893 there were 400 camels. Some camel teams travelled 900 miles north to Newcastle Waters. They also carried mail regularly between Oodnadatta and Alice Springs.

In 1911 the Oodnadatta Medical Hostel (now the Australian Inland Mission Hospital) was opened at the cost of £653. John Flynn, founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, designed and supervised the construction. In 1928 the railroad was extended further northward and Oodnadatta lost some of its former importance as a railhead.

Car: 1010km from Adelaide via Cooper Pedy, 1080km from Adelaide via Marree