White Cliffs - town in New South Wales, Australia

White Cliffs is a small opal mining town in the Far West of New South Wales.

Get in

White Cliffs can be reached from Wilcannia via a good 93 km sealed road. Be extra careful of animals on this road.

It is also possible to cross from Broken Hill on an unsealed road passing by Mutawinji National Park.

Get around

See

• A Heritage Trail leads visitors around the town to sites of interest, such as the location of a "camel beer" riot in the 1800s.
• Solar Power Station. Solar concentrator array, no longer operational
• Walk/drive/ride along the trail among the small active mine workings, which look like human-scale ant nests.
• Some tours of small-scale mines or abandoned mines may be available.
• Paroo-Darling National Park, -31.52°, 143.9°, +61 8 8083 7900. A very remote national park about 100 km via dirt road access, full of wetlands and bird life. The park's visitor centre in White Cliffs.

Do

• Fossick. There are fossicking areas set aside for searching for opals.

Buy

White Cliffs' primary industry is opal mining, and many shops around town sell opals and opal jewellery.

Eat

The local cafe serves as a store, fuel supplier and cafe serving take-aways or eat-in.

Drink

At the Hotel/Motel

Sleep

• White Cliffs Underground Motel, 129 Smiths Hill, White Cliffs, NSW 2836 (follow signs from White Cliffs), -30.864917°, 143.091096°, +61 8 8091 6677, info@undergroundmotel.com.au. Sleep underground as the locals do at a steady naturally-regulated 22C. Family-style dinner provided at extra cost: don't be late. Reached along a 1km gravel road from the center of town. Swimming pool (not underground!). $105
• White Cliffs Hotel/Motel, +61 8 8091 6606. Above-ground cement-block building in the center of White Cliffs.

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