Beltana Accommodation, Hotels, Tours & Information

Beltana

The once thriving settlement of Beltana is now little more than a picturesque ghost town. Today there is the licensed Beltana roadhouse and the Beltana heritage township 13 kilometres east of the main route between Hawker and Leigh Creek. However it is well worth the detour. It was here that John Flynn worked as a clergyman in the Smith of Dunesk Mission before eventually establishing the Australian Inland Mission and the Royal Flying Doctor Service. It is said that his work in Beltana inspired his later efforts to provide health care to those living in the outback. Copies of the great little book Beltana Trails are available at the former Railway Station (now the Beltana Visitor Information Centre) and afford amazing insights into the town and its involvement in many defining Australian moments: some of the great inland explorations left from Beltana; a repeater station for the Overland Telegraph was established here; and Beltana Station was base for sheep and camel-breeding giants Thomas Elder and Robert Barr-Smith.