Oodnadatta

Oodnadatta
The Pink Roadhouse at Oodnadatta
Oodnadatta
Coordinates: 27°32′53″S 135°26′44″E / 27.54811°S 135.445432°E / -27.54811; 135.445432
CountryAustralia
StateSouth Australia
RegionFar North
LGA
Location
Established30 October 1890 (town)
8 February 2001 (locality)
Government
 • State electorate
 • Federal division
Elevation
(railway station)
121 m (397 ft)
Population
 • Total102 (SAL 2021)
Time zoneUTC+9:30 (ACST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+10:30 (ACST)
Postcode
5734
Mean max temp29.2 °C (84.6 °F)
Mean min temp14.7 °C (58.5 °F)
Annual rainfall171.8 mm (6.76 in)
Localities around Oodnadatta
Todmorden Todmorden Allandale Station
Todmorden Oodnadatta Allandale Station
Allandale Station Allandale Station Allandale Station
Locations
Adjoining localities

Oodnadatta is a small, remote outback town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia, located 1043 kilometres (648 miles) north-north-west of the state capital of Adelaide by road or 873 km (542 mi) direct, at an altitude of 112 metres (367 feet). The unsealed Oodnadatta Track, an outback road popular with tourists, runs through the town.

Town facilities include a hotel, caravan park, post office, general stores, police station, hospital, fuel and minor mechanical repairs. The old railway station now serves as a museum. From the 1880s to the 1930s, Oodnadatta was a base for camel drivers and their animals, which provided cartage when the railway was under construction and along outback tracks before roads were established.

After the railway line was lifted, Oodnadatta's role changed from that of a government service centre and supply depot for surrounding pastoral properties to a residential freehold town for Aboriginal families who, moving from cattle work, bought empty houses as their railway employee occupants left.