Department for Environment and Heritage

Lake Eyre National Park

Aerial - Breakaway Country South Lake Eyre 7 July 04

Aerial - Breakaway Country South Lake Eyre 7 July 04

The appeal of Lake Eyre lies in its stark wilderness and timeless landscape. It covers an area of 1,349,251 ha and its vastness (it is 144 km long and 77 km wide) can create a sensation of personal insignificance and complete isolation, bringing on mixed reactions in different people.

Lake Eyre is an extensive 'salt sink' which derives its mineralisation from the evaporation of floodwaters over countless years. During the last forty years or so the lake has seen many floods of varying sizes. Water from its three-State catchment area covers the lake about once every eight years (on average) while the lake has only filled to capacity three times in the last 150 years.

Seasonal rainfalls attract waterbirds such as Australian Pelicans, Silver Gulls, Red-necked Avocets, Banded Stilts and Gull-billed Terns. There are a number of theories being put forward on what triggers the instinct for the birds to migrate to Lake Eyre, however no definitive answers are known. When the lake floods, it becomes a breeding site for enormous numbers of waterbirds, especially species that appear to be tolerant of salinity.

Creeks at top of Lake Eyre- flowing into Lake Eyre through the Warburton Groove (March 2007)

Creeks at top of Lake Eyre- flowing into Lake Eyre through the Warburton Groove (March 2007)

Elliot Price Conservation Park, adjoining Lake Eyre National Park, was South Australia's first arid zone reserve, set up to conserve the wilderness of Lake Eyre and named after the 'king' of nearby Muloorina Station, the late Elliot Price (there is no vehicle access to Elliot Price Conservation Park).

Contact

Information on Lake Eyre National Park is available from the Desert Parks Information Line at Port Augusta phone 1800 816 078 (within Australia only) and at William Creek Hotel, William Creek Store, and the Pink Roadhouse at Oodnadatta.