Eerie Ghost Towns in Australia That Still Have Relics of the Past

The vast Australian landscape hides hundreds of abandoned settlements—remnants of ambitious mining ventures, agricultural dreams, and pioneering communities that flourished briefly before succumbing to economic shifts, natural disasters, or changing transportation routes. These ghost towns stand frozen in time, their weathered structures and scattered artifacts telling stories of boom-and-bust cycles that defined Australia’s development.

Silent streets that once bustled with life now host only whispers of the past and the occasional curious visitor. Here is a list of 20 eerie ghost towns across Australia where you can still find fascinating relics and experience the haunting beauty of these abandoned places.

Silverton, New South Wales

Just 15 miles northwest of Broken Hill lies this iconic ghost town that once thrived as a silver mining hub with over 3,000 residents. Today, fewer than 50 people remain, living among historic buildings, including a jail, courthouse, and the famous Silverton Hotel—a favorite filming location featured in numerous movies, including Mad Max 2.

The Silverton Gaol Museum houses a remarkable collection of mining equipment, household items, and photographs documenting the town’s heyday when silver fever drew fortune-seekers from across the country.

Walhalla, Victoria

Nestled in a steep mountain valley, this former gold mining town once housed over 4,000 residents and produced more than 70 tons of gold in its heyday. The meticulously restored Walhalla Goldfields Railway now winds through the picturesque landscape, while the town’s cemetery clings dramatically to the hillside with graves arranged in tiers.

Visitors can explore the Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine, once ranked as the wealthiest mine in the region, and marvel at original structures like the corner store and mechanics institute that survived the town’s decline.

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Gwalia, Western Australia

This remarkably preserved ghost town sits adjacent to the still-operational Sons of Gwalia gold mine that once employed a young Herbert Hoover before he became the U.S. President. The mine manager’s house, designed by Hoover himself, stands restored as a museum overlooking dozens of small miners’ cottages that remain in various states of atmospheric decay.

The impressive State Hotel building, with its grand facade, reminds visitors of the town’s prosperous era when the population topped 1,200 before its sudden abandonment in 1963 when the mine temporarily closed.

Cook, South Australia

This railway settlement on the Nullarbor Plain once served as an important stop on the Trans-Australian Railway with approximately 200 residents. The town’s defining feature remains its massive water tanks and pumping station that supplied the steam locomotives crossing the arid region.

The abandoned homes, school, and community buildings stand weathering in the harsh desert environment, while the still-operational railway station sees trains pass through without stopping, a poignant reminder of the town’s diminished importance in modern Australia.

Farina, South Australia

This former agricultural hub in the harsh outback was established with the overly optimistic belief that ‘rain would follow the plow’—a theory quickly disproven by the arid climate. The remarkable stone ruins include a bakery recently restored by volunteers who operate it several weeks each year, producing bread in the original underground scotch oven.

Visitors can wander among the atmospheric remains of the two hotels, bank, shops, and railway station, all meticulously mapped with interpretive signs explaining the town’s rise and fall.

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Leonora, Western Australia

While the modern township of Leonora continues nearby, the original settlement of Old Leonora stands abandoned with remarkably intact buildings from the 1890s gold rush era. The two-story Gwalia State Hotel dominates the landscape with its ornate facade, while the former shops, mining company offices, and workers’ cottages line the main street in various states of preservation.

The red iron-rich soil and brilliant blue skies create a striking backdrop for these weathered structures that housed over 2,000 people during the town’s mining heyday.

Hill End, New South Wales

This former gold mining town peaked with a population of 8,000 in the 1870s when it boasted 28 pubs and its own stock exchange. The National Parks and Wildlife Service now maintains around 50 historic buildings, including the Royal Hotel and the photogenic Post Office, dating from 1873 with its distinctive red brick and cream trim.

The religious buildings dotting the landscape reflect the diverse international community drawn by gold fever—impressive structures that now stand silent against the rolling countryside that has reclaimed much of the once-bustling townsite.

Ravenswood, Queensland

This gold and silver mining town retains impressive infrastructure, including two grand hotels that continue operating despite the town’s population dwindling to fewer than 100 residents. The Imperial Hotel features ornate ironwork verandas and period furnishings that transport visitors to the 1900s boom years when the town supported 48 hotels and a population of 5,000.

The surrounding landscape is dominated by massive mullock heaps and mining equipment, while the railway station and assay office stands as a testament to the industrial scale of operations that once drove this remote community.

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Goldsworthy, Western Australia

This planned mining town constructed in the 1960s represents a more modern ghost town that was entirely abandoned by 1992 when the iron ore deposit was exhausted. Unlike older ghost towns, Goldsworthy features contemporary infrastructure with concrete foundations of the shopping center, swimming pool, and sports facilities still clearly visible.

The town’s grid layout can be traced through the returning bush, while occasional street signs, power poles, and fire hydrants emerge from the encroaching vegetation in this rapidly disappearing example of Australia’s mining history.

Lucknow, New South Wales

Located just outside Orange, this former gold mining settlement contains some of Australia’s best-preserved 19th-century mining equipment, including the impressive stamper battery and engine house. The village developed around the spectacular ‘Wentworth Main Mine,’ which produced over 14 tons of gold before operations ceased in 1921.

The restored engine house with its distinctive chimney remains visually dominating, while several miners’ cottages have been preserved with their original furnishings, providing a glimpse into the domestic lives of the families who called this boom townhome.

Cassilis, Victoria

This remote gold mining settlement deep in forest country features the remarkable remains of the mining battery where massive iron machinery sits rusting yet intact more than a century after operations ceased. The battery building’s stone walls stand as a testament to the substantial investment made in extracting gold from this isolated location.

Abandoned mining shafts dot the surrounding hills, while foundations of the miners’ cottages, school, and hotel can be traced among the regenerating bushland that is gradually reclaiming this once-industrious community.

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Mary Kathleen, Queensland

This planned uranium mining town built in the 1950s represents Australia’s atomic age ambitions before being completely abandoned in 1982 after the uranium deposit was exhausted. Unlike many older ghost towns, Mary Kathleen was methodically demolished, with most buildings removed, leaving concrete slabs, roads, and the swimming pool as the main visible remains.

The former town site sits within a dramatic landscape of red earth and unique geology, while the nearby processing plant’s concrete foundations offer a glimpse of the industrial scale of Australia’s first uranium mine.

Cossack, Western Australia

This former pearling port, which was established in the 1860s, features exceptional heritage buildings constructed from local limestone and now stands completely abandoned along a picturesque coastline. The impressive customs house, courthouse, and police station have been restored to their former glory, providing visitors with a vivid glimpse of this once-important shipping hub.

The town’s multicultural heritage is evident in the restored Japanese cemetery on the outskirts, reflecting the significant Asian population that worked in the dangerous pearling industry before the town’s decline in the early 1900s.

Joadja, New South Wales

Tucked away in a secluded valley, this former shale mining town was established by Scottish immigrants who built a virtually self-contained industrial community. The impressive ruins include the shale oil refinery with its massive brick chimneys still standing among the remnants of the distillery that produced the famous ‘Joadja’ whiskey.

The manager’s mansion, school, miners’ cottages, and company store ruins can be explored in the peaceful valley setting that now belies the industrial intensity that once saw over 1,200 people living and working in this remote location.

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Tyenna, Tasmania

This timber settlement deep in Tasmania’s forests has almost completely returned to nature, with only the massive boilers and steam equipment remaining as evidence of the once-thriving sawmill operation. The town’s life was tied entirely to the timber industry, with a complete community including a school, general store, and workers’ cottages constructed around the industrial heart of the mill.

The remaining equipment sits rusting among tall eucalyptus trees that have reclaimed the clearings where timber yards once processed the massive logs harvested from the surrounding wilderness.

Yerranderie, New South Wales

This silver mining town sits isolated within the protected water catchment area of Warragamba Dam, preserving it from development and vandalism. The remarkably intact town center includes the post office, courthouse, and general store, with original merchandise still visible on some shelves.

The two-story Yerranderie Hotel stands as the most impressive structure, while mining equipment and machinery remain scattered around the abandoned silver mines that once employed hundreds. The town’s remote location requires a long drive on dirt roads, ensuring that only determined visitors experience this well-preserved time capsule.

Broad Arrow, Western Australia

This gold rush settlement peaked in the 1890s with over 2,400 residents, eight hotels, and two breweries before declining to virtual abandonment. The iconic Broad Arrow Tavern remains the only operational business, serving cold drinks surrounded by ruins and empty lots where the town once stood.

The pub’s walls are covered with visitors’ signatures and messages, creating a unique living guestbook spanning decades. The cemetery on the outskirts tells poignant stories of the harsh realities faced by these frontier mining communities, including disease outbreaks and mining accidents.

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Newnes, New South Wales

Nestled in a valley within Wollemi National Park, this former oil shale mining town contains Australia’s most impressive industrial ruins, including massive brick coke ovens and the remnants of the oil refinery complex. The operations employed over 1,500 workers during peak production, with the township featuring hotels, shops, a school, and even a swimming pool built into the nearby river.

The rugged landscape has reclaimed much of the settlement, with trees growing through structures and vines crawling over the imposing industrial remains that once represented cutting-edge technology.

Kiandra, New South Wales

This gold mining settlement in the Snowy Mountains holds the distinction of being the birthplace of skiing in Australia when Norwegian miners introduced the sport in the 1860s. The harsh alpine environment has taken its toll on the township, with only the courthouse, the cemetery, and scattered mining equipment remaining as evidence of the 15,000 prospectors who once crowded this mountain community.

The surrounding landscape bears extensive evidence of hydraulic sluicing with water races still visible running along hillsides, testimony to the intensive mining techniques employed during the short-lived gold rush.

Whroo, Victoria

This former gold mining settlement in the Rushworth State Forest contains the impressive remains of Balaclava Mine, with its huge open cut pit now filled with water, creating an eerie blue-green pool. The ghostly main street can still be traced, with the stone foundations of the hotels, shops, and bank visible among the eucalyptus trees that have reclaimed the once-bustling town.

The historic cemetery remains the most poignant reminder of the community that once numbered over 2,000 residents, with weathered headstones telling stories of hardship, disease, and mining accidents that claimed lives in this frontier settlement during its 1850s-1860s heyday.

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Whispers Across Time’s Divide

These abandoned settlements scattered across Australia’s vast landscapes serve as haunting outdoor museums where visitors can touch the tangible remains of boom-and-bust cycles that shaped the nation. The weathered buildings, rusting machinery, and personal artifacts create powerful connections to the individuals who sought their fortunes in these remote locations.

Unlike carefully curated museum displays, these ghost towns present history in its raw, untidy form—allowing glimpses into ordinary lives interrupted when economic forces or natural resources failed. They remind us of the impermanence of human endeavors and the resilience of the Australian landscape that gradually reclaims these ambitious settlements, turning them into evocative monuments to the pioneering spirit that continues to define Australia’s national character.

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