William Creek is the smallest town in Outback South Australia, situated on the property of Australia's largest cattle station, Anna Creek Station. The population is 10, however, overnight guests and events can increase the population to over hundred.

The town has basic facilities. There is a pub, of course, a few sheds, a store and a campground with different styles of cabins, and an all-weather airfield only 100m away from the pub.

Wrights Air operates scenic flight over Lake Eyre, Anna Creek station and the Painted Desert. Since 2012 Trevor Wright owns the hotel in William Creek.

You don't need a street map, everything is conveniently lined up on the Oodnadatta Track.

William Creek is set on a salt bush plain 204 km north-west of Marree and it’s the first place to get fuel and water supplies after you leave Marree.
It's quite a sandy place, but hey, they even have a golf course!

Discover a truly unique Australian Outback town.

Sightseeing in William Creek

Well, the sightseeing business takes place in the area between the hotel and the store. You don't have much to walk!

• Memorial Park offers displays of some unusual means of transport (a wooden wagon, a steam engine and the first stage of a rocket) which are scattered next to the remains of the Old Ghan railway-line.
  A signpost shows the distances to places all over the world. That makes you realise that you are far away from everywhere!
• William Creek is adjoining the huge Woomera prohibited area where British rockets were launched in the sixties and tests were conducted to send a satellite into orbit. That’s where the debris of the rocket comes from.
  If you are interested in aircraft, missiles, and Australia's role in space exploration, don't miss to visit Woomera on the Stuart Highway.
• Would you expect to see a parking meter in the middle of nowhere? There is one in William Creek!
  The parking meter seems to be very odd in such a remote place, however, it’s for charity and collects donations for the Royal Flying Doctors. Australians are very inventive to raise money for this excellent institution.
  
• The public phone was the first solar-powered phone box in South Australia.
  
  

Events

Campdraft and Bronco Branding is held in August.

William Creek Gymkhana held on the weekend before Easter.

Accommodation

The hotel and pub really look unpretentious, not to say rough, from the outside, with its ancient cladding of corrugated iron to protect the veranda and the house from the searing sun. In these parts of the world sun protection goes before aesthetics.
Inside is the typical bar room of a bush pub, decorated with odd things that tourists left here. And of course, you'll find a friendly service & a cold beer.

In front of the hotel is a sign with a mud map giving information about the area around William Creek and the Oodnadatta Track. These maps, drawn by the late Adam Plate who run the Pink Roadhouse in Oodnadatta for decades, give useful tips and can be found along the Oodna and it’s by-roads as far as Marla, Coober Pedy and the Simpson Desert.

Check out offers from the William Creek Hotel

Alternative routes & detours

• If you want to go back to the Stuart Highway instead of finishing the Oodnadatta Track, you can go from William Creek to Coober Pedy. The 164 km unsealed road crosses the huge Anna Creek station. Always be aware of roaming livestock. 
  

• About 7 km south of the town starts the public access route (PAR) to Halligan Bay on the western shore of Lake Eyre North.
  This 63km (one-way) track is desolate and very lonely. Take plenty of water, have a reliable 4 WD vehicle, and never leave your car when it breaks down.
  
  
• Let a reliable friend or your family know about your plans. Make arrangements when you will be back, and don't forget to check back with them. Otherwise they might ring the alarm bell.
  

Please ask the locals for road conditions before your start any of these routes.

Oodnadatta Track -> the route step by step

Don't miss the articles below which give you many more details about the route.

Enjoy this most interesting (and my favourite) track in the South Australian Outback.

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