Lake Gairdner National Park
A salt lake the size of a small country
Australia's third-largest salt lake - 160 km of blinding white salt ringed by red dunes north of the Gawler Ranges, and the venue for Speed Week land-speed racing.
The white immensity
North of the Gawler Ranges, the land gives way to one of the most surreal sights in South Australia: Lake Gairdner, the country's third-largest salt lake, stretching 160 km long and up to 48 km wide, its salt crust up to a metre thick in places and studded with more than 200 islands. From the shoreline the white runs unbroken to the horizon, framed by red sand hills and the dark volcanic hills of the ranges - a colour scheme that does not look real even while you are standing in it.
Speed Week
The lake's hard, flat salt has made it internationally famous. Since 1990 the Dry Lakes Racers Australia have held Speed Week here - an annual pilgrimage of streamliners, hot rods and motorcycles chasing land-speed records on a measured track across the salt, in the tradition of Bonneville. The DLRA acknowledges the Gawler Ranges people, the lake's traditional owners, and runs the event with strict care for the lake surface. For one week the salt hums with engines; for the other fifty-one it is silent.
Getting there
Access is via unsealed station tracks off the Gawler Ranges roads - most visitors come through the Mount Ive area south of the lake. Conditions vary with weather, the lake surface must not be driven on, and there are no facilities, so carry water and fuel. Pair it with Gawler Ranges National Park for the full outback circuit - our story Into the Gawler Ranges maps out the route.
Find it on the map
Got a photo of Lake Gairdner National Park?
Share your best shot. If we use it in the gallery, you'll be credited by name. Photos are reviewed before going live.
Last verified 8 August 2026 · source: Parks SA (parks.sa.gov.au)
You might also like
Similar experiences across Eyre Peninsula
Sources
- Parks SA (parks.sa.gov.au) (accessed August 2026)
- Dry Lake Racers Australia (accessed August 2026)
- Wikipedia - Lake Gairdner National Park (accessed August 2026)
Image credits
- Lake Gairdner, South Australia, Australia.jpg by CrashesToAshes , CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons