Lightning Ridge in northwest NSW is a unique and quirky outback town famous for its black opals that attract opal and gem enthusiasts from across the world. Lightning Ridge tours offers some fascinating attractions and experiences for visitors. Chambers of the Black Hand is a unique underground art gallery featuring over 900 intricate hand-carved sculptures. At Lightning Ridge, visitors can tour an old opal mine or try their hand at fossicking for opals.
The Australian Opal Centre is an extraordinary national museum aimed at preserving, displaying and researching the greatest public collection of Australian opal and opalised fossils. Enjoy SPARK under the stars, an open-air cinematic celebration of Lightning Ridge. For something even more relaxing, experience the rejuvenating benefits of the Artesian Bore Baths. Soak away your cares in the warm water from the Great Artesian Basin, said to be two million years old.
Tours in Lightning Ridge include the fabulous Black Opal Tours with local guides showing off their favourite attractions. Visit Historic Three Mile Flat, the site of the early opal miners’ settlement and Lunatic Hill Open Cut, the largest open-cut opal mine in NSW. Here you can learn the history of the town’s opal-bearing ridges and don’t miss the opportunity for a ‘lunatic’ photo.
On the tour, you can view the largest opal agitator ever built along with other interesting opal mining equipment. Try your hand at opal fossicking at a site that’s regularly ‘topped up’ for visitors! There’s an opal cutting demonstration, a viewing of an impressive private opal and opal jewellery collection and an informative talk on the famous Lightning Ridge Black Opal.
Visit the Bottle House made entirely from glass bottles and the amazing Amigos Castle, a medieval-style fortress hand-built in stone by a local miner.
Opal was first discovered at Lightning Ridge in the late 1880s. The first shaft was put down around 1901 by local boundary rider Jack Murray. The following year, professional miner Charlie Nettleton arrived, sank a shaft and discovered the opals at Angledool Station. The Lands Department gazetted this area as Warrangulla until after World War I when it was changed to Lightning Ridge.
Visit Lightning Ridge today and you’re sure to meet some of this remote outback town’s colourful characters. As the world’s primary source of black opals, Lightning Ridge attracts some eccentric and interesting people to this dry, dusty town.
Prospectors, artists, and travellers from around the world add to the multicultural character of Lightning Ridge and are quick to share stories of the region's opal rushes, pioneering life and underground adventures. Unlike more polished tourist towns, Lightning Ridge is unpretentious, with local attractions reflecting the town’s unique spirit and resourceful creativity.
In 2021, 1,946 people were living in Lightning Ridge.
The traditional owners of the country around Lightning Ridge are the Yuwaalaraay people, also known as Yuwalyai, Euahlayi, Yuwaaliyaay, Gamilaraay, Kamilaroi and Yuwaaliyaayi.
The name Lightning Ridge is said to have originated in the 1870s. It is believed the bodies of a farmer, his dog, and 200 to 600 sheep were found by passers-by. The numbers vary according to who’s telling the story. It is believed they were killed while sheltering in a low ridge in the area during a fierce electrical storm.
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We acknowledge the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them, their cultures, and to the elders both past and present.
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