Lightning Ridge is one of the most unique places in Australia—nowhere else is quite like it. And despite being quite remote and not being a large town, there are so many interesting things to do in Lightning Ridge!
The many tourist attractions and unique experiences are why I chose to work in Lightning Ridge for a few months. I never ran out of things to do in Lightning Ridge, so I didn’t mind being so far from “civilization.”
Originally an opal mining town, Lightning Ridge is now a place where people come to live a slower life and where tourists come for a unique Outback experience.
I’m pretty sure I exhausted the entire list of things to do in Lightning Ridge in the time I spent living there, so read on for all the exciting attractions and activities you should look into if you’re coming to “The Ridge,” as the locals call it.
Lightning Ridge was established as opal mining town, and the opals found in Lightning Ridge are special because a lot are black opal. Black opals are unique in that the color of the opal is set against dark potch, which makes the colors stand out more vibrantly. Lightning Ridge is only place in world where you can find black opal, so it’s very rare (and expensive).
Although it’s passed its heyday, Lightning Ridge is still home to opal miners. It was made famous with the show Outback Opal Hunters, and there are plenty of working mines still operating around Lightning Ridge.
However, Lightning Ridge has become more of a tourist town in recent years, with lots of tourist attractions and things to do that make it worth stopping by and staying for a few days.
Because Australia is so big, travelers often rush through small places like Lightning Ridge.
Most just pass by, and many spend only a night in Lightning Ridge while traveling cross country on the Great Inland Way. But I’d recommend staying at least two days.
And if you have more time to spare, there are certainly enough things to do in Lightning Ridge and the surrounding area to fill a few extra days.
By car, Lightning Ridge is a 9-hour drive from Sydney. If you’re driving, I’d recommend breaking up the trip and staying overnight at one of the stops I listed on my roadtrip loop from Sydney through the Outback and East Coast.
It’s also possible to reach Lightning Ridge from Sydney by public transport, although it will take roughly 12 hours, depending on transfer times. This includes a 6.5 hour train from Sydney to Dubbo, and then a 4.5 hour from Dubbo to Lightning Ridge.
The next easiest city to reach Lightning Ridge from is Brisbane. It’s about an 8-hour drive from Brisbane to Lightning Ridge.
Unfortunately, there is no straightforward or easy way to get to Lightning Ridge from Brisbane by public transport.
A good place to start off your time in Lightning Ridge is at the Lightning Ridge Historical Society. Located on Morilla Street in a 1930s historical miner’s cottage, this free museum is small but packed with information.
You can see what the inside of the old-time miner’s hut looked like and get a sense of what their lives were like. Make sure to pick up a book about Lightning Ridge—there are lots to choose from!
Just behind the hut is the restored 1915 nurses’ cottage, which also has an exhibit showing visitors what life was once like in Lightning Ridge.
Located nearby is the Australian Opal Centre, which is quite small but packed with interesting artefacts.
You can find really fascinating and beautiful examples of opalized objects, such as fossils, pine cones, shells, bones and teeth. That even includes the fossilized and opalized bones of a dinosaur!
They’re actually building a new Australian Opal Centre just out of town which will be much bigger, so hopefully it will open soon and more opal will be on show there.
One of the most unique and interesting things to do in Lightning Ridge is to go on a self-guided car door tour.
The reason why they’re called so is that you drive just outside of town on dirt tracks, and the route is marked by car doors painted the color of the route they correspond to.
There are the red, yellow, green and blue car door tours, and each takes you to some tourist attractions that I’ll list here. You can pick up a map from the Lightning Ridge Visitor Centre.
If you’re only spending the night in Lightning Ridge and have time for only one, I’d recommend the green car door tour just before sunset. At the end of the route there’s a great sunset lookout point at Nettleton’s First Shaft Lookout.
You likely want to see what an opal mine looks like, and the Walk In Mine is one of your two options. It’s the cheaper mine to visit, so it’s a great option if you’re on a budget.
While it’s no longer a working mine, you can see what the tunnels making up the opal mines look like, and there are videos and informational signs that will tell you all you need to know about opals and opal mining.
I found it quite educational and learned a lot about opals here.
They also have a shop selling opals, and it’s one of the best places to buy opals in Lightning Ridge. The quality is great and the prices are good as well.
Make sure you have a look through the fossicking pile too!
The other option for going down into an opal mine is more expensive, but it’s one of the most unique attractions you’ll ever find.
Chambers of the Black Hand is another former opal mine that has been turned into a tourist attraction. But the reason people flock here isn’t necessarily for the tie to opals, but because of something else that was created down there.
The miner who owned Chambers of the Black Hand carved dozens of amazing sculptures in those sandstone tunnels…with a butter knife!
The story goes that he was bored one day, so he took the knife he brought for his lunch and started carving into the wall of the tunnel. He had no artistic training, yet he managed to create incredible sculptures worthy of an art museum. It’s hard to believe one man could create so many sculptures, and without proper tools or training.
There’s also an excellent video about opal mining down there, and I’d recommend spending a few hours down there (bring a sweater) so that you can watch the whole thing and take in the intricate details of the sculptures.
Or even just window shopping. This was one my favorite things to do in Lightning Ridge. I loved gazing at all the colors and got a bit (okay, a lot) obsessed with them.
Beware, though. If you catch the opal bug too, you won’t just be window shopping. And you may leave Lightning Ridge with a lot less money than you came with. Opals aren’t cheap, but they’re hypnotizingly stunning, and possessing something so beautiful is worth it (or so I told myself).
I’d recommend Down to Earth Opals for jewelry. If you’re looking for a cheap price, the Opal Cave had the cheapest I could find (and you may meet Herman the German, the charismatic owner who is officially retired but who I met a few times at the store).
If you’d rather try finding opal for yourself, it is possible to fossick for it yourself.
Nowadays, unfortunately, you can’t expect to find anything good, and your options are a bit limited nowadays.
There are some designated fossicking piles for tourists to rummage through, which I’ll list shortly.
But do not, absolutely do not, try fossicking outside these areas. Most of the land surrounding Lightning Ridge is a miner’s claim, and to say it’s not allowed is an understatement.
If you do want to fossick for opal, there are two options I’d recommend. The Walk In Mine and the Lightning Ridge Information Centre both have fossicking piles. These are piles in which miners dump the rejects of what they mined and put through agitators (which is the process of separating stone from opal).
Also, if you’re heading to the Grawin area, you can find fossicking piles at Club in the Scrub and the Glengarry Hilton.
You’ll likely find potch (colorless opal), but you may find some color!
To fossick, I’d recommend taking a bottle of water to pour over the rock pile, as it will be easier to spot the color among the rocks when it’s wet.
Lightning Ridge has attracted many interesting people throughout the years, and Amigo was one of them. An Italian immigrant in Australia, Amigo moved to Lightning Ridge when he was younger, and throughout his life there started building a castle.
He did it all by himself, using makeshift scaffolding that wouldn’t pass any health and safety test and without machinery. That means that every large stone of his castle was laid by Amigo’s hands.
Although he didn’t finish his castle, what he did manage to build is very impressive, and in addition to a film about Amigo, you can also find lots of quirky signs and photo ops around the property.
John Murray is an artic famous for his paintings of the Outback, and he has a gallery in Lightning Ridge.
You can actually find his artwork painted as murals around Lightning Ridge, as well as in the nearby towns too.
He’s famous especially for his emu cartoons, and you can find some prints in the gallery that feature Lightning Ridge. I think this makes for a great souvenir of your time in The Ridge!
Life in Lightning Ridge wasn’t easy for the first settlers who came to find fortune in the opal mines. As such, the residents had to be creative and resilient in their new lives, and one of the best examples is the bottle houses.
Because it was so remote, materials were hard to come by. So, people build houses using everything they could get their hands on, like beer bottles and cans.
There are a few places where you can see one of these remaining houses. One is on the red car door tour. Another is on Opal Street. But my recommendation is to head to Nettleton First Shaft Lookout (on the green car door tour) because this one is free (although you can leave a donation).
The best place to go out in Lightning Ridge is the bowling club. You do have to be a member to enter, but it’s quick and easy to do so, and very worth it.
They have two restaurants to order from inside, as well as a café and bar. And of course, lots of pokies, if you want to try your hand at gambling.
It’s the heart of the community, so it’s always lively and busy, and the food is quite good. I was also very surprised with how nice it is inside—it certainly doesn’t feel like you’re in the dusty Outback in there!
There are also a few cafes in town, which is surprising for how small the town is.
Most are on Opal Street, and I’d recommend Opal Street Café, especially on a nice day as they have outdoor seating. Another good option, especially if it’s a rainy day, is The Busy Bee Café.
This is a pretty special place that is worth checking out, especially if they have an event going on.
The reason why it’s so unique is that you can see permaculture in action—the owners managed to grow a garden paradise in a semi-arid environment. In a landscape that is so dry and devoid of much life, it’s cool to see how they managed to get plants to thrive using syntropic farming.
If you’re around on a weekend (sometimes Thursdays too), this amazing place has a delicious Thai restaurant operating. The menu changes every week and they’re only open a few days a week, but it’s worth checking out for lunch.
At the end of the green car door you’ll find Nettleton’s First Shaft Lookout, where in addition to a memorial marking the first mine shaft there’s a maze, a house made of old beer bottles and cans, and a view of the vast Outback stretching out for as far as the eye can see.
This is where you can watch the sun set, and it stunning every time I drove over to see it. Try to visit on a slightly cloudy day, as it makes the sunset even more beautiful with the clouds lit up by sunset colors.
One of the best things to do in Lightning Ridge is visit the Artesian Bore Baths.
Because Lightning Ridge isn’t located near a source of water, it gets its water from the ground. And because it’s located on the Great Artesian Basin, the water is naturally hot.
This results in the free hot pools on the edge of town, and I used to visit several times a week. It’s very relaxing, especially for weary travelers, so make sure you check them out!
I’d recommend going either early morning when it’s not too busy yet or for sunset. Make sure to stay until it gets dark to see the milky way up above!
In the parking lot of the Lightning Ridge Information Centre, you can find a market every Sunday morning.
I tried to stop by every week during the three months I lived there. There is a great atmosphere, and you can buy anything from home baked goods, antiques, books, plants and of course, opal. Lots and lots of opal.
It’s a great place to buy opals if you’re not looking for a perfectly cut opal set in expensive jewelry but just want a small memento from Lightning Ridge. A lot of the vendors are miners selling the opal they found, so you can buy opal directly from them and cheaper than at the jewelry stores.
One of my favorite things to do in Lightning Ridge isn’t actually in Lightning Ridge. About a 45-minute drive away from town are opal fields, and while there isn’t much there besides the opal fields and a small general store, there are three pubs.
There’s the Club in the Scrub, Glengarry Hilton and the Sheepyard. All three are incredibly unique and worth visiting, so I’d recommend going to all of them!
Grab yourself a map of the area (and how to get there) from the Lightning Ridge Information Centre (and check to see if the road is passable, as it isn’t after heavy rain).
Doing a pub crawl of the three pubs is a great way to explore the area. I’ve been told that the Grawin area is what Lightning Ridge used to look like back in the day, so it’s really cool to see.
The locals are incredibly friendly too, so don’t be afraid to start a conversation at the pubs.
And if you don’t have a designated driver or want to stay in the pubs past sunset, you can actually camp free of charge at any of the pubs!
I visited twice and stayed at the “Hilton” both times, as it had the best dinner options. That being said, I think Club in the Scrub also had a good camping area.
If you happen to be in Lightning Ridge in July, the annual Opal Fest is on at the end of July. People come from all over Australia and the world to sell and buy opals, and this is when you can get the best deals on opals.
That being said, this is not a trip to take last minute. All accommodation is booked out months in advance, so you may have to come for just a day trip if you want to visit the festival.
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The opal fossicking and visiting the bottle house look like unique activities you don't find very often. Add in the bore baths and it sounds like a fun place to visit.
We plan to do a long return visit to Australia. We are looking for interesting and new spots for our itinerary travelling between Sydney and Brisbane. Lightening Ridge looks like a great place to add to learn a little bit about opal mining. Fun to find the fossilized bones of a dinosaur! Fascinating carving in the mine.
I love opals. I'd probably run out of money if I step foot in the opal stores...!
I visited Lightning Ridge when I was young and remember learning lots about opals. Visiting outback NSW/Australia is a great way to truly get to know Australia. It's good to see there are many other things to see and do there also. I will need to make a return visit now.
I cannot wait to visit Australia some day! Great article