Menindee (pop. 800) is a small township on the Darling River in which Burke and Wills established a base camp on their ill-fated expedition to the north in 1860. The Menindee Lake, upstream from the township (excellent facilities for water sports), supply water to Broken Hill, an artificial oasis in the arid outback 110km northwest of Menindee.
The transcontinental railway line from Perth to Sydney runs via Menindee.
Kinchega National Park was established in 1967 by the New South Wales government in cooperation with the Broken Hill mining companies. In the mid 19th C the red sandy plains and expanses of black earth once formed the huge Kinchega station, one of the first grazing farms in the Darling valley, an area explored by John Mitchell in 1835 which was frequently a staging post for other expeditions (Sturt, Wills and Burke).
Simple camping sites, swimming, fishing, bush walking trails, animal and bird watching are all available at the park. There is a visitor center 15km southwest of Menindee. Picnic spots are on the banks of Darling.
Address: Kinchega National Park, Broken Hill, NSW 2880, Australia
Tips: Access from Menindee or Broken Hill (111km, asphalted road). All other roads are gravel roads or tracks.
Admission cost is per vehicle per day.
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