Lake Gairdner

Lake Gairdner is, when it floods, the third-largest salt lake in Australia, stretching over a hundred and fifty kilometres north to south with a salt crust that can be more than a metre thick in places, blindingly white and flat to the horizon in every direction, broken only by low islands of red rock. Access is through Mount Ive Station, a working sheep property that provides the practical route and basic accommodation. Since the 1990s, Speed Week has been held on the lake most years in March, when land speed racers run cars and motorcycles on a marked course, conditions permitting; wet years cancel it. Outside that, the lake is silent and almost never visited.

The landscape

• The salt crust - a flat white surface running to the horizon.
• The red islands - low rocky outcrops standing out of the salt.
• Speed Week - land speed racing on the lake in March, when conditions allow.
• The night sky - dark skies over a completely flat horizon.

When to go

April to September for comfortable temperatures; summer heat and glare are severe. Speed Week falls in March and is cancelled in wet years. Rain makes the surface soft and the access roads impassable.

Good to know

Access is entirely on unsealed station roads and through private property, so arrangements with Mount Ive Station are necessary. Driving onto the salt is restricted and can bog vehicles badly. Glare from the crust is intense and sunglasses are essential. There is no phone coverage.

Nearby

Mount Ive Station is the access point; the Gawler Ranges lie south.

Key facts