Moonta

Copper found at Moonta in 1861 brought thousands of Cornish miners to the Yorke Peninsula, and with Kadina and Wallaroo the district became known as Little Cornwall, at one point the richest copper producer in Australia. The mines closed in 1923, and what remains is a state heritage area: engine houses, chimneys, mullock heaps and the miners' cottages scattered across open scrub, with the Moonta Mines museum in the old school and a small tourist railway running through the workings. Cornish traditions persist in the pasties sold in local bakeries and in the Kernewek Lowender festival held in odd-numbered years, described as the largest Cornish festival in the world.

What you actually see

• The engine houses - stone pumping houses and chimneys across the mine field.
• The Moonta Mines museum - the district's history in the old mines school.
• The tourist railway - a small train running through the old workings.
• The Cornish traditions - pasties, chapels and the biennial festival.

When to go

April to October for comfortable weather; the Kernewek Lowender festival falls in May of odd-numbered years and fills the district. Summer on the peninsula is hot and dry with little shade at the mine sites.

Honest expectations

The museum and railway operate on limited days, mostly weekends and holidays. Old shafts across the heritage area are hazardous and fenced in places but not everywhere. The towns are quiet outside festival time.

Nearby

Kadina and Wallaroo complete the copper triangle; Innes National Park lies south.