Parachilna

Parachilna is a siding on the old Ghan line at the western edge of the Flinders Ranges with a permanent population usually counted in single figures, and it exists in the traveller's imagination almost entirely because of the Prairie Hotel. Built in 1876 and revived from the 1990s, the pub built a reputation on native game: a mixed grill of kangaroo, emu and camel, along with quandong and wattleseed, served in a dining room that fills with travellers, film crews and station people. Rooms and camping are attached. The road east from the hamlet runs through Parachilna Gorge to Blinman, one of the best drives in the ranges, and the plains west run to Lake Torrens.

What you actually see

• The Prairie Hotel - the pub serving native game to travellers.
• Parachilna Gorge - the road east into the Flinders through a red gorge.
• The rail siding - the remains of the old Ghan line through the hamlet.
• The plains - saltbush country running west toward Lake Torrens.

When to go

April to October; summer is extremely hot on the plains. The pub is busiest through the winter travel season, when rooms book out well ahead. It closes or reduces service at times in the hottest months.

Honest expectations

There is nothing here but the hotel; the hamlet has no shop or other services and fuel is limited. Accommodation is expensive for what it is, given the location. The gorge road east is unsealed and can be rough.

Nearby

Blinman lies east through the gorge; Hawker and Wilpena are south.