Silverton: The Greatest Sunset You’ll Ever See

With a population of 50 people, Silverton could be easily skimmed over on your next road trip. But with an iconic outback pub, quirky outback art galleries and one of the greatest sunsets in the country, this is a town you surely don’t want to miss.

Getting there

Silverton is only a short half hour drive out of Broken Hill and is often a place people visit for a day trip if they are staying in Broken Hill for a couple of nights. However, if you can I would definitely recommend you stay out there for a night.

The drive out really gives you a sense of how desolate the Aussie outback is with the bright red dirt and the plains completely barren and flat. The change is quite immediate as soon as you drive out of Broken Hill.

About the town

The official population of Silverton is 50 people and their claim to fame is Mad Max 2 as the film was shot there. There is a Mad Max 2 Museum which was unfortunately closed due to COVID-19 when we were there, however it should be re-opening in July.

What to do

Although the town is small in people, there are over 11,000 of common public land to explore!

Drive through the dried up creek beds for some fun 4x4 driving.

You wouldn’t expect a small outback town to be a hive for art lovers, but within 50m of the stretch of road through town there are 4 seperate art galleries.

A little hidden gem in this town for me was definitely the John Dynan Art Gallery. John has lived in Silverton his entire life and owns his own gallery in town. I was so encapsulated by him and his story I decided to write a seperate article about him here.

Other places in the town we went to were:

Silverton pub. An iconic outback pub with a lot of history. The walls are full of countless frames and posters on the walls which give you get a sense of the character and history of the pub.
Mad Max Museum. Unfortunately this was closed when we went, however locals rave about it!
Silverton Gaol Museum. $5 entry fee gets you a full tour of the old gaol that has now been converted into a museum.
In general, there is just so much land out there! It is so easy to just go for a drive and get lost in the red dust and the crazy landscape surrounding you.

Where to stay

Accomodation in Silverton is limited so I would recommend camping. There is a caravan park that provides unpowered and powered sites, however locals will tell you you can free camp almost anywhere in the local common. Locals recommended us to find a nice spot alongside the dried up creek which runs all through the common. We ended up parking up off a dirt track from the main road from Mundi Mundi Plains, near the creek.

Town Highlight

The highlight of Silverton however, was without a doubt Mundi Mundi Plains Lookout. This lookout is about 15 minutes further west of Silverton but gave us one of the most spectacular sunsets we have ever seen.

The full moon was out for us so as the sun set in in the west and filled the sky with glowing reds, oranges and yellows, we turned around to the east to see a cotton candy pink and blue sky with the full moon in full view.

Hot Tip

Take a few drinks, nibblies and dips and set up chairs to watch the sunset. Make sure you stay for 10-15 minutes after the sun has set as the after glow across the plains is definitely a sight to be seen.