About the Historical walk

Explore the township of Farina on the Town Walking Trail, taking in the restored buildings and ruins. Commence the walk from the restored “Patterson’s House” and the famous Underground Bakery. There are numerous information boards along the way. Rated easy, with a total distance less than 2km. The walk will take 30 to 60 minutes depending on your specific interest in reading the information available at some sites.

Farina was founded in the 1870s, originally named Government Gums, and during the early 1880s plans were laid out for the town. The town was later named “Farina”, which in latin means wheat or flour, representing the optimism of the early settlers who hoped the turn the vast gibber plain into fields of grain. The Great Northern Railway from Port Augusta was constructed reaching the town in 1882, and from 1884 continued on to Marree and Alice Springs. During the railway construction the town boomed, with a cosmopolitan population of Aborigines, Chinese, Europeans and Afghan. Early years in the town saw good unusually good rains and the town and farms flourished, but after years of drought and dust storms the town was abandoned. In 1980 a new railway to Alice Springs was built 400km to the west, and after the long years of decline the town was abandoned. From 2009 volunteers have been working on preserving and restoring some sites in the town.

View the walk notes and map on the Farina Restoration Group website.

You can also walk out to the old railway lines, and do the Narrow Gauge River Crossing Walk and Farina Creek Walk. From the campground, you can also walk out to the cemetery.

The best time to visit Farina is during the winter months, particularly when the Farina Restoration Group has the Underground Bakery open.