New South Wales

Broken Hill

The mining town that built BHP and became an art colony

Broken Hill sits on one of the richest ore deposits found in Australia, and the company that mined it, BHP, still carries the hill's name. Climb to the Line of Lode Miners Memorial for a view over the city and a roll call of every miner who never came home. The city that mining built became something unexpected, a genuine artists' colony, and once the sun sets, some of the darkest, clearest skies in the state take over. Drive out to near-ghost-town Silverton, its heritage Palace Hotel an unlikely drag-queen icon.