Five pink lakes in South Australia worth the drive

South Australia’s vast expanses of arid landscape lend themselves to shallow and often dry lakes and as a spectacle, they take some beating. Better still, under the right conditions, some of them turn a lurid pink colour thanks to a natural microscopic algae and walking on the rosy crust of the salt bed can result in magical photographs. Want to find SA’s best pink lakes? Try one (or all) of these for size.

It’s difficult to ignore Lake Bumbunga if you’re travelling north out of Adelaide along the Princes Highway. The vast expanse of salt plain on the dried lake bed just near Lochiel turns a rosy pink each year and visitors are welcome to trudge across the salty crust and grab a photo of the wild colours. Check out the Loch Eel Monster, a whimsical sculpture made of tyres, then head east to the Clare Valley for a wine tasting (perhaps a glass of cheeky pink rosé?) to finish the day.

The grand road trip across the Nullarbor Plain reveals plenty of sights and one of the lesser-known is Lake MacDonnell. Just south of Penong, along the highway from Ceduna, this coastal salt flat is part of the southern hemisphere’s largest gypsum deposit and while it was mined for decades, for sightseers the glowing pink expanses are a different kind of treasure. While in Penong don’t miss the windmill museum, an outdoor homage to Australia’s rural sentinels.

With its apt – though perhaps unimaginative – name, Pink Lake is another shallow expanse of salty water when full and a hard and crusty salt pan when dry. It is indeed pink at the right time of year when the right algae is blooming and it’s impossible not to stop for a gawk and a photo. It’s just outside the town Meningie south-east of Adelaide, not far from the Coorong wetlands, and if you’re doing the coastal trip between South Australia and Victoria its well worth a stop.

Visiting Lake Eyre isn’t so much a day trip as it is part of an overland 4WD adventure, but once seen is never forgotten. This 150km long, 80km long wide inland sea is an expanse of dry salt most times, but floods when rain falls on the South Australian Outback. The water (or salt) can be pink, orange or white and is best seen on a scenic flight from towns as disparate as Coober Pedy, Maree or William Creek.

This giant salt lake might not be quite as big as Lake Eyre but Lake Hart is much more accessible to normal drivers – on the condition they are driving the long and lonely Stuart Highway from Adelaide to Alice Springs. Just west of Woomera (with its fascinating history of rocket launches) the lake has its own rest area and a short walk takes you to the salt pan that glows a bubble-gum pink when the right algae has infested the salt crystals.

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