Tintinara
Heart of the Parks
If you are passing through on 6th May, call in at the Footy Oval (south of town, east side of highway) between 10am and 3pm, for the annual Wool Show and Auction, and browse, or possibly buy, at the Craft and Produce Market. Click here for details.
The rural town of Tintinara, known locally as Tinty, is situated on the Dukes Highway, about 200km south-east of Adelaide in the Upper South East of South Australia.
Surrounded by unique national parks, there is an abundance of beautiful native flora and fauna to be viewed along 4WD tracks. The region used to be known as "The Ninety Mile Desert", because of its sandy soils and low mallee an heath vegetation. However, following extensive clearance of vegetation, and the addition of trace elements to the soils, the district became a highly productive farming area in the mid to late 1900s.
Tintinara and the surrounding region now supports a diverse range of agricultural enterprises, including:
- beef cattle, feed lotting and grazing;
- sheep, wool and fat lambs;
- cropping, wheat, barley and canola;
- bees, honey production;
- irrigation, lucerne seed and hay; and
- intensive industries such as dairy and piggeries.
Tintinara was a
regular watering point on the track from Adelaide to the Mt
Alexander goldfields in Victoria in the 1850s. The town's history describes the
original settlement known as the Tintinara Homestead, 7 km west of
Tintinara. It includes an old shearing shed, shearers'
quarters, and a post office.
The town of Tintinara is often called "The Heart of the Parks" because it is central to 10 National Parks.
Ngarkat Conservation Park, a 207,152 hectare wilderness comprising three other parks that stretch to the Victorian border.
Coorong National Park, a long, narrow park comprising a naturally occurring body of highly saline water separated from the coast by the Younghusband Peninsula. The Peninsula is a 100km long semi-submerged sand dune running parallel to the coast and open to the sea at the Murray Mouth. The Coorong is an internationally-protected habitat (Ramsar-listed) for thousands of resident and migratory water birds.
Messent Conservation Park, which is home to the silky mouse, mallee fowl, and countless other birds and animals.
Mount Boothby Conservation Park contains a 129 metre high granite outcrop overlaid with limestone.
Leisure
Leisure activities for visitors include walking in the region's natural wilderness. Other attractions include sports facilities such as Lawn Bowls, with two excellent greens, or for the more active Tennis, with eight hard courts. Golf enthusiasts will find an excellent 18-hole golf course 10 km south-east of the town along the Duke's highway.
Tourist Information
The Heart of the Parks, craft centre is situated in the old railway station opposite the shops in Tintinara on the Dukes Highway. Phone (08) 8757 2220.
