Destination guides > Australia > Northern Territory > Central Northern Territory > Tennant Creek
Tennant Creek
In 1872 a station was established 11km north of town to service the overland telegraph and in the 1930s gold was discovered in the area and the town developed around this time.
Although there are only 3500 people in Tennant Creek, it is the Northern Territory’s fifth-largest town. It is 500km north of Alice Springs and 1000km south of Darwin.
If you’re travelling on the Stuart Highway between Alice Springs and Darwin you may want to break your journey at this small mining town, even though there isn’t really a lot to see here. It’s the only town of any size for at least 500km in any direction and it has ATMs, grocery stores and a hospital.
Practical information
Tennant Creek Tourist Information Centre
58 Peko Road, Tennant Creek
Tel (08) 8962 3388
Website www.tennantcreek.nt.gov.au/visit-us/
Open Jan-Oct Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 9am-noon; May-Sep 9am-5pm daily; Oct-Dec Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 9am-noon
Coming & going
Greyhound (tel 1300 473 946 (1300 GREYHOUND)) buses to Alice Springs, Darwin and Townsville stop at the coach terminal at 151 Patterson Street.
Hostel accommodation
Tennant Creek has two basic hostels that are acceptable if you just need somewhere to stop for the night. However travellers with a campervan (or a car and a tent) are better off avoiding Tennant Creek altogether and camping 100km north of town at Banka Banka.
Garyochan’s Backpackers
67 Schmidt Street, Tennant Creek
Tel (08) 8962 2024
Tourist’s Rest Youth Hostel
Corner Windy & Leichhardt Streets, Tennant Creek
Tel (08) 8962 2719
Sightseeing, museums & tourist attractions
Battery Hill Mining Centre
Battery Hill was named after the stamp battery that was built in 1939 to provide processing facilities for Tennant Creek’s many small gold mines. The plant operated until the 1980s, although it closed during World War II and also for a few years in the late 1950s. The centre has a museum and you can take underground mine tours.
Peko Road, Tennant Creek
Tel (08) 8962 1281 or 1800 500 879
Admission free; underground tour $20
Open 9am-5pm daily
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