Mount Isa - Places to See

Visitor Information Centre
The town has no shortage of interesting sites and tours. It is sensible to start at the very helpful Tourist Information Centre (on Marian Street - the main road into town from the east) which can provide visitors with a map and directions. For more on the visitor centre check out: http://www.outbackatisa.com.au/Visitor-Centre.aspx

Mine Tours
The highlight of any visit to Mount Isa is a comprehensive tour of the mines. It makes most sense to start with a surface tour which includes an excellent film which explains how the mine works and what equipment is used. Mount Isa is one of the few mines where visitors can actually take an underground tour. At the height of the season tours are often booked out two months in advance so plan ahead. Check out: http://www.outbackatisa.com.au/Tours.aspx

Kalkadoon Tribal Centre
Next to the Tourist Information Centre is the Kalkadoon Tribal Centre and Cultural Keeping Place which contains some interesting Aboriginal artefacts from the area.

Lookout
A suitable overview of Mount Isa can be had by going up to the City Lookout opposite the Tourist Information Centre. The views across the city to the mine offer an ideal orientation. At night the lookout is a popular vantage point as the streetlights and the illumination emanating from the mines give Mount Isa a much more attractive appearance than it has during the day.

The Frank Aston Rotary Underground Museum
Perched on top of a hill this establishment contains good displays of old mining equipment and some interesting Aboriginal artefacts. It has been designed to convey a sense of what the old mines at Mount Isa must have been like. The museum actually enters the hill from the top and goes down into a series of underground chambers and rooms. It was originally the city's reservoir.

Riversleigh Fossil Centre
Behind the city library, under an amphitheatre, is the Riversleigh Fossil Display. This is a genuinely interesting, if small, collection of fossils from Riversleigh Station, located 250 km north of Mount Isa. There is everything from bat's teeth to the bones of a huge flighless ancient bird known as Dromornorthis - the precursor of the emu. It is open from 8.30am- 5pm. For more information check out: http://www.outbackatisa.com.au/Attractions/Riversleigh-Fossil-Centre.aspx

Royal Flying Doctor Service and Distance Education
Across the Leichhardt River in the shadow of the mines are the Royal Flying Doctor Service, open between 9 and 3 (tel: (07) 4743 2800) - http://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/About-Us/Our-Bases/OB-QS/Mt-Isa-Base/ and Distance Education, open from 10 to 12 during school term (tel: (07) 4744 8333.

National Trust Tent Museum
In 1932 Mount Isa Mines began building this style of low-cost accommodation. Miners had been living in very primitive conditions and J. L. Urquhart, who had gained a substantial interest in the mining company, began to develop Mount Isa as a company town. One of his first acts was to establish reasonable quality low-rent housing. The blinds to keep the heat out and the simple design were a vast improvement on the primitive quarters the miners had been living in. These houses were vital to the growth of Mount Isa. They played a part in making the city more than just an outback mining town. This is an excellent display. Tel: (07) 4743 3853

The Lakes
There are a number of pleasant lakes around the city. Most of them are artificially designed. About 10 km from the city centre is the Lake Moondarra reservoir and 100 km north is Lake Julius, which has a delightful recreation park. Because of the shortage of water in the area all the lakes have quickly become important bird sanctuaries.

Aboriginal Sites
It is not possible to visit the Aboriginal art sites around the city without a guide. There are, however, a number of tours to the sites. Information can be obtained from the Visitors' Information Centre.

The Cloncurry-Mount Isa Road
One of the most interesting aspects of any visit to Mount Isa is the road from Cloncurry to the city. Most of the Gulf lands are flat but this is uncharacteristically hilly and dramatic. In many ways the area appears to be similar to the MacDonnell Ranges in central Australia. The reason for this is that, like the MacDonnells, the Selwyn Ranges are extremely ancient. These mountains have been eroded back to their bones, and consequently their bedding erratically twists in a thousand different directions. The people of Mount Isa will tell you that these mountains are the oldest exposed land mass on earth - and you will be inclined to believe them. The Clem Walton Park (on the main highway between Cloncurry and Mount Isa) includes a remarkable lake with lots of birdlife.