William Creek: Australia’s Smallest Town and Your Last Stop Before the Lake
William Creek is one of those places that sounds made up until you’re standing in it. The permanent population sits somewhere around a handful of people, and it’s often cited as the smallest incorporated town in Australia. There’s a pub, an airstrip, a campground, and not a whole lot else — and honestly, that’s exactly the appeal.
Sitting almost dead centre on the Oodnadatta Track and right at the edge of Anna Creek Station, William Creek has become the natural staging point for anyone heading out to Lake Eyre. The pub itself has been operating for well over a century in various forms, and its walls and ceiling are covered in stickers, banknotes, and memorabilia left behind by decades of travellers passing through.
Why William Creek is part of nearly every Lake Eyre itinerary
- It’s the closest fuel, food and accommodation point to the lake itself
- Scenic flights over Lake Eyre depart from the William Creek airstrip
- The pub is a genuine slice of outback culture, not a tourist reconstruction of one
- It sits within Anna Creek Station, giving a real sense of the scale of outback pastoral land
Most of our multi-day tours build in a night here, and it’s usually one of the trip highlights guests mention afterwards — not because there’s a long list of things to do, but because there’s so little competing for your attention that you actually notice the stars, the quiet, and the sheer scale of the place.
