The town, with a population of just 20, has been on the map for more than 140 years but its biggest moment of fame (so far) came when it played a role in the internationally acclaimed Australian movie, “Crocodile Dundee” and its sequels.
But people had known about it for a century or so before that. In 1862, the McKinlay district was discovered by the explorer John McKinlay. The explorer, with his party of horses, cattle, camels and sheep, left Adelaide in August 1861 to complete the first and greatest Australian transcontinental droving feat when he led the South Australian Burke Relief Expedition to search for the missing explorers Burke and Wills.
McKinlay reached the Gulf of Carpentaria in May 1862. Along the way, he named many mountains and rivers – including the McKinlay River, after which the town was named.
In its early years, the town was a staging post for Cobb and Co coaches and a social gathering point for graziers whose vast properties surround it.
The Walkabout Creek Hotel, first called the Federal Hotel, has not only had a name change since its \earliest days in 1900 - it has also literally pulled up stumps! The pub was moved to a site fronting the Matilda Highway in 1996 and is now a welcome stopping spot for travellers and stockmen alike. At the age of 108, the pub is as popular as it has ever been.
One place in town that’s very well known with the travelling public – especially people who regularly drive this part of the Matilda Highway – is the McKinlay Roadhouse. There’s a saying that if you always check where the truckies eat, you’ll know where to get a great meal. Well, the truck drivers pull in to the McKinlay Roadhouse. Open from 7.00am to 9.30pm seven days a week, the roadhouse serves up fantastic breakfasts. Bacon and eggs, pork chops, crumbed steak and lamb chops are all on the menu.
Meals are available all day – anything from meat and salad or homecooked vegetables to hamburgers and sandwiches. They also sell convenience goods, stamps, souvenirs, maps, vehicle oil and all fuels (including autogas). Toilets and showers are available. About midway through the year, a major sealed truck parking bay will be opened right next door to the roadhouse.
Some visitors like to wander around the old gravestones at the cemetery and those with children enjoy a visit to the playground at a little park in town. While in McKinlay, visit Queensland’s smallest library. There is also a bush nursing clinic.
McKinlay is the closest little township to the BHP Cannington Mine, which is known as the world’s richest silver mine. You may see trucks like the one pictured here while you’re driving through the region.
