Lake Eyre is an extensive ‘salt sink’, a dry lake that occasionally floods and on those rare occasions that the lake completely fills, it is Australia’s largest lake. Water from its three-State catchment area covers the lake about once every eight years (on average), with the lake having only filled to capacity, three times in the last 150 years.

During the rainy season the rivers from the northeast (outback Queensland) flow inland towards Lake Eyre through the Channel Country. The amount of water from the monsoon rainfall determines whether water will reach the lake and if it does, how deep the lake will get. The torrential rain of January 2007 took about six weeks to reach the lake¹.
 

Access to the park is 7 km east of William Creek, then 53 km east to Halligan Bay or 3 km west from Maree and then 90 km north. The roads are 4WD only and visitors should take care when planning a visit.

A Desert Park Pass is required with the best time to visit being during the winter. For further information visit the ParksWeb:

	ParksWeb Lake Eyre National Park Web: www.parks.sa.gov.au/lakeeyre/ Desert Parks Information Line Ph: +61 8 8648 5300 (for up-to-date information on the Lake Eyre bird population). Department for Environment and Heritage
	ParksWeb Map of Lake Eyre National Park (100 Kb PDF)
	MSN Map of Lake Eyre (lake), South Australia