Guide to Leonora Western Australia Australia

Leonora, three hours’ drive north of Kalgoorlie, is a very clean and well kept, busy little outback town.

It was discovered and named by John Forrest in 1869. The main thoroughfare of Tower Street is well laid out and attractive. The town has kerosene lamp lights; the footpaths are gravelled and kerbed. There are iron roofed, wooden buildings typical to mining settlements and the hotels and business establishments are impressive brick buildings. A double decker steam train runs between the busy towns of Leonora and Gwalia.

Established in 1897, the Sons of Gwalia mine closed in 1963. Many pieces of this historic period remain in the Gwalia Historical Museum and complement the little precinct of 20 original old miners’ camps, lovingly restored by the local community.

The mine reopened in 1983 and a year later began operations as an opencut pit. The company reverted back to underground workings in 1999. Mining now operates adjacent to the museum and gives tourists an insight into both historic and modern mining methods.

Leonora is a fully serviced town with a motel, caravan park, two hotels, and two roadhouses. Bus and air transport regularly service the area. Many tourists use Leonora as a stop off enroute to Alice Springs or the northern parts of Western Australia.