Moonta Mines State Heritage Area

The Moonta Mines State Heritage Area is the beating heart of "Little Cornwall" — a vast precinct of stone engine houses, chimney stacks, ruined mine workings and restored miners' cottages spread across the scrub south of Moonta township. At its peak in the late 1800s this was one of the richest copper fields in the British Empire, and the bones of that boom still stand among the mallee.

You can wander self-guided between landmarks like Hughes Engine House and Richman's Enginehouse, peer into the restored Miner's Cottage, and trace the tramways that once carried ore across the field. Interpretive signs tell the story of the Cornish families who came to work the lodes and built a community that still celebrates its heritage every Kernewek Lowender festival.

Give it a half-day. Combine the ruins with the Moonta Mines Museum and a ride on the tourist railway, and the scale of this once-great copper field comes vividly to life.