Minnipa
A small wheatbelt town
Minnipa is a small wheatbelt town which is located 601 km northwest of Adelaide via the Princes and Eyre Highways and 295 km from Port Augusta. The area around the town was first settled in 1878 but it wasn't until the arrival of the railway line in 1913 that any kind of township developed. The town was proclaimed in 1915 and subsequently it became a typical wheatbelt town servicing the surrounding area and providing the necessary grain handling and rail facilities to allow farmers fast access to Thevenard and Port Lincoln.

The year of the town's official proclamation was also the year when the Minnipa Experimental Farm was established. The farm has carried out extensive experiments in the growing of wheat and the grazing of sheep on the marginal lands of the Eyre Peninsula. Over the years their research has contributed significantly to a general improvement in production of both wheat and wool in the area. Experiments with shallow seeding (rather than using seed drills) have seen a marked improvement in wheat production. In the grounds of the Experimental Farm is the very interesting inselberg, Yardwondatta Rock, which is layered in such a way as to be like a geological time line of the area.

Minnipa is not an unattractive small township but with little more than one main street, a few basic services for the passing traveller, and access to the rocky Gawler Ranges (which lie to the north) its appeals are rather limited.

Things to see:  

Gawler Ranges
The Gawler Ranges to the north of the town were first sighted by Edward John Eyre in 1839 who named them after Governor Gawler. At the time Eyre, who was only twenty four, had travelled north from Port Lincoln to Streaky Bay and was making his way across to the head of Spencer Gulf. Eyre's description of his travels is a reminder that the greatest problem of the Eyre Peninsula is its lack of reliable water. Upon his return to Adelaide he wrote: 'I cannot but regret they have not been more productive...During the whole...of 600 miles through, I believe, an hitherto unexplored country, we never crossed a single creek, river or chain of ponds, nor did we meet with permanent water anywhere, with the exception of three solitary springs on the coast.'

There is some dispute as to whether the Gawler Ranges really deserve to be called 'ranges' as they rise only a couple of hundred metres above the surrounding countryside.

	Hotels
	Minnipa Hotel/Motel Railway Tce P.O. Box 24 Minnipa SA 5654 Telephone: (08) 8680 5005 Rating: **
	Caravan Parks
	Minnipa Caravan Park Railway Tce Minnipa SA 5654 Telephone: (08) 8680 5005
	Restaurants
	Minnipa Hotel/Motel Railway Tce P.O. Box 24 Minnipa SA 5654 Telephone: (08) 8680 5005