2019-07-05
It's located 570km's north of Adelaide, right at the very tip of the Flinders Ranges.
It's a place that sits between the Flinders and the most remote areas of South Australia. It's Copley!
Rarely featured in the news, Copley goes about it's business without any fuss and is currently run mostly by a group of enthusiastic young people.
Copley is a great place to stay overnight , or as a base to explore the surrounding areas, and there is no better place to stay than the Copley Caravan Park. Clean, practical cabins or campsites... your choice. Give long time Caravan Park operators, David or Shirley, a call on 08 8675 2288 and let them know you're coming.
Jimmy and Hannah are baking prize winning pies and bottling jam in the Copley Bush Bakery & Quandong Cafe, at the front of the Copley Caravan Park. Shiny clean glass cabinets packed with locally made delectable treats such as the Quandong pies or bliss balls and ovens bursting with different flavoured pies... from beef and red wine to the local kanga version.
Darren, Tianna and Zac have control of the mechanical workshop. Cookes Outback Motors is the local fuel stop, mechanical repair workshop, the RAA agent and also just by chance happens to be the local agent for Complete Ute and Van Hire / Complete Four Wheel Drive Hire.
If you're a RAA member and your vehicle happens to break down there's more often than not a Complete Ute and Van Hire 4WD vehicle clean and ready for hire, parked across from the workshop. Say hi to Tianna and fill in a bit of paperwork and you'll be continuing on with your journey before you know it.
If you happen to be driving a 2WD on the bitumen to Copley, but you want to head off road, perhaps to Arkaroola, you might also like to stop off at Cookes and consider hiring a 4WD Dual Cab for a few days.
Darren would oversee the preparation of the vehicle, Zac will make sure it's mechanically fine and Tianna will meet and greet and ensure the paperwork is as it should be.
If you're working in the area on a project or mine site, where a specific type of vehicle (perhaps a site specific or mine specific 4WD vehicle) is required over a longer term, this could be made available from Cookes Outback Motors also.
If you don't have the time or inclination to drive to the top of the Flinders Ranges there is always the fly and hire option. You can fly directly into Leigh Creek and one of the guys from our Complete Ute and Van Hire agency would be happy to meet you there (a small fee would apply) with our 4WD Dual Cab Hire vehicle ready to go.
It goes without saying that travel into this area should be within daylight hours. You're guaranteed to see kangaroos, emus, eagles and unfenced sheep and cows, along with plenty of roadkill.
Gateway to the beautiful South Australian outback... Copley, is a perfect starting point to take a Complete Ute and Van Hire Four Wheel Drive off road to explore the sparsely populated, harsh, but beautiful country that is outback to South Australia.
Copley could also be the end point of your Flinders Rangers experience.