A small village in the southern Flinders Ranges.

Where is it?: 292 km north of Adelaide.




Originally known as Beautiful Valley, Wilmington is nestled in a lovely part of the lower Flinders, surrounded by highly productive rural holdings.

Beautiful Valley Aussie Relic Museum: telling the region's history, this museum is well worth a visit. The name comes from the fact that Wilmington was once known as Beautiful Valley.

Heritage features: Police station (1880); Old Coaching Station (1880); historic buildings at Carrieton (56 km north east); Aboriginal rock carvings (5 km); The Globe Hotel (Wilmington Hotel, 1876); Coaching Stables at rear of Wilmington Hotel (c.1850)

Hancock's Lookout: 11 km from Wilmington, on the Port Augusta Road, Hancock's Lookout rewards the visitor with panoramic views of the coastal plain and the gulf.

Mount Maria Walking Trail is a pleasant 2hr walk, well signposted pointing out various sites of interest. A popular attraction experienced by visitors to Wilmington.

Mt. Remarkable National Park: a popular destination for bushwalking and camping, the dramatic gorges, walking trails and diverse wildlife are just the beginning of its appeal. The park features the 960m high Mount Remarkable Summit which can be reached along the Mount Remarkable Summit Hike from Melrose, providing impressive views of Willochra Plain and Spencer Gulf.

Alligator Gorge, within the Mt Remarkable National Park, offers some of the most spectacular and colourful rock formations in the Flinders Ranges.

Origin of name: formerly known as Beautiful Valley, the town was officially named Wilmington by Governor Sir Anthony Musgrave in 1876, perhaps after Wilmington in Delaware or Wilmington in North Carolina, in the United States.

Brief history: White settlers arrived here in the 1850s and called the locality Beautiful Valley. The settlement grew around an inn (built 1861) which became a Cobb & Co. staging post. Very little has changed in the town from those early days.