Lake Gairdner is located in the State of South Australia. Largest of a group of shallow depressions west of Lake Torrens in central South Australia, 240 mi (550 kilometres) northwest of Adelaide, the State capital. It measures 100 mi (160 km) long by 30 mi wide. Lying at the base of the Eyre Peninsula, the lake is a dry salt pan (playa) intermittently filled with water.
Visited in 1857 almost simultaneously by Stephen Hack and Peter E. Warburton, it is named after Gordon Gairdner, former chief clerk in the Australian Department of the Colonial Office, London.
It is a very remote location, the nearest town of Iron Knob being some 121 kilometers (75 miles) from the turn off to the Mt. Ive Station.
Travelling time from the Victorian capital city of Melbourne is about 21 hours and Sydney, New South Wales about 25 hours.
It is about a 6 hour trip from Adelaide to Port Augusta. Most crews stay at the Big 4 Caravan Park at Pt. Augusta on the Friday night before heading out to the Lake on the Saturday.
