Scariest. Road trip. Ever - A driving tour of Australia’s ghost towns

Australia is a land of sprawling open spaces, long freeways and an exciting array of outdoor adventures. If you want to try something a little different on your next road trip, and you want to explore the supernatural when you visit Australia, you must consider the tantalising atmosphere of some of our best ghost towns. Start planning your trip Down Under, and make sure your itinerary includes a few of the following places.

1. Silverton, New South Wales

This is the most well known Australian ghost town appearing in prominent Hollywood blockbusters Mad Max 2 and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, but is by no means any less frightening and a must-see destination if you visit the Broken Hill area. You can take an eerie stroll at sundown through the remains of the public school, cryptically exploring the destroyed classrooms. Other important sites include the Silverton Gaol and its bare desert surrounds, as well as the Peter Brown and John Dynon galleries, giving an artistic view of the area’s rich and twisted history. If you really want a full horror experience, you can camp out in the abandoned Pembroke Park, once one of the busiest in the area, but now deserted.

2. Mount Mulligan, Queensland

The physical environment here sets the scene for a typical horror movie yet is a comfortable day trip 170km away from Cairns. The ashes of the once vibrant town lay scattered in the shadow of Mount Mulligan’s long sandstone cliff at the base. The town is most famous for almost a whole workforce being literally entombed alive after a mine explosion in 1921. 74 were found to have perished, 12 bodies were buried unidentified. Now the area is a series of disconnected relics, you can explore the abandoned mine shafts haunted by the ghosts of the dead, or poke around rusted machinery. This is all that is left of Mount Mulligan town apart from the stack and a misfortune-filled old hospital. The site itself is on Mount Mulligan Station, you can camp or stay in a farm overnight and indulge in guided tours of the old graveyard with Cairns 4WD Club. The area has always been haunted… it is the birthplace of the Rainbow Serpent after all, according to indigenous locals.

3. Artlunga, Northern Territory

Artlunga was once bustling with people that loved rum; it was the first town in central Australia paving the way for Alice Springs 110km away. Even rubies were found in the Hale River nearby, and alluvial gold, then typhoid broke out in 1903 ruining the town’s quality of life and leading to much misfortune and early death. By 1930 dwindled mining prospects and a very low quality of life left only 3 in the town. You can see the downfall yourself walking through the chilling cemetery and the remains of shallow mines. There is a visitor centre where you can plan your hair-raising adventure through The Great Western Mine, White Range Cemetery and Paddy’s Rock Hole.