Oodnadatta is a small outback settlement close to the Simpson Desert in the far north-west of South Australia, about 1,011 km from the state capital, Adelaide. In 2006 the settlement had a population of 277. Oodnadatta can be reached via unsealed road from Coober Pedy, via the unsealed Oodnadatta Track from Marree to Marla, or from the north via Finke (Apatula) in the Northern Territory. The name Oodnadatta derives from the Arrernte word utnadata meaning mulga blossom.
Oodnadatta has an arid desert climate and has the distinction of recording the highest reliably measured maximum temperature in Australia, 50.7° C (123.3 F) on in January 1960. While a higher temperature was recorded at Cloncurry in 1889, there remains some doubt about the reliability of the measurement method in that case.
The first known European explorer in the Oodnadatta region was John McDouall Stuart in 1859. The route discovered by Stuart through Central Australia during his expeditions from 1857 to 1862 was subsequently adopted as the route of the Overland Telegraph Line.
Oodnadatta was proclaimed a town in October 1890 in preparation for the arrival of the railway from Warrina. The town became an important regional centre and soon had a population of 150 people. Oodnadatta became the terminus of the Great Northern Railway in 1890 and remained so until 1929 when the line was extended north to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. In 1924 the United Aborigines' Mission opened the first of several missionary facilities at Oodnadatta. Commencing operations in small iron shed, the mission soon had a school, church and a cottage for children. Oodnadatta's busiest time was during the second world war when the Australian Army and Airforce serviced troop trains and fighter aircraft enroute to Darwin in the Northern Territory.
In 1980 the railway line was moved to the west of Oodnadatta and the town began to decline. Formerly a Government service centre and supply centre for surrounding pastoral properties, Oodnadatta became a residential freehold town. Indigenous Australians bought many empty houses as Railways workers left. Over time, increased tourism along the Oodnadatta Track and an emerging mining industry helped keep Oodnadatta. Today, the biggest employer in town is the Aboriginal School.
Like many outback towns, Oodnadatta was once home to a sizeable population of Afghan cameleers. At the peak of the camel train era, up to 150 Afghans lived with their wives and families lived in Oodnadatta.