Collinsville

Take a look at Collinsville, the Heart of the Whitsundays outback. Just far enough away from the tourist hubs to be a country retreat.

The Heart of the Whitsundays Outback, Collinsville is located only 85 km west of Bowen.

The scenic drive will see you travel through orchards and farmland teeming with wildlife. Far enough away from the tourist hubs to be a country retreat, this closeknit community always offers a friendly and warm welcome to its many visitors. While in the Whitsundays outback be sure to take a trip to the Bowen River Hotel, legend has it, a ghost or two frequent the halls of this historic location.

HEAD TO the Coalface Experience and take a look at how life used to be underground. POP INTO the Collinsville Visitor Information Centre – located at the free 72-hour RV park. (Virtual Mine Tour COMING SOON!)

S V ILLE HIGH L I OL I N L C G HTS

HOP TO the Collinsville Historical Society A Miner’s Best Friend Museum, previously The ‘Pit Ponies’ of the underground coal mines the town hospital! have long held the hearts of fellow miners, a friendship felt globally, and pivotal to life as a coal miner here in

Collinsville and Scottville.

The Collinsville ‘Pit Ponies’ stood at an impressive 18 hands and resembled Clydesdale horses. They worked side by side with our miners, helping with the heavy tasks of hauling coal and equipment. Following mechanisation in 1953 the Pit Ponies remained loyal assistants to the miners, even becoming union members to maintain their senior status as coal miners.

By the late 1980s it was clear that the beloved Pit Ponies were no longer needed underground and the last two horses, Wharrier and Mr Ed, were retired in 1990.

Collinsville remembers the role of the Pit Ponies to this date, and celebrates their part in history as a miner’s best friend through the Pit Pony Sculpture and annual Pit Pony Festival.

Glencore is proud to be partner in this project which celebrates 100 years of mining in the Collinsville and Scottville area and the contribution it has made to those communities

VISIT Collinsville’s No. 1 Mine and take a step back in time to the steam driven days of 1919.

STOP FOR A SELFIE with the Pit Pony statue or any of the various murals throughout the town.