Port Wakefield, South Australia
| Port Wakefield South Australia | |||||||||||||||
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The Uniting Church at Port Wakefield | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 34°11′17″S 138°08′54″E / 34.18819°S 138.148325°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 593 (UCL 2021) | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 5550 | ||||||||||||||
| Time zone | ACST (UTC+9:30) | ||||||||||||||
| • Summer (DST) | ACST (UTC+10:30) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | 99 km (62 mi) North West of Adelaide city centre via | ||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | Wakefield Regional Council | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Narungga | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Grey | ||||||||||||||
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| Footnotes | Adjoining localities | ||||||||||||||
Port Wakefield (formerly Port Henry) is a town at the mouth of the River Wakefield, at the head of the Gulf St Vincent in South Australia. It was the first government town to be established north of the state capital, Adelaide. Port Wakefield is situated 98.7 kilometres (61.3 miles) from the Adelaide city centre on the Port Wakefield Highway section of the A1 National Highway.
Port Wakefield is a major stop on the Adelaide – Yorke Peninsula and Adelaide – Port Augusta road routes. Travellers between Adelaide and any of the Flinders Ranges, Yorke Peninsula, Eyre Peninsula or the Nullarbor Plain will likely travel through Port Wakefield. Due to its strategic location, Port Wakefield is known for its roadhouses and trucking stops.
Just north of the township there is a major forked intersection where the Yorke Peninsula traffic diverges west onto the Copper Coast Highway from the main Augusta Highway. The intersection is notorious for road accidents and traffic delays, especially at the end of holidays and long weekends.