It is on the southwestern side of the Barossa Council, bounded on the southwest by the South Para River.

The locality is now essentially rural, but is named for the gold mining and prospecting in the second half of the nineteenth century in the area, on the creeks descending to the South Para River.

[4] Gold was discovered in October 1868 by Job Harris, a publican at Sandy Creek.

By late 1870, the rush had subsided and only 100 miners remained with others having moved on to other fields.

None of the companies was successful, despite constructing a large gold battery and tramways to supply it.