It is located approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Beltana in the outback of South Australia.
The area that covered by Puttapa was once part of a much larger lease taken up by John Haimes in 1854 which eventually became Beltana Station.
[1] The area was known as the Puttapa paddock and was eventually sold to Steven Lock in 1911 and became Puttapa Station.
[1] The land occupying the extent of the Puttapa pastoral lease was gazetted by the Government of South Australia as a locality in April 2013 under the name Puttapa.
[2] Puttapa Station contains a number of heritage-listed sites: