Aboriginal people were familiar with this country as a source of coloured ochres.
Lyndhurst was first a siding on the Great Northern Railway (1878) and was served by the north-south rail line until the Ghan route moved west of here in 1980.
The township was surveyed and proclaimed in 1896. At the end of that year, legendary teamster Jack Edwards carted the wood and iron hotel from Mt Freeling by donkey wagon. He rebuilt it and stayed on for years as publican.
Lyndhurst today is a sprawling settlement near the junction of the Oodnadatta/Birdsville and Strzelecki Tracks.