Outback Tracks

Mawson Trail South Australia

     Outback Tracks

(1) Canning Stock Route 

(2) Simpson Desert 

(3) Strzelecki Track

(4) Great Central Road

(5) Gibb River Road

(6) Plenty Highway

(7) Garry Junction Road

(8) Anne Beadell highway

On the way to Finke Gorge National Park. N.T.

(1)Canning Stock Route: 

The Canning Stock Route is in the state of Western Australia. 1,850 km in length. On one of the most remote tracks in the world. It runs from Halls Creek in the Kimberley region of Western Australia to Wiluna in the mid-west region. With a total distance of around 1,850 km, it is the longest historic stock route in the world.
There are 4 desert regions (1)Tanami, (2,3) South & North Gibson (4) Little Sandy Desert.

Link For Permit

Scrubby Tank road. (after rain) (near Tibooburra) S.A.

(2) The Simpson Desert:  (3 MaiTracks):

(1)French Line Shortest.  

(2) Rig Road most southern & longest. 

(3) WAA Line, all converging into the QAA Line near Poeppel Corner where the NT, SA  and Queensland borders meet.170 km west of  Birdsville.

South Australia Park Pass Link

French Line:
Best direction West to East.
The reason is that the prevailing wind which forms the dunes comes from the west resulting in the western side of the dunes being a more gentle slope and the eastern side being much steeper and more difficult to climb.
From Alice Springs to Birdsville decent approx 500 meters. The French Line track also is known as the Shot Line. 440 km's approx from Birdsville to Oodnadatta. There are about 1200 sand dunes in which the track crosses at right angles. This track is the shortest route, roughest, & most sand dunes. One of my intended routes is this google map below at 820 km.  The biggest challenge is carrying enough water. Alice Springs has supermarkets for restocking food supplies, Birdsville has a general store. You can post food items through the mail to the Birdsville Post Office, some restrictions.  Here is a link for Quarantine below.
Inter-State Quarantine

The Rig Road

Silver City Highway heading towards Warry Gate(QLD)

(3)Strzelecki Track:
The Strzelecki Track was named after Sir Paul Edmund de Strzelecki (1797-1873), explorer and scientist.

The Strzelecki Track was created by cattle thief Harry Readford in 1870 while moving 1,000 cattle south from Queensland. While he was found guilty of stealing the cattle, the judge was so impressed by his determination and service to future pastoralists by creating the track that he couldn’t convict him. Readford went on to be a great cattle drover.

Check Tracks South Australia.
Outback Roads open closed

Thomson Development Rd.  Heading towards Longreach. 

The track is mostly unsealed but with a few short sealed sections to facilitate overtaking, linking Innamincka to Lyndhurst. It passes through the Strzelecki Desert. The track is easy driving, but after heavy traffic is reportedly heavily corrugated. After heavy rain, it’s promptly closed by authorities.

Great Central Road (Kata Tjuta/ Mount Olga) N.T.

(4)Great Central Road:
Also part of the Outback Way.
The Great Central Road is mostly unsealed. 1,126 km from Laverton, Western Australia to Yulara, Northern Territory. It passes through a number of small communities on the way. The road generally well-formed; though expect corrugations, bulldust, potholes, rocky outcrops, and soft sandy riverbeds along the way. Supplies & camping are available at roadhouses.
(Always Check before leaving if the roadhouse is still open)
Link to Permits Required




(5)Gibb River Road:

The Kimberley Western Australia. Great Northern Highway.

The Gibb River Road travels some 700 km through the central Kimberley Plateau from King Sound at Derby to the Cambridge Gulf at Wyndham. The whole road is now the responsibility of Main Roads WA and improvements to creek crossings and jump-ups are being made every year. The majority of the road surface is of dirt and gravel construction with only some floodways paved. Wet season (November to April) travel can be severely restricted by flooding and road closures. It's one of Australia's most legendary tracks with lots of people saying its a must-do


(6)Plenty Highway:

Ernest Giles Road N.T.

The Plenty Highway is a 498 kilometer outback mostly unsealed road in the Northern Territory between the Stuart Highway and north-western Queensland. Its a remote relatively flat run through some of the most isolated areas in the country. 

(7)Gary Junction Road:

Lake Eyre South Australia. Oodnadatta Track 

The Gary Junction Road is an outback unsealed road in Australia built by Len Beadell in the 1960s as part of a network of roads for the Weapons Research Establishment at Woomera, South Australia.
The road runs across two deserts from the center of the Northern Territory into northern Western Australia. information on permits(Free). Required are two Transit Permits, as you’ll be traveling through Aboriginal land. They are Papunya to WA border Northern Territory side Permit link                
   Western Australia permits for access to aboriginal lands
If you plan to visit the Haast’s Bluff community, you’ll need a third permit. It is Glen Helen to Papunya (Glen Helen-Papunya Road).  Transit Permit Glen Helen to Papunya

Buchanan Highway. (Termite mounds) N.T.

(8)Anne Beadell Highway:
The Anne Beadell Highway is an outback unsealed track linking Coober Pedy, South Australia, and Laverton, Western Australia, a total distance of 1,325 km. This road can be corrugated & rough with little maintenance in sections. Ilkurlka Roadhouse 166 km west the Western Australia border is the only place for limited supplies on the 1,325 km journey. The next 780 km to Coober Pedy there are no supplies. Permits are required to travel this road. Permits required for Anne Beadell Highway















Gunbarrel Highway