3 great Australian deserts

Posted 5 April, 2024 John Pedler

Most of Australia’s population huddles around the coast, and for good reason. Much of the interior of this wide brown land is desert.

In an earlier article we looked at some of South Australia’s deserts, which are ideal for getting away from it all. This time we explore another three desert crossings, starting with a relatively easy outback jaunt and finishing with an epic overland expedition requiring extensive planning.

1. Strzelecki Track (Strzelecki Desert)

Origin

This remote track roughly follows an old stock route, but it was the discovery of vast fossil fuel reserves beneath the shifting sands that played a major role in opening up the region.

These days, Santos workers and contractors enjoy a network of private roads that criss-cross the desert, linking oil and gas wells with processing plants, like the fly-in-fly-out settlement of Moomba.

The Strzelecki Track has greatly benefited from this activity, and it’s no longer the challenging four-wheel-drive expedition it once was.

The drive

The Track stretches 472km from Lyndhurst to the tiny town of Innamincka on the banks of Cooper Creek. For much of the trip the road wanders among sand dunes covered with mixed vegetation.

Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) plan to seal the entire route, and three lengthy sections of the road have already been completed.

The remaining unsealed sections can be easily negotiated in a high-clearance conventional vehicle in dry weather. An SUV or four-wheel drive is needed to explore the waterholes and other attractions around Innamincka.

There are several rest areas en route, including Montecollina Bore, 221km north of Lyndhurst. Drawing water from the Great Artesian Basin, this flowing well has created a wetland that attracts a variety of birdlife.

Occasionally gas wells are spotted on the roadside, and 331km from Lyndhurst, Moomba can be seen about a kilometre from the track.

Nuts and bolts

Diesel and unleaded fuel, accommodation and groceries are available at Lyndhurst and Innamincka. Lyndhurst Hotel has a caravan park.

There are excellent bush campgrounds beside the Cooper Creek waterholes in Innamincka Regional Reserve, which surrounds Innamincka. Park entry and campsites can be booked online.

Be sure to check DIT and National Parks for any road-condition warnings before heading off.

Travellers need to be fully self-sufficient.

2. Googs Track (Yumbarra Conservation Park, Yellabinna Regional Reserve and Wilderness Protection Area)

Origin

Pastoralists John ‘Goog’ Denton and his wife Jenny had long wondered what lay in the wilderness north of their remote Lone Oak property. So, in 1973 the Denton family and friends began construction of a road towards Tarcoola on the Trans-Australian Railway line.

Working only on weekends, it took three years to construct the 125km track across hundreds of sand dunes to reach a point 7km east of Mount Finke. Here, their new track joined an existing track that other locals had begun to build from the north but later abandoned.

The drive

To reach Googs Track, turn off the Eyre Highway onto Kalanbi Road, 4km north of Ceduna. Follow this mostly unsealed road for 26km to the boundary of Yumbarra Conservation Park, where the fun begins.

It’s about 156km from the park boundary, along Googs Track to Malbooma rail siding on the unsealed Tarcoola Road.

With its many dune crossings, Googs Track is a handy practice run for the more extensive Simpson Desert and Canning Stock Route journeys. But it’s also a great adventure in its own right.

This is serious, high clearance four-wheel-drive terrain, and off roaders will need to feel comfortable negotiating big dunes.

Tyre pressures should be dropped to help tackle deep sand. Carry a portable compressor to reinflate your tyres when the crossing is completed. Drivers can expect corrugations, particularly on the dune approaches.

The track passes through mallee and spinifex, with Mount Finke visible from atop many of the dune crests.

National Parks and Wildlife Service prefer Googs Track to be driven from south to north to prevent collisions with oncoming traffic.

From Malbooma, its’s 118km along Tarcoola Road to Kingoonya Hotel, and a further 43km to the sealed Stuart Highway and the tourist facilities at Glendambo Roadhouse.

Nuts and bolts

There’s no fuel between Ceduna and the 24-hour, card operated diesel and unleaded fuel machine at Kingoonya.

Fit a sand flag to make your vehicle easier to see among the dunes and trees.

There are designated campsites at Googs Lake and Mt Finke, which can be booked online.

3. Canning Stock Route (Gibson and Great Sandy deserts)

Origin

Named after the route’s surveyor Alfred Canning, the Canning Stock Route (CSR) stretches 1850km from Halls Creek in Western Australia’s Kimberley region to Wiluna in the south.

The CSR was completed in 1910, and was established for droving cattle from the East Kimberley to the gold fields in the south of the state.

The project included construction of 51 wells, tapping into underground aquifers to quench the thirsts of drovers and livestock.

The stock route wasn’t particularly popular and it was last used in 1959, when better transport infrastructure allowed for easier movement of cattle around the country.

The drive

The CSR presents one of the most challenging four-wheel drive expeditions in Australia, if not the world.

It takes two to three weeks to complete and involves long sections of skull-rattling corrugations, vast dune fields, occasional washouts and tyre-eating rocks. No maintenance of the track is undertaken, and it only exists because people keep using it.

For many years, the trip distance was beyond the fuel range of four-wheel drive travellers, and offroaders needed to organise fuel drums to be brought from the coast to well 33.

These days, well 33 is home to Kunawarritji Community store, which has diesel and unleaded (opal) fuel, groceries and campsites.

Despite the remoteness and tough conditions, the trip is a lot of fun. If you’re lucky enough to be on the track when wildflowers are in bloom, you’re in for a colourful treat.

Main photo: Breaden Hills along the CSR. Image, Alamy

Nuts and bolts

The CSR is only suitable for sturdy, high-clearance four-wheel drives.

Travellers must be fully self-sufficient in regard to fuel, food, water, recovery equipment, first-aid gear… and everything else.

Water can be drawn from some of the wells along the route that have been restored by volunteers. But make sure you boil it before drinking!

Attach a sand flag to your vehicle to prevent collisions with oncoming cars.

For safety’s sake, it’s best not to travel solo.

Permits to travel the route are available online.

This site has handy information on the CSR.

Important: None of these tracks have mobile phone coverage, so it’s best to carry a satellite phone, as well as a UHF radio for local communication.