The Oodnadatta Track would have to be one of Australia's most Iconic and well known 4WD touring tracks, along with the Birdsville and Strezlecki tracks just to name a few, most people who use their 4WD for what it was built for have either been and done these tracks, or, want to. Though, now days, with regular grading of the road, you can hardly call any of these "tracks" anymore, they are in most conditions, good dirt remote highways and a high clearance 2WD vehicle could do these tracks, with care. In typical conditions, it would have to be one of the easiest outback tracks to drive and reasonably safely, if you do happen to break sown, in peak time periods, you would be lucky to have to wait an hour or two before you see another vehicle. Obviously, a well setup 4WD will make your adventure more comfortable and more enjoyable.
When we are touring, we use the awesome WIKICAMPS app, it shows a LOT of stuff, but mainly we use it for campsites and attractions / points of interest. You can get it for Android, Apple devices and PC. You can download the data and maps offline so it does not rely on internet access to work. Highly recommended.
If you are into Geocaching, then you will find plenty of remote geocaches to log on this adventure.
Most people start their Oodnadatta Track experience in the south at Marree, the Birdsville Track starts here as well, so it is a popular little town with 4WD tourers, get your final top-up of fuel, food, beer, whatever you need, and in some cases, final internet and phone reception for a while. Most people consider if you have driven the Oodnadatta Track from Marree to Oodnadatta, you have done the track, but, the track continues well past Ooodnadatta and comes out on the Stuart Highway at Marla. We only did Marree to Oodnadatta, we went beyond, but that is another direction and story to tell.
According to Google maps, it is approx 410kms from Marree to Oodnadatta, if you really wanted to, you could possibly do it in one very long day, but what would be the point? There is just so much to see along this iconic drive, we highly suggest at least 3 days to have any chance of seeing what the track has to offer. Because the Ooodnadatta track basically follows the route of the old Ghan railway, there is just so much rail history and infrastructure to stop and experience, but it is not all just about the Ghan, there are remote towns along the way, usually with a pub where you can blow the froth off something cold, and get a hot meal, most even have accommodation if you want to stay the night. You can swim in hot springs, visit Lake Eyre and take a scenic flight perhaps, checkout the hot mound springs and so much more on the way.
We did this trek with friends from Melbourne in September 2019, the days were warm, the nights not cold, was a good time of the year to do it.
We chose to do the track from the south and started at Marree, the gateway to both the Birdsville and Oodnadatta tracks. We had spent the night camping at Farina, and it was a short drive up to Marree where we topped up the long range tank, got some supplies, had a bite to eat, another look around Marree, checked out the Tom Kruse truck and the old Ghan rail engines and carriages, then we took the obligatory photo in front of the Oodnadatta track road conditions sign and we were on our way...
We drove the track with the attitude of, if it looks interesting, we stop and go check it out, I think way too many people just get on the track and drive, maybe stop at the major things, but don't even notice the stuff a bit further off the track. By doing this, we found lots of interesting old bridges and other railway stuff just off the track, in creeks hidden by trees etc.
Day 1
When you first start the Oodnadatta track, it just feels like a long and straight dirt highway a few dips here and there as you cross dry creek beds and occasionally a slight bend in the track. The old Ghan railway is on your left and you can see the raised railbed as you travel along. Just 14km or so from Marree you will see your first prominent piece of old rail infrastructure, a free standing old water tank, cannot miss it, pull off, take some pics, then keep going, you are going to see a number of these old water tanks on your journey.
After another 21km from the water tank, you come to the first good "ruins" of the old railway days, in very good condition, this fettlers building and other rail infrastructure here are very worthwhile pulling off the Oodnadatta track to stretch the legs and explore the rooms and other bits to be found. Not all old railway buildings on the Ghan are in as good condition as these, though some are in even better condition. Just a pity about the graffiti and damage people do to these places.
Keep your eyes open for other interesting things both man-made and natural along the way, not everything is sign-posted. One strange attraction you will encounter on your first day is the unusual Mutonia Sculpture Park, in the middle of nowhere, approx 51km from Marree, on your left hand side, you cannot miss it, you can walk in and wander around, most people have their picture taken with the metal Oodnadatta Track Man, you will understand why I refer to him as a man when you see him.
One spot you just have to stop at on this leg, is the Lake Eyre South viewing area, you really cannot miss it on your right. When we stopped, the water had already receded a long ways from here, so you get to see Lake Eyre as a giant salt flat, the information signs here are worth the read though.
One of the next major railway sites you will come across will be on your right, because while you were not looking, the railbed moved over to the right side of the road. I am talking about a fairly major rail siding called Curdimurka Terminal. A stunning building, with a flag pole out the front, power lines and a bit further up the rail lines are a tank that is now on a bit of a lean and a water tank. Well worth the stop and photo opportunities that it affords. Curdimurka is also one of the few places where the rail lines are still in place. Camping is available here, just respect the area and the history.
Not much further up the track is Cowards Springs, a veritable oasis in the desert! We spent our first night on the track here, this is a VERY well setup commercial campground, with brilliant facilities, plus, the hot springs bath. We got in close to 5pm, so we just made it in time before they close the gates for the night. The campsites around the tree-lined campground are flat and large, and from what we could see, after you leave, the caretaker comes along and rakes the ground, so it always looks clean. Be warned, when we were here, the mossies were a killer, as soon as the sun started to set, they were out in force, so pack the spray. There was a cool breeze blowing when we decided to finally visit the hot springs bath, the water is not hot, but warm, it is fully enclosed by old railway sleepers and there are bench seats inside the enclosure and a ladder into the bath. The 4 of us really enjoyed this, but man, it was damn cold once you got out with uncontrollable shivering while I got dry!
We had a peaceful night's sleep, breakfast and then went for a wander to the museum and to have a proper look at the bath. Plenty to enjoy here. I believe there is also full Optus reception here, we are not on Optus, so unable to confirm that personally.
Day 1 consisted of just 130km's of driving, but we took all day to do that, if you look, there really is that much to see and fill in your day with.
Day 2
Once we were packed up, we back-tracked slightly to visit the first of the mound spring reserves - Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs that still have 2 quite active mound springs, it is a few km's in to the springs from the Oodnadatta track, and the road in can be a bit bumpy in places, but it is well worth the small detour. The two mound springs that are active are the Blanche Cup and the Bubbler, one is far more active than the other with raised boardwalks taking you to both springs. Stick to the board walks, stay out of the springs as they are delicate micro-environments with unique aquatic life found only in these springs. Sit and just watch the bubbles and mud constantly moving in the bottom of the clear springs. A unique attraction!
Our next stop was the Beresford railway siding, you could easily miss this one, it is hidden way off the track behind trees, we knew about it as there is a geocache hidden here. Lots to see here, great old water tower that was used to desalinate bore water for train use, water tank and fettlers house. You turn and go down and around past a rather large dam to get to this one, you might just see the water tank and tower above the trees. Another popular place for people to camp, particularly with caravans as it is so flat around the old building.
A few KM up the track, you will come to a turn off on the left to a historical site called Strangways Springs which is the remains of one of the earliest pastoral homesteads, just look for the beaten up sign on the left, follow the track for a couple of km, it then turns right towards a low hill and a parking area. Park, read the informative signs and go for a walk, there are plenty of ruins to explore here, as well as a small cemetery just a 5-10 minute walk from the main ruins. Most of the ruins are in pretty bad shape, with the exception of the well-built stone and cement water tank here. Established in the 1860's when the nearby mound springs were still running, in 1871 an overland telegraph repeater station was established here, in 1876 the station homestead was moved to Anna Creek and in 1896 the repeater station was closed and an automatic repeater was established at the nearby William Creek. There are 3 defined easy walks here, all with great signs, so it is worth the stop and opportunity to stretch your legs.
We parted ways with our friends here so we could explore the next section of the Oodnadatta Track at our own paces, a good way to do it - at your own pace, they were also going to be staying in William Creek to do a joy flight over Lake Eyre, whereas we were going to go out to Halligans Bay on Lake Eyre and camp the night.
It is not far up the road to the turn off to Halligans Bay on the shore of Lake Eyre, you do need to pre-pay for your camping before heading out, if you have not already done so, you can head into William Creek where you should get mobile service, call SA National Parkes number and book that way, or book online. We had lunch at the turn off, then started our drive out to Lake Eyre. The track out is nothing like the Oodnadatta Track, it can be heavily rutted, corrugations, bull dust holes all the stuff that make driving fun. A 4WD with good suspension will have no trouble here with this drive, it took us just on an hour to make the drive, with a caravan, you might be looking at 90+ minutes, I think we saw just 2 vehicles on our drive out.
The landscape changes pretty dramatically once you get to the point where you descend down a hill to the very low level of the lake, a weird moonscape of colours and shapes, something you need to experience for yourself. From this relatively high vantage point, you can see quite a bit of Lake Eyre and you can see the destination you are heading to in the distance. We continued on and arrived at Halligans Bay, now let me tell you, you have not encountered flies, like the flies at Halligans Bay, they are on a diet of steroids and small children! Hundreds and hundreds will assault you within minutes of getting out of the car, a fly net is essential to protect your sanity. We wandered down past the good picnic facilities, read the information signs and headed down to what would be the shoreline, the water was nowhere to be seen now. There are good toilets here, and, you can escape the bulk of the flies within. We sat in the shade of one of the picnic tables, and after being constantly assaulted with small black flies, we beat a hasty retreat to the car. After sitting in the car for 30 minutes with the car running and aircon, we decided it was just way too early, so we headed out to the nearby bay for a look, 3 seconds was all that was required there to see everything then we headed back up to the top of the hill and the border of the National Park. Here, it was cooler and literally no flies, so I flew the drone around for an hour or so before we decided to head back down to Halligans Bay to setup the tent etc.
The flies were finally thinning out, not by much, but, we put up with them while we putup the tent and organised our bedding within. We chatted to a couple who had arrived earlier and eventually, late, late in the afternoon, the flies dinally left and we were able to cook and eat dinner in peace. Once it got dark, we could see a dingo nearby, it even tried to steal the neighbours defrosting meat, so keep your eyes open when you camp here and leave nothing out overnight, I even removed the rear wheel garbage carrier and put it on the roof so there was no temptation to try and get into that. We woke up very early, grabbed our chairs and headed down to watch the sun rise over Lake Eyre, just magical. No flies as yet, so we decided to hold off on breakfast, we quickly packed down and just as we were finishing, the flies arrived back.
Day 2, excluding the side tracks, was just 74km from Coward Springs to William Creek, does not sound far, but we managed to fill the day in again easily.
Day 3
We did the drive out from Halligans Bay back to the Oodnadatta Track and on to William Creek, on the way out we had 3 4WDs overtake us at high speed, we caught up to them just need the Oodnadatta track, one of them had blown the radiator. Once we arrived in William Creek, we went into the pub and ordered a couple of Toasties at well, scary prices for breakfast, but, this is the outback. Took some photos, did some internet type stuff, tried to call our friends to see where they were, could not get them, used the toilet facilities and had a bit of a cleanup of the garbage bags etc. Then, we started the final day of our Oodnadatta Track adventure, as we could not get our friends on the phone, we did day 3 solo, turns out, they were in town while we were, no matter, they knew we were going to meet them at Oodnadatta or along the way.
Once you leave William Creek, there is not quite as much to see, still, it is an interesting drive, we probably saw more abandoned trailers and destroyed tyres and rims on this section of the track than any other. One of the main historical ruins we wanted to visit was the Peake Telegraph Repeater Station, this involves a deviation of around 25kms each way to get to this very remote location east of the track. Now, let me tell you, this is NOT a good track, it is rocks, corrugations and other horrible stuff, you cannot get up any sort of speed to negate the corrugations, you just have to put up with all the shaking and rattling, but, it is worth it once you get there, probably not the best idea to take a trailer out here though.
Peake Telegraph repeater station was not just part of the telegraph system, but it was a village and a mine and certainly has THE most impressive stone building we have seen at any ruins in all the years we have been travelling. Before you get to the main site, you pass some smaller stone buildings and a bit further on, you get to the parking spot, up the hill and on top are the main ruins, go left across the flats and after a while, you will arrive at the old cemetery. Once you top the hill, you may be surprised at just how many buildings are up here, there is a LOT to explore and take in. The mine ruins are a reasonable walk further away from the main site and you pass some of the oldest toilets we have come across. Seriously, if you have the time and can put up with the crap track in, it is a highlight of the Oodnadatta track.
Now, if you have done ANY reading or researching for your adventure on the Oodnadatta Track, you will have read or heard about the most famous of all the railway bridges, Algebuckina bridge, not only is the area a great place to camp, you have this massive intact wrought iron railway bridge that spans the Neale River with a length of 587mtrs, it is a truly imposing structure in the middle of nowhere. Take the time to do the short walk out onto the bridge and read the history, though the informative sign is starting to crack and fade. The bridge opened in early 1892 with a team of 350 men working in extreme heat conditions year in year out to build this engineering feat. Whilst we did not see it, there is a small graveyard nearby for workers who died during construction.
You are now nearing the end of this adventure and Oodnadatta is not too far away, keep looking around and don't rush the last 50 or so km's. Eventually you will arrive at a major intersection, something you have not seen for a while, turn right to do the last couple of KMs into Oodnadatta or turn left to the Painted Desert and eventually Coober Pedy. As soon as you drive into Oodnadatta, your eyes are assaulted by the iconic Pink Roadhouse, it is VERY pink, everything is Pink! Inside is fast food, pink souvenirs and a very good range of groceries, it is not a bad spot to fill up on food and bits if you need to. We had not seen our friends all day, so we headed to the pub to enquire about their free camping, we decided to grab a room and enjoyed a good, long hot shower instead of camping out. We had a room held for our friends and they arrived quite late, turns out they had arrived well before us and then decided to head out to the Painted Desert.
Day 3 was the longest driving distance day, from William Creek to Oodndatta, excluding side tracks is around 205kms, we still easily did it in the day, with plenty of exploring done along the way.
Parting Thoughts
We all agreed, 3 full days was enough to see a lot of what the Oodnadatta track has to offer, but, when you start looking at the track from a birds eye view, you realise just how much stuff, off the track you missed, none of which would be sign posted at all. There are a LOT of places to free camp on the track, and plenty of places to pay to camp, or pub accommodation, do what suits you best. There is fuel in Marree, William Creek & Oodnadatta, water and supplies can get obtained in all 3 as well. Phone reception and internet will vary, depending on your carrier.
This is NOT a hard drive, a well-prepared vehicle will do the drive easily, we did not have any car issues at all when we did the track. Just plan your drive, plan the attractions you want to visit and then get out there and just enjoy the experience!
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