Top-7 off-road destinations: Oodnadatta Track

Many Outback visitors travel the Oodnadatta Track en route to Central Australia, without taking time out to smell the flowers (when they’re blooming). What’s needed is a slow-paced tour of the area’s natural and man-made highlights.

The Track is well graded these days, so the travelling is relatively easy. Highlights include the red desert scenery, relics of the pioneering days and a glimpse of Lake Eyre South.

You’ll also drive through Anna Creek Station – the largest grazing property in the world.

Bush camping is possible anywhere along the Track and there are camp grounds at Marla, Oodnadatta, William Creek and Marree. There’s camping and a spring at Coward Springs, with a bathing platform.

The stretch between Marla and Oodnadatta isn’t riveting, so a much more scenic detour is via Cadney Homestead on the Stuart Highway, past Arckaringa Station to the Painted Desert.

A visit to the awesome Mount Batterbee Lookout for a sunset sip and photo session is a must.

The Painted Desert is a knockout and it’s always a pleasure watching people arrive at the Lookout for the first time. The coloured scenery changes contrast as the sunlight fades and is different again when you look at it next morning.

The Pink Roadhouse at Oodnadatta does great hamburgers and chips, as long as you’re not in a hurry! The Pink Roadhouse is not your average wayside stop, because this institution has assumed the responsibility for unofficial signage throughout the Simpson area. You come across the tell-tale drum-lid signs, daubed with trademark pink paint, in the most unlikely places.

The section of the Oodnadatta Track between Oodnadatta and Marree follows the course of the original Ghan Railway Line that ran between Adelaide and Alice Springs. (The new line runs to the east of Lake Torrens, via Tarcoola.)

The Old Ghan’s heyday was during World War II, when the number of trains per week leapt from three to up to 56. There are many relics of the Old Ghan along the Track, including the spectacular Algebuckina Bridge and several railway stations.

William Creek was established as a coaling station for the Old Ghan railway line in 1889. Today William Creek is a popular tourist stopover on the Oodnadatta Track, with fuel, a pub and campgrounds.

There’s a turnoff to Halligan Bay – the lowest point in Australia, at 15.2 metres below sea level – in Lake Eyre National Park, but the surface is badly corrugated and treacherous after rain. Along the route is a sombre memorial to a German tourist who perished of thirst here in 1998.

Back on the main track, you can have a shower under the operating bore at Beresford, or save your tub for the warm spa at Coward Springs, named after one of the members of Warburton’s 1858 expedition.

Only a few kilometres east of Coward Springs are the mound springs at Wabma Kadarbu and the next site of interest is the Lake Eyre South viewing area that’s right beside the main road. It’s only a short walk down to the Lake surface.

There’s main Lake Eyre access from Marree, in a side trip that passes through an excellent campsite at Muloorina Waterhole.

Marree has fuel, a hospital, pub and campground and some supplies.