__NOTOC__ The Oodnadatta Track is an unsealed outback road in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

, connecting

Marla Marla is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia located in the state's north-west about north-west of the state capital of Adelaide and about south of the town of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. History Marla ...

in the north-west via

Oodnadatta Oodnadatta is a small, remote outback town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia, located north-north-west of the state capital of Adelaide by road or direct, at an altitude of . The unsealed Oodnadatta Track, an outback roa ...

to Marree in the south-east. Along the way, the track passes the settlements of Oodnadatta and William Creek, the southern lake of the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park, and mound springs known as Freeling Springs, Strangways Springs, and The Bubbler and Blanche Cup ( Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs).

History

The track follows a traditional

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait I ...

trading route. Along the Track are numerous springs feeding water from the

Great Artesian Basin The Great Artesian Basin (GAB), located in Australia, is the largest and deepest artesian basin in the world, stretching over , with measured water temperatures ranging from . The basin provides the only source of fresh water through much of ...

, the most accessible examples being the mound springs near Coward Springs (now in

Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs Conservation Park Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia. It is located in Stuarts Creek, about north of the town of Marree via the Oodnadatta Track in the state's Far North. The conservat ...

). Later, because of the availability of water, the route was chosen for the steam-train powered

Central Australia Railway The former Central Australia Railway, which was built between 1878 and 1929 and closed in 1980, was a 1067 mm narrow gauge railway between Port Augusta and Alice Springs. A standard gauge line duplicated the southern section from Port Aug ...

, the original route of ''

The Ghan ''The Ghan'' is an experiential tourism oriented passenger train service that operates between the northern and southern coasts of Australia, through the cities of Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin on the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor. O ...

''. It was also the route taken by the explorer

John McDouall Stuart John McDouall Stuart (7 September 18155 June 1866), often referred to as simply "McDouall Stuart", was a Scottish explorer and one of the most accomplished of all Australia's inland explorers. Stuart led the first successful expedition to tra ...

on his third expedition in 1859. Remnants of the many railway sidings and bridges, the ruins of railway buildings, and

Overland Telegraph Line The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a telegraphy system to send messages over long distances using cables and electric signals. It spanned between Darwin, in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia, and Adelaide, the capital o ...

repeater stations are located along the track – some of the best preserved are the Coward Springs Campground – complete with natural

artesian spa An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. An artesian aquifer has trapped water, surrounded by layers of impermeable rock or clay, which apply positive pressure to the water contained within t ...

and the abandoned Curdimurka railway siding. Angle Pole () is the point near Oodnadatta where the direction of the Telegraph Line changed to a more northerly direction. It is near the Peake cattle station, also known as "The Peake", or Freeling Springs. The ruins of Peake

telegraph station Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

exist on the station today. Nearby Peake Creek was named after

Edward John Peake Edward John Peake (1822 – 23 March 1876) was a winemaker, auctioneer, land agent, magistrate Member of Parliament and a prominent member of the Catholic Church in the early days of South Australia. born in Gloucestershire. He arrived in Austr ...

in June 1859, hence Peake Station, which was acquired by Kidman Holdings in 1898. The Track was named by Adam Plate of the Oodnadatta Progress Association in about 1980 to form a trilogy of unsealed tourist routes with the

Birdsville Birdsville is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Birdsville had a population of 110 people. It is a popular tourist destination with many people using it as a starting point acro ...

and Strzelecki Tracks nearby. This Road has no major intersections.

Route

The Oodnadatta Track heads southeast from Marla to Oodnadatta, and then roughly follows the former

further southeast, until meeting the sealed

Outback Highway The Outback Highway or Outback Way is a series of roads and dirt tracks linking Laverton, Western Australia and Winton, Queensland. At , it crosses Central Australia (colloquially known as the Outback), passing through Western Australia, the N ...

at Marree. The road's surface has been well maintained in recent years. In dry weather, the track is passable to most vehicles and caravans, but a

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer ca ...

(4x4) vehicle gives a more comfortable journey, and is essential for driving the track during and after rain. Since the track is unsealed, the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

recommends that users of the track check if the track is open before departure.

Major junctions

Oodanadatta Track is entirely contained within the

Outback Communities Authority The Outback Communities Authority (OCA) is a statutory authority in South Australia (SA) created under the ''Outback Communities (Administration and Management) Act 2009''. It has been established to "manage the provision of public services and ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

Gallery

File:Moundspring.jpg, Mound Springs on the Oodnadatta Track File:Lake eyre south.JPG, Lake Eyre South from the Oodnadatta Track File:Oodnadatta-Track-sign.JPG, Road signs at Oodnadatta File:Oodnadatta Track north of Oodnadatta, South Australia (cropped).jpg, The Oodnadatta Track heading north from Oodnadatta File:Oodnadatta-Track.jpg, The Oodnadatta Track from a slight rise in the road File:Trackbed of dismantled Central Australia Railway ('Ghan line') near Lake Eyre South.jpg, Trackbed of the former Central Australia Railway – the "old Ghan" line – near Lake Eyre South (left distance)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oodnadatta Track Highways in South Australia Australian outback tracks Far North (South Australia)