The Wapet Road, also known as the Kidson Track, is an outback track in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Since 2014, both the part of the road that is within the

native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...

lands of the

Nyangumarta people The Nyangumarta people, also written Njaŋumada, Njangamada, Njanjamarta and other variations, are a nation of Aboriginal Australians from the northwestern coast of Western Australia. According to Norman Tindale, they are divided into two distinc ...

(Nyangumarta country) and the adjacent part between Nyangumarta country and Great Northern Highway are called Nyangumarta Highway. The name of the road was derived from early tracks cut by the oil exploration company

WAPET West Australian Petroleum Pty Ltd (WAPET) was a pioneer oil and gas exploration and processing company in Western Australia. History Formed in March 1952 as a joint venture between Caltex and Ampol, the company discovered Australia's first fl ...

. Despite it predominantly passing through desert, birdwatchers and others access the track notwithstanding its difficult traverse. It approximately follows the

Canning Basin The Canning Basin is a geological basin located in Western Australia. Deposition of sediments began after early-Ordovician thermal subsidnce, and continued into the Early Cretaceous. The Basin covers approximately 506,000 km2 of which appro ...

boundary in the

Great Sandy Desert The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion,IBRA Version 6.1
data

from a starting point south west of the Sandfire Roadhouse on the

Great Northern Highway Great Northern Highway is an Australian highway that links Western Australia's capital city Perth with its northernmost port, Wyndham. With a length of almost , it is the longest highway in Australia, with the majority included as part of the ...

, and continues for south east to the

Kunawaritji Kunawarritji (also referred to as Well 33) is an Aboriginal community, located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, within the Shire of East Pilbara on the Canning Stock Route. Background The Kunawarritji settlement (5 kilometres no ...

community on the

Canning Stock Route The Canning Stock Route is a track that 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 (1,150 mi) it is the longest historic stock route ...

. It passes through country known as the

Western Desert cultural bloc The Western Desert cultural bloc or just Western Desert is a cultural region in central Australia covering about , including the Gibson Desert, the Great Victoria Desert, the Great Sandy and Little Sandy Deserts in the Northern Territory, So ...

and more specifically the Martu Determined Native Title Area. Parts of the Kidson track also pass through other native title areas including Nyungamarta, Kulyakartu and Ngurra. There is a separation of the Kidson Track from the Wapet Road as separate parts of the same track on one source, however another does not make the distinction.Hema Maps (2007) ''Great Desert Tracks of Australia Map Pack'', ''North West Sheet''. Edition: 4. Scale: 1:1 250,000

References

Roads in Western Australia Pilbara Canning Stock Route {{WesternAustralia-geo-stub

See also

References