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Sandover Highway | |
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Map of central Australia with Sandover Highway (State Route 14) highlighted in red | |
Coordinates |
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General information | |
Type | Track |
Length | 561 km (349 mi) |
Route number(s) | State Route 14 |
Major junctions | |
Southwest end | Plenty Highway |
Northeast end | Alpurrurulam, NT/Qld Border |
Restrictions | |
Fuel supply | |
Facilities | Arlparra, Ammaroo Station |
The Sandover Highway is an outback unsealed track in the Northern Territory between the Plenty Highway north of Alice Springs and the Northern Territory/Queensland border. [1]
The highway's name is derived from the Sandover River because its alignment follows that of the river. [2]
At its western end the road branches north from the Plenty Highway 27 kilometres (17 mi) east of the Stuart Highway. Its total length is 561 kilometres (349 mi) and it passes through semi-arid spinifex deserts and blacksoil Mitchell grass plains. The designated highway finishes just east of Alpurrurulam at the Northern Territory/Queensland border, but the track continues into Queensland for 55 kilometres (34 mi) where it joins the Camooweal Urandangi Road, which runs north to Camooweal. [3]
The track crosses Urapuntja lands, which is an Aboriginal homelands area. No permits are needed to travel on the track; however, they are necessary for travellers wishing to visit Aboriginal communities off-track.
Although the first part of the track can be negotiated by conventional vehicles, use of a four-wheel drive vehicle is recommended after Ammaroo. Each year the wet season floods the black soil plains at the eastern end of the Sandover Highway and Alpurrurulam and Lake Nash become completely inaccessible, even to four-wheel drive vehicles. Flooding can also occur after brief but heavy thunderstorms during the dry season.
Ammaroo Station has a shop with basic supplies. Fuel is available but there are no camping facilities. Another fuel supply along the track can be found at Arlparra.
Woodgreen Station, also known as Atartinga, covers approximately 2,215 km2 (855 sq mi), and is located around 140 km (87 mi) north of Alice Springs on the Sandover Highway. [4]
The Birdsville Track is an outback road in Australia. The 517-kilometre (321 mi) track runs between Birdsville in south-western Queensland and Marree, a small town in the north-eastern part of South Australia. It traverses three deserts along the route, the Strzelecki Desert, Sturt Stony Desert and Tirari Desert.
Finke Gorge National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia located about 1,318 kilometres (819 mi) south of the territory capital of Darwin. The national park covers an area of 458 km2 (177 sq mi), and includes the desert oasis Palm Valley, home to a diverse range of plant species, many of which are rare and unique to the area. There are good opportunities for bushwalking and bushcamping in the national park.
The Gunbarrel Highway is an isolated desert track in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. It consists of about 1,350 km (840 mi) of washaways, heavy corrugations, stone, sand and flood plains. The Gunbarrel Highway connects Victory Downs in the Northern Territory to Carnegie Station in Western Australia. Some sources incorrectly show the highway extending west to Wiluna.
Yulara is a town in the southern region of the Northern Territory, Australia. It is an unincorporated enclave within the MacDonnell Region. At the 2016 census, Yulara had a permanent population of 1,099, in an area of 103.33 square kilometres (39.90 sq mi). It is 18 kilometres (11 mi) by road from the World Heritage Site of Uluru, and 55 kilometres (34 mi) from Kata Tjuta. It is in the Northern Territory electorate of Gwoja and the federal electorate of Lingiari.
The Barkly Highway is a national highway in Queensland and the Northern Territory in Australia. It is the only sealed road between Queensland and the Northern Territory. The highway is named after the Barkly Tableland, which in turn was named by explorer William Landsborough in December 1861 after Henry Barkly, the then Governor of Victoria.
The Victoria Highway links the Great Northern Highway in Western Australia with the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory. The highway is a part of the Perth–Darwin National Highway link. It is signed as National Highway 1, and is part of Highway 1, a circular route around the country. It is 555 kilometres (345 mi) long, and most of the route – some 470 kilometres (290 mi) – lies within the Northern Territory. In some areas it runs in parallel with the Northern Territory's Victoria River, from which its name originates.
The Tanami Road, also known as the Tanami Track, Tanami Highway, and the McGuire Track, is a road in Australia that runs between the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory and the Great Northern Highway in Western Australia. It is also known as State Route 5 in the Northern Territory. Its southern junction is 19 kilometres (12 mi) north of Alice Springs and the northern junction is 17 kilometres (11 mi) south-west of Halls Creek. It follows a cattle droving route northwest from the MacDonnell Ranges area of central Australia to Halls Creek in the Kimberley.
The Great Central Road is a mostly unsealed Australian highway that runs 1,126 km (700 mi) from Laverton, Western Australia to Yulara, Northern Territory. It passes through a number of small communities on the way. It forms part of the Outback Way which goes all the way to Winton, Queensland.
The Buchanan Highway, Northern Territory, Australia, runs west from Birdum on the Stuart Highway crossing the Buntine Highway at Top Springs and eventually connecting with the Victoria Highway near Timber Creek. As of 2007 it was unsealed for its entire length, at 393 kilometres (244 mi). Funding for maintenance is provided by the Northern Territory Government.
The Georgina River is the north-westernmost of the three major rivers of the Channel Country in Central West Queensland, that also flows through a portion of the Northern Territory, in central Australia. Part of the Lake Eyre basin, the Georgina flows in extremely wet years into Lake Eyre.
The Plenty Highway is a 498-kilometre (309 mi) outback mostly unsealed road in the Northern Territory of Australia between the Stuart Highway and north-western Queensland.
Alpurrurulam, from the original Aboriginal name Ilperrelhelame, also known as Lake Nash, is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located in the territory's east about 1,206 kilometres (749 mi) south-east of the territory capital of Darwin and about 570.1 kilometres (354.2 mi) east of the municipal seat of Tennant Creek and about 17 kilometres (11 mi) from the border with the state of Queensland. The town is at the end of the Sandover Highway, which floods each year during the wet season and cuts all road access to the community.
The Carpentaria Highway is a 380-kilometre-long (240 mi) highway, which runs from near Daly Waters to Borroloola in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is a sealed road and is part of National Highway 1. The Highway takes its name from the Gulf of Carpentaria, which it links with the Stuart Highway. The Carpentaria Highway also provides road access to the McArthur River mineral deposits and port facilities at Bing Bong, as well as the isolated community of Borroloola and the popular fishing location at King Ash Bay. Funding for maintenance is provided by the Northern Territory government.
The Donohue Highway is a 249 km (155 mi) mostly unpaved outback track that leads through the northern foothills of the Simpson Desert in Queensland to Tobermorey Homestead, Northern Territory near the Northern Territory/Queensland border in Australia.
Larapinta Drive is a designated state route in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Colson Track is a remote dirt track in Australia running between Numery Station in Hale, Northern Territory, and the Simpson Desert in South Australia. It is named in honour of Ted Colson, the first person of European descent to make a successful crossing of the Simpson Desert on foot.
Marqua Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Argadargada Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Woodgreen Station, also spelt Wood Green and also known as Atartinga, is a cattle station located in the Northern Territory of Australia, to the northeast of Alice Springs, extending approximately 2,215 km2 (855 sq mi). It was also known as (Mer) Athatheng by some of the Indigenous people in the area.
National highways, primary roads & secondary roads