Tanami Road Tanami Track / McGuire Track –Western Australia | |
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Map of the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia with Tanami Road highlighted in red | |
General information | |
Type | Road |
Length | 1,035 km (643 mi) |
Route number(s) | State Route 5 (Northern Territory) |
Major junctions | |
South-east end | Stuart Highway (National Highway 87), Burt Plain |
North-west end | Great Northern Highway (National Highway 1), Mueller Ranges |
Location(s) | |
Region | Alice Springs Region |
Restrictions | |
Fuel supply | Tilmouth Well |
The Tanami Road, also known as the Tanami Track, Tanami Highway, [1] 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. [2]
The Tanami Road is the most direct route from Alice Springs to the Kimberley, passing through the Tanami Desert. Along its route are Yuendumu, [3] the tiny community of Yuelamu, [1] and The Granites gold mine owned by Newmont Mining. In the Northern Territory it passes through land owned by the Aboriginal Warlpiri people, and in Western Australia it passes through pastoral land.
About 20% of the road is bitumen, the remainder is dirt and gravel and, although it is navigable by two-wheel drive vehicles, a four-wheel drive is recommended. Some parts of the road are prone to severe corrugations, making for an uncomfortable and slow drive at times. [4] In January 2020, the federal government committed $235 million to upgrade and seal the road. [5] The Western Australian government committed more than $250 million to sealing its portion of the road in 2022. [6]
The mid-way point, Rabbit Flat, formerly a public roadhouse, was closed indefinitely at the end of 2010, so planning for this journey must take the lack of fuel and supplies into account. [7] Tilmouth Well, located 186 km (116 mi) from Alice Springs between Alice Springs and Rabbit Flat, [8] provides fuel service seven days a week. [7] Carrying adequate fuel and water supplies is essential.
The Birdsville Track is a notable 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.
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. The road was built as part of Australia's role in the weapons research establishment called Woomera which included Emu Field and Maralinga, both atomic bomb testing sites. The name comes from Len Beadell's Gunbarrel Road Construction Party so named as his intention was to build roads as straight as a gunbarrel.
The Oodnadatta Track is an unsealed 617 km (383 mi) outback road in the Australian state of South Australia passing from Marree in the south-east to Marla in the north-west via Oodnadatta. Along the way, the track passes the southern lake of the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park, the settlements of William Creek and Oodnadatta, and mound springs known as Freeling Springs, Strangways Springs, and The Bubbler and Blanche Cup.
Yuendumu is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia, 293 km (182 mi) northwest of Alice Springs on the Tanami Road, within the Central Desert Region local government area. It ranks as one of the larger remote communities in central Australia, and has a thriving community of Aboriginal artists. It is home to Pintubi Anmatjere Warlpiri (PAW) Media, which produced the TV series Bush Mechanics.
Rabbit Flat was a roadhouse in the Northern Territory of Australia, in the locality of Tanami, about 160 kilometres (100 mi) from the Western Australia border. It lies between the Tanami Mine and The Granites Mine on the Tanami Road.
The Great Central Road is a mostly unsealed Australian outback 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.
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.
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.
Balgo, previously Balgo Hills and Balgo Mission, is a community in Western Australia that is linked with both the Great Sandy Desert and the Tanami Desert. The community is in the Shire of Halls Creek, off the Tanami Road. Established by German missionaries in 1939, Balgo's population numbered 359 in the 2016 census.
The Northern Territory (NT) occupies the north central part of the continent of Australia. The Northern Territory borders are to the west with Western Australia, the Western Australia border being near the 129° east longitude. The NT to the south with the South Australian border being the 26th parallel south latitude. To the east the NT with the Queensland border along the 138° east longitude.
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.
The Gary Junction Road is an outback unsealed road in Australia built by Len Beadell in the 1960s as part of a network of roads for the Weapons Research Establishment at Woomera, South Australia. In its original form, the Gary Junction Road ran from Liebig bore in the Northern Territory to Callawa Station in Western Australia. On present day maps, it is depicted as running from the Tanami Road to Gary Junction, just east of the Canning Stock Route, a distance of 852 kilometres. The road was named after Beadell's only son Gary.
Supplejack Downs, also known as Suplejack Downs, is a pastoral lease operating as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Mount Doreen Station is a 7,337-square-kilometre (2,833 sq mi) pastoral lease operating as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Tanami is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about 844 kilometres (524 mi) south of the territory capital of Darwin on the border with the state of Western Australia.
Chilla Well is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about 995 kilometres (618 mi) south of the territory capital of Darwin and about 300 kilometres (190 mi) north-west of the municipal seat in Alice Springs.
Lake Mackay is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located on the territory’s south-east adjoining the border with the state of Western Australia about 1,202 kilometres (747 mi) south of the territory capital of Darwin and about 458 kilometres (285 mi) west of the municipal seat in Alice Springs.
Yuelamu, also known as Mount Allan, Mount Allen, Alpirakina, and Alpirakinga, is a small town in the Northern Territory, Australia, located 298 kilometres (185 mi) north-west of Alice Springs, Its altitude is 687.1 metres (2,254 ft).