Travel in the Outback Northern Territory -- Stuart Highway
Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Stuart Highway is one of the most classic drives right through Australia’s Red Centre. It goes all the way from Darwin in the Top End of Northern Territory to Port Augusta in South Australia, and nowadays you can make the same trip on the classic train The Ghan. Here is some information about the trip, and in the end of the page is an Australian outback map, showing the route.
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Stuart Highway. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Outback Northern Territory: Litchfield National Park As you drive south from Darwin, you pass by Darwin Crocodile Farm, Noonamah, and then the turnoff to Northern Territory Wildlife Park, Berry Springs Nature Park and Orchid Gardens. Further south is Lake Bennett, and not far south of it is the turnoff to Bachelor and Litchfield National Park. Bachelor is a small township, mainly known as the gateway to the park, and as Australia’s first uranium mine. Today there are the Rum Jungle Hotel (named after a rum supply wagon got bogged here in 1800s, yum) and many other places to stay such as Jungle Drum Bungalows, Bird and Butterfly Farm Homestay, Bachelor Resort Caravillage, Banyan Tree Caravan Park and Lichfield Tourist Park. If you have got time, it is definitely worth spending some time in Litchfield National Park.
Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Outback Northern Territory: Adelaide River and Pine Creek Back on Stuart hwy, further south you come to Adelaide River – a friendly township with a hotel (pub), police office and railway station, and both Aboriginal and European history. Adelaide River was also one of the military headquarters during the WWII. There is a B&B, two caravan parks and a farmstay. Further south along the Stuart Hwy you pass by Hayes Creek and Emerald Springs Roadhouses, and then you get to Pine Creek. Pine Creek is a small friendly town, known for its gold rush in 1800s. Today there are the National Trust Museum, Railway Station Museum and an open-cut gold mine. There are a few caravan parks and other places to stay.
Pine Creek. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Katherine South of Pine Creek is Katherine – the biggest town in the area. There is a visitor information centre on the main road, and a few places to visit are Katherine Museum, Railway Museum, and Katherine School of the Air. And there are plenty of places to stay – All Seasons, Best Western Pinetree, Cassowary Hotel Motel, Katherine River Lodge Motel, Knott’s Crossing Resort, Palm Court Backpackers, Riverview Tourist Village, Shady lane Tourist Park and Springvale Homestead.
Katherine. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Outback Northern Territory: Katherine Gorge and Cutta Cutta Caves Katherine’s best attractions however are outside the town. North-east of the town is the famous Katherine Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park where there are some great bushwalks, the longest to Edith Falls; and the gorge is very popular with kayakers although you can also take a boat tour. South-east of Katherine is Cutta Cutta Caves – some of the best limestone caves in Australia. The caves are a part of some 1500 hectares of karst landscape and there are some excellent stalactites and stalagmites. The caves are also the home for some rare species of bats and snakes.
Cutta Cutta Caves. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Mataranka South of Katherine is Mataranka – a small town famous for Elsey National Park and Mataranka Thermal pool. It’s a great place to have a dip, with water constantly 34°C. In the Elsey National Park, there are also Bitter Springs, Stevie’s Hole, Mataranka Falls and a botanic walk. The area was the scene of the book “We of the Never Never” and if you know the book, you may want to go and see the Elsey Homestead replica and the Elsey Graves. There are a few caravan parks and other places to stay in Mataranka.
Mataranka. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Larrimah South from Mataranka the lush green vegetation ends and desert landscapes start. The first stop is Larrimah, a tiny place with Larrimah pub (which also is a hotel and there are camping places there too). There is also a local museum, and the old telegraph station, and some historical WWII sites.
Larrimah. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Daly Waters South of Larrimah is Daly Waters. If you thought that Larrimah Pub was a classic outback pub, wait until you enter the Daly Waters. It is a few kilometres off the main road, but definitely worth turning in. In fact, it’s worth a night and a few beers with locals, and there is also a fair bit of memorabilia to go through – the walls are covered in old ID cards, all sorts of stickers and there is also a museum.
Daly Waters. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Dunmarra South of Daly Waters is the Hi-way Roadhouse, where Carpentaria Highway goes to Gulf Savannah. South from hi-way is Dunmarra – another small place with a classic outback pub where there is also accommodation and camping sites. Further south are more small places like Newcastle Waters, Elliott, Renner Springs Roadhouse, and the historical Attack creek and the Churchill's Head rock.
Dunmarra. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Threeways South from there is a john Flynn Memorial, and the Threeway Crossroad, where Barkly Highway that comes from Mount Isa in the Outback Queensland, joins the Stuart Highway. There is a roadhouse and camping places right at the crossroad. A bit south of the crossroad are the Pebbles, a Telegraph Station, and a fairly sizeable town – Tennant Creek.
Threeways. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Tennant Creek There is heaps to see and do in and around tenant Creek. Tennant is a historic gold mining town so today you can visit the battery Hill Mining Centre, but there are also to Nyinkka Nyunyu Aboriginal cultural centre, Pink Palace, may Ann Dam, Bill Allen lookout, Tuxworth-Fullwood Museum, and Tennant creek telegraph Station. Places to stay are Eldorado motor Inn, Bluestone Motor Inn, Safari Motor lodge, Safari Backpackers YHA, Outback Caravan Park and Desert Sands Apartments.
Tennant Creek. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Devils Marbles South of tenant Creek is Wauchope – a small one-pub town where there is accommodation, and just outside the town are Devils Marbles – some of the most famous rock formations in Australia. They are large granite boulders that balance on top of each other in a way that makes you think that they may fall off any minute. Local Aboriginal People’s legend goes that they are eggs of Rainbow Serpentine. There are some bushwalking tracks here and a camping place if you want to stay over the night and get some sunset and sunrise photos.
Devils Marbles. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Wycliffe Well South of the devils Marbles is Wycliffe Well, a place that has turned its past UFO sightings into a tourist attraction and painted some walls and put up some statues of aliens. There is also a pub (of course), which sells the largest selection of beer here in the outback.
Wycliff Well. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Barrow Creek South from Wycliffe Well is Barrow Creek – a small historical place with a pub, an old telegraph station and a few other historical buildings which you can enter if you ask for a key at the pub. In modern times, Barrow creek got famous for the disappearance of the British backpacker Peter Falconio.
Barrow Creek. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Ti Tree Further south is Ti Tree, a small township with a roadhouse, shop and camping places. Ti Tree is mostly famous for its Red Sands Art Gallery – a great gallery to visit. South of Ti Tree is another roadhouse with an art gallery – Aileron. It was once part of the historical Glen Maggie Station, and nowadays there is an Aboriginal art gallery that also displays some of the famous paintings by Albert Namatjira and other famous Aboriginal artists.
Ti Tree. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Ryan Well Just south of Aileron Roadhouse is the historical Ryan’s Well that was built in late 1800s and worked until 1930s drawing artesian water to the surface. The next stop south is Alice Springs – the largest town in the outback Northern Territory. There are a lot of great national parks west of Alice, like West MacDonnells, Watarrka (Kings Canyon), Finke Gorge and Uluru Kata Tjuta.
Ryans Well. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Rainbow Valley East of the town are East MacDonnells: Corroboree Rock, Trephina Gorge, Arltunga and Ruby Cap. Those places are less visited than the national parks east of Alice, but they are equally beautiful, although some of them, particularly Ruby Cap is quite remote and only reached by a 4WD.
Rainbow Valley. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Ooraminna Station There are also some remote side-trips south of Alice Springs. You can reach Rainbow Valley and Ooraminna Station either by driving a dirt road south-east from Alice Springs, or by turning east off the Stuart Highway south of Alice, at Stuarts Well Roadhouse. Chambers Pillar is also reached by the same road, however the last part of the road that takes you there is fairly rough so you definitely need not only a 4WD but also to be prepared with lots of water and food just in case you get stuck there (e. g. bogged after rains), because it is a very remote country and it may take many days before other travellers will come along and help you.
Oodanatta. Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback Northern Territory: Chambers Pillar Further south along the Stuart Highway there are Erldunda Roadhouse and Kulgera Roadhouse before you cross the Northern Territory – South Australia border and enter the outback of South Australia, where the Stuart Highway continues south towards Port Augusta. On the western side you have the huge Victoria Desert, and on the eastern side you have Pedirka Desert, Simpson Desert, and further east Sturt Stony, Tirari and Strzelecki Deserts.
Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Travel in the Outback South Australia: Coober Pedy As you drive south along the highway, there are small places like Agnes Creek, Chandler, Marl, and Cadney Homestead Roadhouse before you come to Coober Pedy – a town famous for its underground homes, hotels and museums – a great solution to how to escape the midday heat and dust storms.
East of Coober Pedy is the William Creek Road that goes to Anna Creek, and further into Lake Eyre National Park – a fantastic salt lake, fairly dry during the droughts but when the rains do come along, waterbirds do too. South of Lake Eyre, the Oodanatta Track takes you to Curdimurka, Bopeechee and Marree; and further east are Strzelecki Desert and Innaminka.
Here is an Australian outback map, showing the Stuart Highway. I have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
