Mabel Creek to Tarcoola

Thanks for the info Boobook, Will have to get a permit from Woomera for parts of the Anne Beadell also so will ask them thanks also for Mulgathing Station info.


Cheers

That sure suck Bruce. Seems a bit of a stupid reason when you could wave it down out between Tarcoola and Kingoonya anyway. I will still ask Woomera when we apply for the permit to the Anne Beadell.

Cheers

Bruce and Di T,

The road you are referring to is the Trans Australian to Perth - the OP is talking about the Darwin line. Also what you say was possibly the case many years ago, but only survives as a rumour on Exploroz.

The reality is that there are generally 3 tracks following the railway in parallel, the ARTC ( railway) owned ones either side, and adjacent to the rail line are in a poor state of repair and look like they haven't been used for years. They're your typical Railway maintenance tracks and only useful to get to the actual rail line.

However there is another very good road put in by Telstra when they ran their fibre optic line following the railway 10 or more years ago. It is 10 - 15m from the railway line, generally on the north side. That is an open, graded fantastic dirt road and one of the prettiest drives in the area.

Heading west you can safely travel at 90k from the east end to about Tarcoola, then 80k between about Tarcoola and Wynbring Springs, then 60k to about Barton then about 40 - 50k to Watson which is as far as as I have been though I have been assured by a friend at ARTC that it's the same all the way.

Blaze, if you are coming from Tarcoola, definitely use that track to Maralinga. It is a great road that takes about 6 hours from Tarcoola to Maralinga if you take your time. Great camping near Wynbring Springs as well as abandoned goods wagons left over from a derailment about 7 years ago. Also check out the springs and old water wells. Lots of camels and wildlife. A beautiful trip in it's self.

Hi Boobook,

We're doing the Anne Beadell this year too, but don't want to do the section from Coober Pedy due to the nature of the corrugations. Will have to consider the road you're suggesting as we want to go to Maralinga as well. When we last travelled Goog's Track and came out near Tarcoola the sign on the road stated very clearly that we could not travel it and it was about 10-15m from the line. Frankly we'd love to travel that.

We travelled the Anne Beadell in 2012, but came to Vokes Hill through Cook. Loved it.

Cheers,
Bruce and Di

Yes I've read others comment about the sign. I Looked for it when I went last year and could not find it. If it fits into your plans definitely go on that road. It is in great nick and a great drive. It looks more like a well maintained council road than a service track. Also zoom in on google maps, you will clearly see the service tracks either side of the rail line and then a much more substantial road which is usually on the north side. There is even a 4th track / road to the North of the main road visible in many places. I think that's next to the actual trench for the fibre. Oh, and a day at Maralinga is an absolute highlight.

Forgot to mention. It has been covered elsewhere but you can get diesel, tank water and a nice hot shower at Maralinga. Make sure you book with Robin in advance and reconfirm a few days before you get there. There is full telstra coverage along then entire rail line.

Sounds Awesome Boobook, will definately run over to Maralinga this way. Thanks for the info. I have since also spoken to a few people that have done the track from Mabel Creek south to Tarcoola and they say its also a great track.

Cheers Glenn