Road condition of Donohue and Plenty Highways

Submitted: Saturday, Jun 20, 2015 at 20:50

ThreadID: 119249 Views:3813 Replies:4 FollowUps:3

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Plenty Highway

Part of the "Outback Way", the Plenty Highway is the most direct route from central Queensland across to Alice Springs in central Australia.

Plenty Highway

Section: Treks

Part of the "Outback Way", the Plenty Highway is the most direct route from central Queensland across to Alice Springs in central Australia.

Chris and Georgie B

We travelled from Boulia to Alice Springs via The Donohue and Plenty highways 18-19 June 2015. Both roads are generally in very good condition. The Queensland section is in better condition than the NT section, with long stretches of bitumen and a lot of the rest recently graded. The NT section from Tobermorey is a bit rough to Arthur River, but a grader and road crew are doing a good job from there west, except for a few patches where heavy rain last week is still puddling and making the red mud slippery. We drove most of the road from Boulia to Gemtree at 100kms per hour, slowing to 80kms on some of the rougher sections. We arrived in Alice Springs a day earlier than expected because the road was so fast and smooth. As advised by Bob Y, the camp sites at Georgina River and Arthur River are beautiful, with brolgas at Georgina River. Diesel was $1.60 lt at Boulia and $1.95 at Tobermorey. Regards, Georgie

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Reply By: Sir Kev - Sunday, Jun 21, 2015 at 07:07

Sunday, Jun 21, 2015 at 07:07

Thanks for the update Georgie

We are travelling that way in about 10 days

Cheers Kev

Russell Coight:
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Follow Up By: Chris and Georgie B - Sunday, Jun 21, 2015 at 09:12

Sunday, Jun 21, 2015 at 09:12

You will enjoy the trip, Kev. If you are traveling the Winton to Boulia road, keep an eye out for a stockman' shut between Winton and the Middleton hotel. It was built 2 weeks ago for a movie 'Gold street' and they left it there for travelers like us to enjoy. The road is mainly straight, so you see most wet patches well before you get to them. Regards. Georgie

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Reply By: Member - MARIC - Sunday, Jun 21, 2015 at 22:33

Sunday, Jun 21, 2015 at 22:33

Does anyone know of a short cut from the Plenty Hwy to theRoss River resort where the get together is happening?
Any information greatly appreciated

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Follow Up By: Sir Kev - Monday, Jun 22, 2015 at 09:06

Monday, Jun 22, 2015 at 09:06

I think you can cut down from near Gemtree on the Binns Track

Russell Coight:
He was presented with a difficult decision: push on into the stretching deserts, or return home to his wife.

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Follow Up By: Chris and Georgie B - Friday, Jul 03, 2015 at 17:07

Friday, Jul 03, 2015 at 17:07

We did the tourist drive from Alice to Ross River homestead yesterday. The roads are all dry but there are about 2kms of roadworks en route, where they are digging up and resurfacing both sides of the road. Take care of stones thrown up by caravaners getting off the tar but not slowing down to do so, as we had a clang from a couple, but fortunately no chips. The road to Gemtree looked wide and in good condition. You will have a great time at RR Homestead - great food, cold beer, and a terrific drive in to N'Dhala gorge, to see the petroglyphs rock engravings. A huge campground at RRH and what looked like a newish communal shed complex. The rain out here seems to have gone straight down into the sand and did not affect our driving. Regards. Georgie

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Reply By: Member - MIKE.G - Monday, Jun 22, 2015 at 14:52

Monday, Jun 22, 2015 at 14:52

We traveled from Alice to Boulia last week, the day after the rain. The road was good all the way. Stayed at Gem Tree where (we had 25 mm that night) and Arthur River. The flys at Arthur River were very friendly!
As far as going south to Ross River, the Cattlewater Pass is closed. Pinnacle Road, 7 klm east of Gemtree which joins onto the Arltunga road should be open but after the recent rains it would pay to check as Trephina Gorge and the surrounding hills copped a lot of rain.

Cheers,
Mike

AnswerID: 556229

Reply By: Member - Roy K - Friday, Jul 03, 2015 at 16:10

Friday, Jul 03, 2015 at 16:10

We have just come across the Plenty. Yes the Qld side is good but rough the NT side of Tobermorey and the eastern side of Gem Tree, other wise pretty good. We intend to go across the Great Central in about 4 days. Hope it is as good

AnswerID: 556622