Hunt Oil Road

Haven’t travelled Hunt oil road yet, Andreas, but did camp at Geraldton Bore in June ‘18. The track is quite obvious out from the bore, but there appears to be a lot of Buffel Grass around there, which may mask the track from “up there” but would be more obvious from a 4wd.

Geraldton Bore is a top spot to camp(no wood) & water is excellent.

Mick O would be the one to give you the good oil.

Bob

Hi Andy

Have you checked this out?
Hunt Oil Rd

Hi Andy,

After reading some horror stories of the Hunt Oil Rd, I decided to go have a look.
In May 2019 with my blue dog as company I headed off solo in an old 6 cylinder Cruiser ute towing a 7' x 4' weighing 900kg across the Ann Breadell, up the Connie Sue to the Hunt.

Only went a few km's and came across tall grass, a couple of vehicles had turned around and gone back. I carried on and the growth only went 1/2 km and a good well defined track after that and no sign of any wheel marks. Eventually the track came to an end and I could see where vehicles had turned around and gone back. I think it was Alexander Spring. Walked up the creek but no luck in finding the spring, went back, had lunch then noticed my little blue dog taking an interest in some bushes, went for a look and spotted wheel marks up an embarkment, walked up and found a track heading West which led to the track I should have been on. There was one section of grass about 1 km long around a rocky outcrop.

Over the years many vehicles have travelled along those tracks, you don't need to be a qualified tracker to find your way around, a high clearance 2WD would make the trip no worries. When you come out of the tree line up the top you will have a wide grass plain in front of you with a narrow green tree line in the distance.

If the grass is long and you loose the track, head straight across and you will pick up the Gunbarrel.

Regards, Dave

Andreas, these observations are 8 months old (last travel season). Track was becoming hedged in many locations and some big weather had caused a fair bit of damage via erosion meaning you'll need to take your time. If a fire has been through, you'll have no issues finding the track. Spinifex can get very long in the northern stretches but the track is essentially north running there so easy to find again.

Allow an extra day if towing but otherwise it's an enjoyable three day drive (or two if you're not stopping too often).The breakaways are great for exploring and many good camps spots in that area.

Mount Worsnop is also worth the stop and make sure you camp out off camp on the western side to catch the sunset (or watch it from the top of the Mount).

Coordinates for Alexander Spring on Exploroz Places are correct and only several hundred metres away the cairn on top of Mt Allot is another must visit.

The old Hunt Oil Camp site nor nor west of the breakaways is not worth the drive. Not much there to see.

Do your research as this is an area rich in the trails of explorers.

This may give you an idea of what to expect. The Hill we climb in the video link is Mt Worsnop

Hunt Oil Road travel blog and History

Hi Andy,

I haven’t been down/up/across for 4 years now so can’t provide up to date conditions.

However, it’s a well formed track and if you lost it, it wouldn’t be for too long. As Mick and others have said you may get a bit of spinifex growth to push through if you are early in the season.

I plan to travel it in a few months.

There has been quite a bit of water in the area recently – The chance that Woodhouse Lagoon has water is high – I have only seen water in it in 2003 and 2016.



The team completely dug out Alexander Spring in 2016 – I’m keen on seeing if it needs another service.



Swincer Pool is 23km WSW of Mount Allot in between Herbert Wash and Lake Gillen – that should have a bit of water – though way off the track, be careful.



Cheers
Alan

A group of us did the Hunt Oil Road north to south in Sept 17. It is a great track and as others have alluded it would not present much of a problem to a seasoned outback traveller. Take your time and best done with several vehicles as it is very very remote. I always research aboriginal communities that are anywhere near my intended path of travel in case of emergency. I make phone contact with the community well before my trip to see what services maybe available and how welcome we would be. Off the Hunt Oil Road is the Tjirrkarli community. When I contacted them the manager there was very welcoming and practically begged me to visit. They have fuel and a store. The community is very small with only 16 permanent residents at the time. Their web site is
https://www.ngaanyatjarraku.wa.gov.au/index.php/our-region/community-information/tjirrkarli
There is an error on their web site, there GPS location is 25 59 16.0 S and 125 28 26.6 E.
We did a side trip to the community from the Hunt Oil Road. We camped at the turnoff to Tjirrkarli which is at 26 20 53.1 S 125 16 46.7 E and did a day trip to Tjirrkarli. It was well worth the effort and there are a few interesting things around Tjirrkarli. If anyone plans to do this side trip I have a track file and other information which maybe helpful, just send me a message, and if you include your phone number I will give you a call. Chris

Thanks to all of you for the helpful and valuable information. In 2014 we have explored the surroundings of Tjirrkarly with Desert Discovery and then travelled solo from there to the Hunt oil road und up to Alexander Spring.
It had very little water with a few Zebra Finches around. At that time the track was well defined. Unfortunately we had not enough time to proceed further north.
I now think it preferable to travel the track from north to south. In case we get lost in the dense spinifex the return is much shorter compared to coming from the south.

Maybe we might also have a chance to follow Alans tracks.

@Chris Was your visit to Tjikarly spontaneous or did you have to ask for a permit before hand? It might be useful to visit their shop for food and refuelling and nice to revisit Boyds Lagoon which was very dry in 2014.

Cheers
Andreas