Canning Stock Route

We did it in August, South to North towing camper trailers & other than a couple of dunes, found it to be quite easy.
I am sure the conditions vary at different times.

Corrugations by the trillions. Its not fun any more

flaps,

How hard is the Canning Stock Route? That will depend on a lot of factors.

You have crossed the Simpson a couple of times, but you have not said what type of vehicle you used to cross the desert, were you in a convey or did you do a solo trip?
How hard did you find the Simpson crossing for the first time?

Getting ready and preparing for the CSR is longest and hardest part of the trip. There are plenty of articles on this site and heaps of books that should be read before you start the trip.

The track is not hard to drive, but it is hard on vehicles and there is a good chance that something on your vehicle might break.

Wayne

Just to add to the above:
You'll probably carry a bit more weight on the Canning - fuel and supplies.Water is obtainable on the Canning.
The approaches to the dunes on the Canning are often not straight - often have a turn at the bottom.
The dunes of both get scalloped from people struggling up dunes. Keep your pressures very low and you'll travel easier. The low pressures also help to stop your vehicle rattling to pieces on the corrugations.
You can pull out of the Canning at the Pilbara or Gary Junction Rd of you need to.

As others have said the corrugations are truly horrogations - even when you know they are going to be bad they turn out to be even worse. They rattle both your vehicle and your whole body and brain. And this goes on for at a minimum 2 or 3 weeks if you do the whole lot - unlike the Simpson which you get get across in a few days. Mental preparation is probably just as important as vehicle preparation, and being really prepared for something to break. The question I would ask is - why do you want to drive the Canning? It is hard work and not much fun. Have a look at our Canning blog.

Cheers,

Val

flaps
If you have done the Simpson, then you will find the Canning slightly easier. We did it towing our Track Shak CT and never really had any problems, except for the collateral damage, that you get when tackling such an isolated track.

Mind you that's not to say that we took it for granted, as we did a very thorough preparation, and took heaps of spares, as you should do.
We grossed 4.7 tonnes, and ran 12 psi front, 15 psi rear, and 12 psi in the camper, (all hot temps) and basically waddled up the duned. I had a couple of "stuff up's", tackling dunes, but it's not because they are all that big, the problem was between the steering wheel and the seat, ie driver not selecting the right gear, or range.
At those tyre pressures, and low speeds, corrugations seemed to melt away, but the others are basically right about the corrugations, they seem to be the full length, but that's part of the fun.

You will find that you do not need those rediculous "jumbo jet run up's" either. We took a couple of them, only to find out that momentum was lost as we crossed back onto the original track. Just select the right gear and range and go for it, from the bottom.

Cheers
Bucky
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Pretty much all said. Good fun with some horror stretches of corrugations. Have a read of this;


CSR Wells 40 down to 36


and this


CSR Well 36 down to 33


and watch this;





Might give you an idea of what to expect.

Cheers Mick

The Simpson is a bit of a sprint. The CSR is a marathon. The CSR is techniquely easier but its remoteness and the length of time required complicates the trip. A lot of people find the CSR wears them down, it is a long way and there is no hurring things. Preperation is probaly more important on the CSR, not that you should take the Simpson lightly. The CSR can be very rough and you must travel at speeds suitable to the conditions not your timetable. Broken shocks are reasonably common on the CSR.

Steve