Birdsville Track Update

Submitted: Friday, Feb 26, 2010 at 13:57

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Birdsville Track

The Birdsville Track runs south from Birdsville to Maree and passes through the Sturt Stony Desert. It is an extremely remote region but is strikingly beautiful in its harshness.

Birdsville Track

Section: Treks

The Birdsville Track runs south from Birdsville to Maree and passes through the Sturt Stony Desert. It is an extremely remote region but is strikingly beautiful in its harshness.

Member - Stephen L (Clare SA)

Hi All

I received a MM asking about the Birdsville Track and The Cooper Over the Track. Being a man of my word, I contacted my friends up at Etadunna Station. Officially the Track is shut, but open to experienced four wheel driver that know the area. Patsy was telling me there is still a lot of water over the road near Dulkaninna Station and people that do not know the road will get hopelessly bogged. She said that the feed on their station is as green as the middle of winter down south, with feed over 30cm high - the only problem they had de stocked during the drought. They should be getting their first lot of cattle back this weekend, only on the road paddock, as it is far to boggy on their other station tracks.

The wet conditions is all local rain with more expected this weekend. There is a little water in Lake Hope, again from local rain only and no inflows from the Cooper Creek. Patsy recalls the last time the Cooper went over the Track was about 1989/1990. I asked her if there is any chance with all that rain and she said they will have to get mega local rain for that to happen, or very big inflows from inner Queensland, making its way past and filling Coongie Lakes first, then slowly spreading south.

So again as I have written this for all to read, there is little chance that the Cooper Creek will flow over the world famous Birdsville Track, but then again it would be great to have a crystal ball.

Cheers to All

Stephen

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Reply By: Andrew & Jen - Friday, Feb 26, 2010 at 20:16

Friday, Feb 26, 2010 at 20:16

Suggest you monitor http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/quicklinks/northern_roads/area1.asp for up to date info re condition of the road system. These guys are on the spot, have responsibility for providing relevant info to the public and for keeping the roads open wherever practicable. Fr example, last week I saw pictures of a new section of road that was damaged by someone putting their own (commercial) interests above those of the public - result, $250 000 damage to an about to be sealed 5km section of the Strzelecki track.
So being an experienced 4wdriver is but one part of the equation - the other part is what damage will you do and who pays! Waiting one or two days for a road to dry out sufficiently is a small price to pay to avoid draconian and enforced closures.
WRT the Strzelecki, my information is that, at this stage Lake Hope has contributed little, if any, to the flow in the Strzelecki Creek and that, at places, the creek looks like the Murray!
Regards
Andrew

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Follow Up By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Friday, Feb 26, 2010 at 20:39

Friday, Feb 26, 2010 at 20:39

Hi Andrew
Firstly I am well aware of the site that you have linked - have you had a look at it?

1. It does say the Birdsville track is open from Marree to Birdsville for four wheel drive vehicles only.

2. My friends are on the sport, as if you have driven the Birdsville Track, you will know how close to the Track the Homestead is.

3. Lake Hope has no influence on the Strezelecki what so ever, miles from it, but receives water from the Cooper when flowing or local heavy rain. When full the water then makes its way further west and will cross the Birdsville Track. You might be thinking of Lake Blanche which is very close to the Strezelecki Track, as I am talking about the Birdsville Track Only.

4. The Wet weather detour around the flooded section of the Birdsville Track is on Etadunna Station, so you are not going to get any better information with someone that is living right there.

Cheers

Stephen

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Follow Up By: Member - Warrie (NSW) - Friday, Feb 26, 2010 at 21:51

Friday, Feb 26, 2010 at 21:51

Hi folks. Below is Wrightsair's recent pic taken 17th Feb of the Cooper at Innamincka looking south. CA = causeway across the CO = Cooper Ck. I= Innamincka township and S= Strezelecki Ck. When the water level reaches approximately 4 metres some of the Cooper water starts to flow down the Strez towards Lake Blanche. The level has been above 4m since about Feb 12th . So this begs the question, has the water reached the 150km downstream to the Strezelecki crossing where the track meets the creek and how deep is it/is it passable?
The T is the track heading west of the town leading to the campsites on the south bank of the Cooper. These are currently underwater and will be out of action until mid April as per the DEH site.
Only today did the SA roads site say that the Birdsville Track was open to 4WD only all the way from Marree to the Qld town. But as to how boggy it is then local knowledge is invaluable.Image Could Not Be Found

Warrie

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Follow Up By: Andrew & Jen - Saturday, Feb 27, 2010 at 12:17

Saturday, Feb 27, 2010 at 12:17

Oops - Big Lake, not Lake Hope

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Follow Up By: Alloy c/t - Saturday, Feb 27, 2010 at 12:46

Saturday, Feb 27, 2010 at 12:46

Andrew & Jen , the website you mention is a bit like the RACQ website for road closures in QLD , not necessarily updated correctly or daily ,,, out here in the centre of QLD , Council forman phones outlying properties prior to checking roads and river levels all prior to 7am daily , then police is informed of road conditions / closures / 4x4 only ect , by the time the RACQ wesite is updated the conditions are often very different.

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Follow Up By: Andrew & Jen - Saturday, Feb 27, 2010 at 14:32

Saturday, Feb 27, 2010 at 14:32

Hullo Alloy c/t
I guess I was responding a bit to the comment "Officially the Track is shut, but open to experienced four wheel driver that know the area." A lot of damage is done by people in 4WDs ignoring road closed signs - they often do get through but leave a trail of damage behind that takes time and effort to repair. IME, the updates are fairly accurate and timely on the "transport.sa.gov" site as their info often comes from the gangs actually working on site - and fixing the damage afterwards.
We were up in the Flinders last Sept when there was bit of rain about. We were going to go out to the Nuccaleena mine site on the PAR on the Sunday but, on the advise of the station owner (Moolooloo) delayed the trip for a couple of days to let it dry out. Unfortunately many people had been on the track over the previous 2 days so it was pretty carved up. Indeed the guy at Angorichina Village said that, against his advice, people had insisted on taking the run on the basis that "It would be the only decent bit of mud they would get to play with while in the Flinders!" In my book that is plain selfish and inconsiderate behaviour - these tracks (PARs) are still station tracks used for working the property. And it only takes a few people behaving like this to spoil it for the rest of us.
Regards
Andrew

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