Simpson Desert Traverse

I reckon you consider heading south from Mt Isa to Boulia and then west on Plenty Hwy to Alice . It will give you a sample of great desert / outback scenery but is easily achievable in a 4WD . The Simpson desert crossing west of Birdsville requires a well prepared 4WD and experienced driver

I've never crossed the Simpson Desert so I can't comment, however, have a look at these youtube clips for some information.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-P4V5MZHR4

WBS

G’day,

The Simpson is a great trip and I’m pleased that you want to get away from the populous coastal areas and experience some of the empty inland. For us the deserts have their very special own charm.

Now – can you…. Should you….

Apart from a very few very experienced travellers, the Simpson is not somewhere to travel alone. A second ( or third or fourth) vehicle can be a great help in keeping the show on the road…… (not that there is a road!)

A 4WD is essential, but much more essential is knowledge and experience in using it, especially in sand. (The whole trip is on sand, dry loose sand.)

Travelling east to west? The sand dunes are formed by wind and they tend to a sawtooth shape with the western slope being more gradual than the eastern. Consequently the drive from west to east is generally easier than east to west. Both are challenging, but travelling west to east is less so.

Can fit people in their 60’s do it? YES!

The precautions – You MUST carry lots of water and lots of fuel. You MUST only travel during the colder months. (Summer temperatures are lethal.) You MUST have some means of communicating if you get into difficulties – UHF radio is good for local use and talking to fellow travellers, HF radio or satellite phone (NOT your usual mobile phone!) for more distant calls.

I’d suggest getting in touch with one of the better tag-along tour leaders and joining a tour group (typically 6 or 8 vehicles). This will give you the support of an experienced and capable leader, communications, the company of like minded people and the vehicle and driving support that will ensure arriving at your destination. Some respected commercial tour leaders contribute to this site – hopefully some will make themselves know – Wayne are you listening?

Cheers

John

Hi Graham

Welcome to the best site for the questions and answers about our great country.

The Simpson Desert is a great drive and attracts drivers from all over Australia and the world to experience the vast open spaces and true four wheel driving at its best. Like any trip, it will be as easy or hard on how prepared you are and if you are generally going to take advise on how to drive it.

The key to a successful crossing is tyre pressure and get this wrong and you will have trouble well fore you enter the desert proper. High tyre pressures and you will get bogged on every dune and cut the track up, so start at 14 psi and go lower if you are still having problems. A sand safety flag is a must, as well as a UHF Radio on channel 10 for a crossing.

From Birdsville you have only 1 track to follow, the QAA all the way out west until it is time to head south on the K1 Line. After traveling the K1 for around 20 kilometres, you will then have 2 options, firstly to continue south on the KI for some distance until you get to the intersection on the Rig Road, or take the fun track and head further west again on the French Line. Either way you will want to visit Poeppel Corner, the meeting point of 2 Australian State and 1 Territory, Queesnland, South Australia and the Northern Territory.



If you want to continue on the French Line, your next choice of track will them be around another 40 kilometres west, where you should visit the Knolls. From here you can head further south to take either the WAA on further south out on the Rig Road. It will be all great fun but another must visit site should be the Lone Gum. As you zig zag you way through the desert, you will finally come out at Wonga Junction and the end of the true sand dunes, even though you will still be passing over a few as you are heading to Purnie Bore, but these are no problems at all after crossing the 1100 dunes to get to this point. It is at this point where you will inflate your tyres again as you make you way over the gibber planes and arrive at Dalhousie for your most welcome warm swim in the 37 degrees hot springs. Here you will spend hours just relaxing in a true desert oasis.



Either way, do your homework, listen to others that have driven the Simpson and it is an easy drive proving that it is not wet, then it is a completely different story......




Enjoy your trip and you will see why Australia is the best country in the world.



Cheers


Stephen

G'day Graham

On one of my many trips across the Simpson I rescued a German couple who were, let's say "stuck" on one of the sand hills for a couple days. NO shovel - No drop in tyre pressure - NO shelter and worst of all NO idea. The desert is no place for inexperienced four wheel drivers in an ill prepared vehicle. If you take the good advice of the above replies and have the skills then the Simpson crossing can not only be quite easy but very enjoyable in many many ways. I would highly recommend travelling with another vehicle ( or tag along tour ) and as Stephen said - if it rains then you could be in all sorts of trouble.

Enjoy your time in this big brown land - whatever route you choose !

Happy Travelling

Gazz

I'm also hoping some of the tag-a-long tour leaders on the forum will pipe up...I'd love to cross the Simpson but I'm well aware it isn't something to tackle on my own!

as has been said already, age has nothing to do with being able to cross the desert, 4wding experience is what is needed.
when it comes to advice....don't just take advice from someone who has crossed the desert in the last 2 years and says how easy the trip was, the last 2 years have been pretty easy going at times due to lots of rain, and when the desert dries out the sand becomes a much different beast to tame, though the rain can also cause it become hard to cross aswell (look at pics above)
with that said... it's all about tyre pressures in the end, running the right pressures can be the differance between an enjoyable trip and a trip you might wish you never had taken to begin with.
if you have no real experience of 4wding on sand then i would reccomend you give this trip a miss, it is not something an inexperienced 4wder should attempt on their own.

Hi Graham,
You should consider important think. Not every vehicle hire company let you travel even with best of 4WD everywhere in Australia. Most of them have actually specific restrictions (like Simpson, Canning, Gunbarrel and so, so on). If you ignore to follow these, and they find out, you are up to hefty finds. Vehicle may have GPS tracker and hire company doesn’t have to disclose it by telling you. The disclose may be concealed somewhere in fine print on a contract you sign. Make sure, you select the one, who let you go where you want to go.
Cheers Dana

Grahame, If you have no 4wd/desert travel experience Please do not concider this trip accross the Simpson. To add to your troubles hiring a 4WD is not an option as you will need to carry extra fuel (maybe 40/60litres) depending on the vehicle. not to mention being self sufficient with food, water, spare parts, air cmpressor, tools, extra wheel & tyre,HF Radio or satphone. Mate the list of things you will need are endless.........Dont do it.

Jeff

If all over whelms you could look up Outback Spirit Tours they do tours in the areas you mention. They are great people and will look after you. Time and distance can be overwhelming for some people it seems Australia as grand as we are you will think some days when will it end. Also be wary of hire anything and if they will cover you off road. Some do just takes a little research and don't let your age be a barrier.

Hello,
Our thanks to Steve_62, WBS, John and Vale, Stephen L (Clare SA),Outback Gazz, Candace S, Rumpig, Danna and Trouper (NSW) for their very useful comments and guides. A very important point that we had (stupidly) ignored so far is that we will not be able to take a hire vehicle on to these tracks. Possibly our only chance of a Simpson adventure is to join a group as passengers and to share the driving (we are not affluent enough to buy our own vehicle and resell); or avoid Birdsville and go the long way round from Isa on sealed roads. Further, our 4WD experience is limited (have done a bit as passengers in the western Sahara - south east Morocco and driven remote areas in Scotland) but that's about it. Not many Desert regions in and around London!!
Once again our thanks to all who have replied. We are looking forward hugely to our visit in 2013...so much to see and do.
Kindest regards
The Whingeing Poms
Graham and Colleen

Graham

Get in touch with this mob and ask them what they require as a minimum and see if you two are up for it. It's nothing like a sunday drive.

Phil

You can live in Australia all your life and to travel in areas like the Simpson Desert takes a great deal of planning, preparation and money. If you hire a 4WD you will not be provided with even the basics, such as tools and extra jerry cans for water. To buy all this equipment will cost you a lot of money and then when you return the 4WD what will do with it. Go ahead and hire the 4WD and try for something a little less ambitious; there are plenty of other roads that you could safely travel and still experience the remoteness of the Australian Outback. Most of the main outback tracks are fairly busy from May through to September so help is usually not far away, but this should not be an excuse to be unprepared.

We have encountered European travellers and so have my parents and friends, that have set out into areas they were completing unprepared for. It has only been the assistance rendered by passing travellers that helped them complete their journey.

It is very hard to appreciate just how demanding travelling in outback Australia can be both on people and vehicles, until you see it for yourself.

Don't let this stop you form pursuing your dreams, just modify them a bit!

Hi Graham,

i take the risk of being shot down in flames here but what the hell.

I did the Simpson twice so far and no. 3 crossing is booked in for next June so i might be able to give you some comments to consider.

I do not disagree with all the people here that the Simpson is still a challenge but by far not the most difficult terrain and i for sure know one person on this forum that believes that the lighter the vehicle the better your chances are getting unharmed across.

I tell you what i did the first time and that might be an option for you too so that you can enjoy the fun of going up and down 1100 times.

I drove with my wife to Birdsville , booked into the pub and was just dreaming to go to Big Red and have a go at it to see how i would do in the sand but in the morning when i just got ready i saw the guy from the Bar and just asked him , hey by chance have you heard about anyone going to cross the Simpson in the next couple of days and his answer was there is a group in the bar right now and he introduced us to them.
After a few min talk they said ok , get ready in 1 hour and you can join us.

1 hour was little time but we did it , and we met a fantastic group of people and had a ball with them all the way to Alice Springs. Safety in numbers certainly gave me a good feeling so may be try that , you never know who you will meet.

Britz rentals these days offer a lot more items for rental as far as i know and the only thing you might have to consider is the insurance issue for rental cars , i doubt you would be covered in the Simpson but i could be wrong so just ask.

Happy holidays and enjoy the Simpson it is a great place.