Birdsville Track was established during the 1880’s and was the main stock route between
Marree in South Australia and
Birdsville in Queensland. Back then, the route had taken approximately a month to complete and because of the long and harsh environment, many cattle didn’t survive the trip. The track these days is passable with many conventional vehicles and many people like to undertake the journey to discover the route the old stockman used to take.
There are two routes which heads into
Birdsville from the south and that is the Outside and the Inside track. The Inside Track saves considerable distance than the more commonly used Outside Track, however the route traverses through some treacherous soils of Goyder
Lagoon and must be undertaken by 4WD at all times. The biggest threat is from the floodwaters of Goyder
Lagoon and
Cooper Creek -- if northern monsoonal rain is excessive, flooding from Queensland's rivers will close the Inside Track and the
Birdsville Track well into winter. Fortunately, this doesn't happen very often.
How to Use this Trek Note
- To download this information and the route file for offline use on a phone, tablet, headunit or laptop, go to the app store and purchase ExplorOz Traveller. This app enables offline navigation and mapping and will show where you are as you travel along the route. For more info see the ExplorOz Traveller webpage and the EOTopo webpage.
TrekID: 77