Strzelecki Track

Strzelecki Track

South Australia
Strzelecki Track; South Australia
	The Strzelecki Track (blue and white) and the old part of the track at the northern end; Transferring mail from a camel-drawn coach to a motor truck at Carraweena, near the mid-point of the Strzelecki Track, about 1920
Coordinates	27°44′51″S 140°44′10″E / 27.747383°S 140.736138°E (Northeast end); 30°17′16″S 138°20′58″E / 30.287657°S 138.349378°E (Southwest end);
General information
Type	Track
Length	472 km (293 mi)
Major junctions
Northeast end	Cordillo Downs Road; Innamincka, South Australia
	Adventure Way
Southwest end	The Outback Highway; Lyndhurst, South Australia
Location(s)
Region	Far North
Restrictions
Fuel supply	Lyndhurst, Innamincka, Cameron Corner

Strzelecki Track is a mostly unsealed outback track in South Australia, linking Innamincka to Lyndhurst.

History

In 1870, the 472-kilometre (293-mile) track was pioneered by stockman, drover and cattle thief Harry Readford.^[3] He stole 1,000 head of cattle from a remote cattle station in Queensland. He drove them down the track, and sold them at Blanchewater Station. He then fled to Adelaide. Pastoralists then used the track as a stock route in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. ^[4]

After gas was discovered by Santos in the 1960s, it started carrying more traffic as a route to Moomba. Some sections were sealed.^[4]

Description

The track links Innamincka to Lyndhurst through the Strzelecki Desert. It is mostly unsealed, but with a few short sealed sections to facilitate overtaking.^[5] It is passable to conventional vehicles during the dry season, although caution is required.^[3]

The track is prone to flooding after heavy rains. At other times the surface can be corrugated, with loose stones and dust.^[4]

The Strzelecki Track is linked with the Birdsville Track via the Walkers Crossing Track. It is closed in summer and only traversable in dry weather.^[4]

A shorter route is available via a public access road between Moomba and Innamincka, making the distance 458 kilometres (285 miles).^[6]

Heritage listings

A number of isolated heritage-listed sites are located nearby to the Strzelecki Track:

References

^ "Strzelecki Track" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
^ "Location SA Map viewer with regional layers". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
^ ^a ^b "The Strzelecki Track". Flinders Range Research. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Getting to Innamincka by road". Innamincka Hotel. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
^ Hema, Maps (2007). Australia Road and 4WD Atlas (Map). Eight Mile Plains Queensland: Hema Maps. pp. 72–73. ISBN 978-1-86500-456-3.
^ Hema, Maps (2006). Australia’s Great Desert Tracks SE Sheet (Map). Eight Mile Plains Queensland: Hema Maps. ISBN 978-1-86500-162-3.
^ "Tinga Tingana Homestead (Ruin)". South Australian Heritage Register. Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Retrieved 12 February 2016.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "Tree, possibly marking the burial site of Charles Gray, member of Burke & Wills' 1861 expedition', Lake Massacre, Innamincka Regional Reserve". South Australian Heritage Register. Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
^ "Well and Whim, Coochilara Waterhole, Merty Merty Station". South Australian Heritage Register. Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
^ "Horse Capstan, Pump & Well, Old Mulga Bore, Merty Merty Station". South Australian Heritage Register. Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.

v t e Road infrastructure in South Australia
Expressways	South Eastern Freeway Port River Expressway Northern Expressway North–South Motorway (incomplete, under construction) Southern Expressway
Interstate highways	Barrier Highway Dukes Highway Eyre Highway Mallee Highway Princes Highway Stuart Highway Sturt Highway
State highways	Augusta Highway Gawler Bypass Horrocks Highway Main South Road Port Wakefield Highway Riddoch Highway Victor Harbor Road
Arterial roads	Adelaide–Mannum Road Alexandrina Road Barossa Valley Way Birdseye Highway Browns Well Highway Cameron Highway Copper Coast Highway Flinders Highway Flinders Ranges Way Glenelg Highway Gorge Road Goyder Highway Horrocks Highway Karoonda Highway Lincoln Highway Ngarkat Highway Olympic Dam Highway Onkaparinga Valley Road Playford Highway RM Williams Way Southern Ports Highway Spencer Highway St Vincent Highway Stott Highway Strathalbyn Road The Outback Highway Thiele Highway Tod Highway Wellington Road Wilkins Highway Wilmington–Ucolta Road Wimmera Highway Yorke Highway
Outback tracks	Anne Beadell Highway Birdsville Track Colson Track Gunbarrel Highway Maralinga to Emu Road Mount Davies Road Oodnadatta Track Strzelecki Track Vokes Hill Corner to Cook Road
Transport in South Australia; List of road routes in South Australia

Strzelecki Track

History

Description

Heritage listings

See also

References

External links

Further reading