Detour #321: Stuart Highway, The Artery at the Heart of Australia

A drive right through the heart of Australia should be on every Detourist’s bucket list.

Running right through the Red Centre of Australia from Adelaide to Darwin is the 1,690-mile Stuart Highway. Locals call it ‘The Track’ and, back when John McDouall Stuart first made his way from the southern tip of Australia to its northernmost point and back, between 1861 and 1862, it wasn’t even that.

It was really only a decade later, when the Australian Overland Telegraph Line was constructed that the track truly began to form. By the 1920s the first cars were braving the journey, but it would take global conflict for The Track to become a proper road. The Australian government decreed that the route should be paved, and by 1942 it was finally complete – although only fully asphalted in 1987.

The Stuart Highway proved vital for the military supply chain and, subsequently the civilian one. These days huge multi-trailer road trains thunder along the highway, hauling goods north and south, day and night. Should you meet one along the way you’d be best advised to pull over until the mechanical storm passes, as the Stuart is not a Highway by American standards, with just one lane in either direction for most of its distance.

The other biggest hazard on the highway is natural. Wildlife likes to wander on to the road and you could find yourself bearing down on a kangaroo, camel or cow. At least in the day you stand a good chance of seeing it, but at night it may well be too late by the time you catch the glint of headlights in animal eyes.

A road train driver once told me that such things are of little concern to him. “If you hit one, you just keep going mate. By the time you’ve managed to stop there’d be nothing left anyway.” Just carrion for the raptors above.

Even sticking strictly to daylight hours isn’t without danger. Mainly it’s the prospect of dozing off as hour after hour passes with no such thing as a turn in sight. Rest stops are placed fairly frequently, while fuel and food can be found roughly every 120 miles and you’d be well advised to take advantage of them.

It’s a fast road and falling off it can be fatal. Even in South Australia the speed limit outside of towns is a swift 110 km/h (68 mph), while in the Northern Territory it’s 130 km/h (81 mph). Until 2007 there was no limit at all here and speed freaks took part in a Cannonball Run which ended in tragedy when a Ferrari F40 lost control, resulting in four deaths. If all that wasn’t enough to worry you then you probably don’t want to know that many sections of the road also act as emergency runways for Australia’s Flying Doctors.

Technically the Stuart Highway begins almost 200 miles north of Adelaide at Port Augusta where you switch from Highway 1 to 87 and won’t need to turn off until you reach Darwin. The route is due north, towards the Red Centre taking you along the edge of Lake Eyre National Park and on to Pimba where the workers of the Transcontinental Railway set up camp over a century ago. At Woomera watch out for military and rocket activity as this desolate area is still used for weapons and space research.

It’s worth stopping in Glendambo as it’s the only sign of civilisation you’ll see for the next 160 miles. It’s not exactly a metropolis, mind, with just 30 people living here permanently, but there is gas, food and lodging.

The opal mining capital of Coober Pedy will be next to appear on the horizon. Or at least it would be if almost the entire town wasn’t hidden underground to avoid the intense heat of the desert. It’s literally a hidden gem, with 70 per cent of the world’s opals said to originate here.

If you don’t fancy overnighting underground then just under 100 miles further north is the Cadney Homestead Roadhouse, with its hotel rooms, caravan park and even a swimming pool to cool off in.

Then it’s onwards into  Kanku-Break­aways Conservation Park and then Ghan where the Stuart and Lasseter Highways intersect. It’s also the town for which a luxury train that travels in parallel with the Stuart Highway is named.

Alice Springs is the official gateway to the Red Centre, the mid-point between Adelaide, and Darwin, and the nearest town to the magnificent monolith of Uluru. It’s a tourist town, but another good place to stock up for the rest of the journey.

As you enter the second half of this epic Australian drive there’s even more geological drama as you encounter the Devils Marbles, or  Karlu Karlu in the language of the Warumungu people. Time your visit for sunrise or sunset and these beautiful boulders will be backlit.

On past the Tjoritja or West MacDonnell Ranges, with their waterfalls and thermal pools and into the rich cattle-grazing country of the Barkly Tablelands you’ll travel, before reaching Tennant Creek and its historic telegraph station.

At the Daly Waters Pub you’ll find some of the best tucker in the Norther Territory with its beef and barramundi surf and turf a real stand out. Not far from Mataranka is an incredibly-clear thermal pool in Elsey National Park, while at Katherine you’ll begin to notice the climate changing from desert to tropical.

Over the final stretch top spots to visit include the natural pools and monsoon forests of Litchfield National Park, the Adelaide River and the waterhole at Berry Springs. 

Before heading into the port city of Darwin, a final detour to Kakadu will give you the chance to explore Australia’s biggest national park. The UNESCO World Heritage site is among the most unspoilt areas in the country and rich in Aboriginal Culture.

For most people this amazing Australian adventure would take a week or more, but in 1987 journalist Matt Whelan and photographer Warwick Kent of Wheels magazine completed the journey in just 20 hours and 52 minutes – averaging 174 km/h or 108 mph. What’s even more impressive is they did it, not in some supercar, but driving a Toyota Camry.

Words Nik Berg Twitter/X | Instagram
Photography Shutterstock

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ROADBOOK

CLASS: EPIC DRIVE

NAME: Stuart Highway

ROUTE: Adelaide to Darwin

COUNTRY: Australia

Distance: 1690 Miles

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