Desert Parks Bulletin

No. 786 | Updat­ed: 9 Sep­tem­ber 2023

Safe­ty in the Outback

Out­back day­time tem­per­a­tures can reach high 40s. If you are trav­el­ling in the Out­back, you should bring appro­pri­ate cloth­ing, ensure your vehi­cles are prop­er­ly pre­pared and equipped for out­back trav­el and any emer­gen­cies or delays. Take extra water, food and fuel sup­plies. Ensure good com­mu­ni­ca­tions equip­ment, either HF Radio or Satel­lite Phone and an EPIRB or PLB. Ensure you noti­fy a respon­si­ble per­son, such as a fam­i­ly mem­ber, of your plans pri­or to trav­el­ling into remote areas, and seek local advice.

If you attempt dri­ving in sandy con­di­tions and get bogged, do not attempt to get the vehi­cle out with­out ensur­ing 4WD and hubs are engaged, tyre pres­sures are decreased and sand is removed from the path of the tyres. If you become stuck, do not leave your vehi­cles to walk for assis­tance as this can have fatal consequences.

Speed lim­its

Check road and weath­er bul­letins and local con­di­tions before trav­el­ling into the Out­back. Speed lim­its of 40km per hour apply with­in all parks. For up to date pub­lic road infor­ma­tion out­side of Nation­al Parks, please call the Trans­port SA Road Con­di­tion Hot­line on 1300 361 033 or vis­it Trans­port SA.

Kati Than­da-Lake Eyre Nation­al Park

Hal­li­gan Bay Point Pub­lic Access Route – Open to 4WD Dri­ve to track conditions

Lev­el Post Bay Pub­lic Access Route – Open to 4WDDri­ve to track conditions 

Tal­laringa Con­ser­va­tion Park — Open to 4WD 

Future clo­sures of the Anne Bead­ell High­way by the Depart­ment of Defence are 13 Novem­ber – 18 Decem­ber 2023

Extreme cau­tion at pond­ed water, washouts and cor­ru­ga­tions, plus rut­ted sec­tions. The tracks with­in Tal­laringa Con­ser­va­tion Park are un-main­tained 4WD tracks and con­di­tions can change unpredictably. 

Online park book­ings or a Desert Parks Pass is required, as well as a tourist access per­mit to access this area from the Depart­ment of Defence.

Innam­inc­ka Region­al Reserve and Malkum­ba-Coongie Lakes Nation­al Park

Extreme cau­tion at pond­ed water, washouts and cor­ru­ga­tions, plus rut­ted sec­tions from vis­i­tors dri­ving on wet tracks.

Access to camp­sites can vary, some are not suit­able for large caravans.

Please note that chain­saws and fire wood col­lec­tion is pro­hib­it­ed in Innam­inc­ka Region­al Reserve and Malkum­ba-Coongie Lakes Nation­al Park, with no wood fires per­mit­ted at Malkum­ba-Coongie Lakes Nation­al Park. Bring fire­wood with you and take your waste mate­r­i­al home or deposit it at the Innam­inc­ka town­ship refuse site.

Dogs, gen­er­a­tors and pow­ered water craft not per­mit­ted with­in Malkum­ba — Coongie Lakes Nation­al Park.

• Coongie Track to Kudriemitchie Camp­ground – Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water and washouts
• Coongie Track Kudriemitchie Camp­ground to Malkum­ba-Coongie Lakes Nation­al Park– Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water and washouts
• 15 Mile Track– Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water and washouts
• Merninie Loop– Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water and washouts
• Cullya­mur­ra Water­hole – Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water and washouts
• Burke’s Grave – Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water and washouts
• Queer­bi­die – Open to 4WD Cau­tion at pond­ed water and washouts
  
• Police­mans – Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water and washouts
• Kings Mark­er– Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water and washouts
  
• Ski Beach Camp­ground – Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water and washouts
  
• Wills Grave – Open to 4WDCaution at pond­ed water and washouts
  
• Minkie Water­hole Camp­ground – Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water and washouts
  
• Old Strz­elec­ki Track (on Innam­inc­ka Region­al Reserve only)– Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water and washouts
  
• Bore Track North – Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water and washouts
  
• Bore Track South – Closed indef­i­nite­ly.
  
  
• Walk­er Cross­ing Pub­lic Access Route– Closed For Pub­lic Safe­ty, by order of the Pas­toral Board of South Aus­tralia

Witji­ra Nation­al Park

• Witji­ra Nation­al Park – Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water, washouts and rut­ted sections 
• Dal­housie Camp­ground – Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water, washouts and rut­ted sec­tions
• Three O’Clock Creek Camp­ground – Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water, washouts and rut­ted sections 
• Dal­housie Camp­ground to Purni Bore – Open to 4WD Cau­tion at pond­ed water, washouts and rut­ted sections 
• The Dal­housie airstrip: Closed to public.
• Bloods Creek Ruin to Fed­er­al Water­hole Track: Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water, washouts and rut­ted sections 
• Binns Track: Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water, washouts and rut­ted sections 
• Pedir­ka Pub­lic Access Route – Open to 4WDCau­tion at pond­ed water, washouts and rut­ted sections 

Tracks in the park are grad­ed in May/​June every year.

Rub­bish tips are locat­ed 3 kilo­me­tres east and west of the Dal­housie camp­ground or at Birdsville for dis­pos­al of rub­bish.

Check local con­di­tions before trav­el­ling into this area. Vis­it Nation­al Parks for more information.

Wood fires are not per­mit­ted in Witji­ra, with the excep­tion that wood fires are still per­mit­ted at Mt Dare. Wood can be car­ried through Witji­ra to be used in the Munga-Thirri – Simp­son Desert reserves.

• Pink Road­house (Ph: (61 8) 8670 7822) – Agent for the Desert Parks Pass. Pro­vides diesel and unlead­ed fuel, accom­mo­da­tion, food and gro­ceries, meals, minor repairs, tyres, trav­el sup­plies, and alcohol.
• Mt Dare Hotel (Ph: (61 8) 8670 7835) – Agent for the Desert Parks Pass. Pro­vides diesel and unlead­ed fuel, accom­mo­da­tion, meals, hot show­ers, minor repairs, camp­ing, trav­el sup­plies, alco­hol, and phone cards avail­able for trav­ellers. Satel­lite phones are avail­able to hire from Mt Dare Hotel for trips across the Munga-Thirri – Simp­son Desert.

Munga-Thirri – Simp­son Desert Nation­al Park — Open With Warnings

Extreme cau­tion at pond­ed water, washouts and cor­ru­ga­tions, plus rut­ted sections.

The tracks with­in Munga-Thirri – Simp­son Desert are un-main­tained 4WD tracks and con­di­tions can change unpredictably.

Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice does not not rec­om­mend tow­ing trail­ers or campers with­in the desert.

• War­bur­ton Cross­ing Pub­lic Access Route –Closed For Pub­lic Safe­ty, by order of the Pas­toral Board of South Aus­tralia
• Col­son Track –OPEN to 4WDs

Con­di­tion updates

As con­di­tions change a fur­ther update bul­letin will be issued. For fur­ther infor­ma­tion on SA Desert Parks and Far North­ern South Aus­tralian road and track access, please call Desert Parks on (61 8) 8648 5328 or the Trans­port SA Out­back Roads hot­line on 1300 361 033.

The DIT out­back Road Warn­ings web­site can be accessed here https://​dit​.sa​.gov​.au/​O​u​t​b​a​c​k​Roads

Alter­na­tive­ly con­tact local Police where applic­a­ble for con­di­tion updates. For trav­el com­mu­ni­ca­tions, con­tact the Aus­tralian Nation­al 4WD Radio Net­work Inc on (61 8) 7325 2600.

Pub­lic Access Routes

Pub­lic Access Routes (PARs) pro­vide pub­lic access over pas­toral lease­hold land, from pub­lic roads or tracks to points of pub­lic inter­est, which in some cas­es include parks and reserves, with­out the need for trav­ellers to seek per­mis­sion to trav­el along these routes. PARs are not part of the for­mal road net­work, they are unsealed and unformed dirt tracks intend­ed to pro­vide four wheel dri­ve access in dry con­di­tions only. 

The Min­is­ter for the Pas­toral Act man­ages 14 PARs in the desert parks area:

• Cur­dimur­ka
• Strang­ways Springs
• Lake Cadibar­rawirri­can­na
• Tal­laringa
• Lake Eyre/​Kati Than­da — Hal­li­gan Bay Point
• Lake Eyre/​Kati Than­da – Lev­el Post Bay
• Old Peake
• Pedir­ka
• Arckaringa Hills
• K1 War­bur­ton Cross­ing Track
• Walk­ers Crossing
• Alge­buck­i­na Bridge
• Beres­ford Bore
• Munger­an­nie Bore

Camp­ing on PARs

Camp­ing is per­mit­ted (tem­porar­i­ly) on PARs. Camp­ing is not allowed on pas­toral lease­hold land with­out the per­mis­sion of the lessee. If the lessee grants per­mis­sion to camp on the lease, you must not camp with­in one kilo­me­tre of home­steads or oth­er build­ings and not with­in 500 metres of stock water­ing points.

Trav­el­ling on PARs

PARs are unsealed, unformed, dirt tracks designed for 4WD use in good weath­er only and should there­fore be treat­ed with cau­tion. The fol­low­ing tips will help you to trav­el safely:

• Use a high clear­ance 4WD
• Car­a­vans and trail­ers are not recommended
• Beware of washouts, cor­ru­ga­tions and oth­er road hazards
• Beware of wan­der­ing stock – these routes are not fenced and are usu­al­ly part of the net­work of tracks used by lessees to man­age their pas­toral properties
• Dri­ve to road conditions
• Leave gates as you find them
• In case of emer­gency ensure you have ade­quate food and water, and appro­pri­ate com­mu­ni­ca­tion devices, and in the event of a break­down stay with your vehicle.
• Tracks may tem­porar­i­ly close as required (i.e. due to rain), so ensure you check pri­or to leav­ing at www​.dit​.sa​.gov​.au/​O​u​t​b​a​c​k​Roads.

Please avoid trav­el dur­ing or imme­di­ate­ly after rain – this can cause sig­nif­i­cant dam­age to the track and put oth­ers that fol­low at risk. It can also cost many thou­sands of dol­lars to make basic road/​track repairs.

Trav­el­ling through pas­toral land

In the South Aus­tralian out­back, most land not in the Depart­ment for Envi­ron­ment and Water’s parks and reserve sys­tem is pas­toral lease­hold land. If you wish to trav­el through pas­toral prop­er­ty on tracks that are not PARs or main pub­lic roads or tracks, then pri­or approval from the pas­toral lessee of the respec­tive pas­toral lease must be obtained.

Fight the Bite – a health warn­ing from SA Health

Mos­qui­toes can be active around water­bod­ies in north­ern South Australia.

Mos­qui­toes are not only a nui­sance but some can spread seri­ous dis­ease such as Ross Riv­er virus (RRv) and Barmah For­est virus (BFv) when they bite (symp­toms of RRv and BFv can include joint pains, rash, fever, fatigue or mus­cle pain).

There is NOCURE and NOVAC­CINE to pro­tect against these mos­qui­to borne dis­eases. The only known and effec­tive way to reduce risk of mos­qui­to borne dis­ease is to pre­vent mos­qui­to bites.

If you are a vis­i­tor, or if you live in north­ern South Aus­tralia, it is impor­tant that you pro­tect your­self, your fam­i­ly and friends against mos­qui­to borne dis­ease by Fight­ing the Bite. Key strate­gies include:

• Cov­er­ing up – wear long, light coloured, loose fit­ting cloth­ing (mos­qui­toes can bite through tight clothes like jeans)

• Apply per­son­al insect repel­lent con­tain­ing DEET or Picaridin (avoid using on babies and tod­dlers and ALWAYS read and fol­low instruc­tions on the label first).

• Ensure insect screens cov­er open­ings in hol­i­day hous­es, boats, car­a­vans or tents.

• Cov­er sleep­ing areas or beds with mos­qui­to nets if necessary.

For addi­tion­al strate­gies and infor­ma­tion about how to Fight the Bite and pro­tect against mos­qui­to borne dis­ease vis­it SA Health.

Ross Ander­son
Act­ing Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Man­ag­er
Flinders & Out­back
DesertParks@​sa.​gov.​au

While every attempt has been made to pro­vide up to date infor­ma­tion in this bul­letin, all trav­ellers are respon­si­ble for ensur­ing that they obtain accu­rate and detailed infor­ma­tion and are prop­er­ly equipped and pre­pared for all emer­gen­cies pri­or to trav­el­ling into remote out­back areas.

Check the lat­est Desert Parks Bul­letin and road con­di­tion report for infor­ma­tion about access, clo­sures, camp­grounds and roads, before vis­it­ing South Aus­trali­a’s desert parks.

Parks in the Flinders and Out­back region:

• Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park
• Innam­inc­ka Region­al Reserve
• Kanku-Break­aways Con­ser­va­tion Park
• Kati Than­da-Lake Eyre Nation­al Park
• Lake Tor­rens Nation­al Park
• Malkum­ba-Coongie Lakes Nation­al Park
• Mount Brown Con­ser­va­tion Park
• Mount Remark­able Nation­al Park
• Munga-Thirri – Simp­son Desert Nation­al Park 
• Tal­laringa Con­ser­va­tion Park
• Telowie Gorge Con­ser­va­tion Park
• The Dutch­mans Stern Con­ser­va­tion Park
• Vulkathun­ha-Gam­mon Ranges Nation­al Park
• Wab­ma Kadar­bu Mound Springs Con­ser­va­tion Park
• Witji­ra Nation­al Park