We have just completed a run across the Tanami Track from Alice Springs to Halls Creek.
For newcomers (like us) there is 183km of bitumen from Alice Springs to within 5km of Tilmouth Well, followed by about 900 km of brown stuff to Halls Creek, with four short black top sections (total 26km) between Tillmouth Well and Rabbit Flat. The conditions up to Rabbit Flat are mild (roadtrain type) corrugations and highway-grade gravel. Approaching Rabbit Flat the conditions become better as being recently graded.
From Rabbit Flat to Tanami Mine conditions also good, but at this stage we unfortunately had caught up to the grader. From here things get progressively worse as you approach the WA border. There is a nasty SLOOOW section of about 80km of bad corrugations, which are about 900mm between peaks and 100-150mm in height.
(We are travelling with tyre pressures of 26psi all round for the LC100 and the 20' BT)
After the WA border conditions improve with about 40km of highway grade, up to the area where the Tamami Track became the Tamami Canal earlier this year. Some major repairs are being carried out on one section, but shortly after, there is a worry-some section. The Tanami track looks more like the sandy bottom of the Finke River, and has a long single lane parallel detour of several kilometers in length. This detour is a trench about 600mm deep, and if you were to meet someone coming from the opposite direction it would be impossible to pass, and someone would have to back up.
Following the detour, there are a lot of wash-aways with half the road still useable.
Clearing the washaways, the conditions are generally good, but with the odd patch of slow-down corrugations to the Billiluna turn-off. From here some high grade reconstruction for 50km or so, is great. This is followed by deteriorating conditions and becomes stoney and a bit rough from Wolfe Creek Crater turn off to Halls Creek.
In sumary, the track is acceptable with exception of the 80km before the WA border. Take it slow & enjoy the journey.
Camps: After about two weeks in Alice Springs area, Tilmouth Well Roadhouse is great place to unwind from the Jayco-packed caravan parks of Alice. Tilmouth Well is an Oasis with grassed sites, and a great restaurant. We were given keys to gates on their Napperby Station property to visit Lake Lewis, normally a salt lake, but now spectacular and still half filled following rains earlier this year.
We also visited their mini Ayers Rock, and mini Devils Marbles. They don’t encourage mass tourists, but individuals are OK. Highly recommended.
We next camped at Mt. Doreen. There is a turn off to the right just before the “twin boob” top of Mt. Doreen. If you see a truck stop on the RHS, you’ve missed the turn off by 2km. About 1km down the track you pass the ruins of the old homestead, and another km takes you to a dam & good camping.
About 100km further on is Renahans Bore, also good camping.
Rabbit Flat has camping, no facilities (except for a long-drop) @ $3.00 per person.
If you need diesel its` available at $2.20/litre.
There are few camp spots between Rabbit Flat and the good camping at Sturt Creek. We found a small camping spot (OK for 3 or 4 vans) about 100km past the WA border at Selby Hills. If time permits, travel the extra hour to Sturt Creek.
Wolfe Creek Crater camping ground is your next choice before the final run to Halls Creek.
There are probably other camp sites along the track, but not too obvious for newchums.
A little bonus along the Tanami is GSM mobile phone coverage at The Granites Mine. The only coverage GSM or CDMA between Alice and Halls Creek.
No dramas with the BT, only the mounting screws coming out of the microwave and having it fall off the frig. OK after a little bit of panelbeating, plus we have a small ding in the frig door and a small ding on the vinyl floor.
Hope this info on the track is helpful for other travellers in the near future.
We head for the Gibb River Road and Kalumburu in a couple of weeks, after Bungle Bungles and Kununurra.
Any recent info on the GRR would be appreciated.
Enjoying the trip
Neil and Pat
