Canning Stock Route Tour from Alice Springs to Alice Springs via Gunbarrel Highway & Tanami Track 18 days
- Duration: 18 Days
- Location: Broome, WA
The Canning Stock Route from Alice Springs 18 day journey includes Billilluna Aboriginal Community, Lake Gregory (bird watchers paradise), Paraku Indigenous Protected Area, Durba Springs, Onegunyah Rockhole, Wiluna, Uluru,Gunbarrel Hwy, Paraku Indigenous Protected Area, Wardabunni Rockhole, Durba Springs, Onegunyah Rockhole, Lake Disappointment, Glen Ayle Station, then the rich mineral & Gold rush areas around Wiluna and Newman.
Tour includes travel by luxury Toyota Landcruiser GXL vehicles (4 persons per vehicle), 3 nights motel accommodation (Broome, Halls Creek and Newman), all meals, fees, permits, professional 4WD driver guides, delicious healthy meals, deluxe & modern camping gear supplied including full height tents, stretchers if required, hot showers & real toilet.
Springs via Tanami Track, Tillmouth Well and Rabbit Flat. Both tours overnight at Canning SR end at Wiluna and visit Well 2. Alice Springs tour returns on Gunbarrel Highway (built by Len Beddell) via Carnegie, Everard Junction, Warburton (great Aboriginal art work), Giles Weather Station, Schwerin Mural Crescent, Docker River, Uluru, Alice Springs
Our Canning Stock Route Tours travel the original Canning Stock Route created by Albert Canning in 1908 for Kimberley cattlemen to take their stock to the southern markets. The route includes 51 wells and stretches 2,013 kilometres from Halls Creek to Wiluna in Western Australia. The Canning Stock Route now forms one of the most remote and challenging four wheel drive tracks in the world…. Our route takes us via awesome desert landscapes as we travel via the Great Sandy Desert, Tanami and Gibson Deserts through gibbers, sandhills, ancient ranges and salt lakes
Our journey includes Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek, Billilluna Aboriginal Community, Lake Gregory region (bird watchers paradise), Paraku Indigenous Protected Area, Wardabunni Rockhole, Durba Springs, Diebel Springs, Onegunyah Rockhole, Lake Disappointment, Helen Hill, Slate Range, Ural Native Title Well, Glen Ayle Station, then the rich mineral & Gold rush areas around Wiluna and Newman.
Tour includes Toyota Landcruiser GXL 100 vehicles (max. 4 persons per vehicle in convoy) , 4 nights motel accommodation (Halls Creek, Kunawarritji Aboriginal Community, Wiluna, and Newman), all meals, fees, permits, professional 4WD driver guides, delicious healthy meals, comfortable most modern camping gear supplied including full height easy up tents, stretchers if required, comfortable mattresses or swags if preferred, linen and pillow cases, showers & real toilet.
Alice Springs or Broome departures are same departure dates, with return options – please ask.
Broome to Newman or Broome. 16 days from Broome to Newman WA (to fly to Perth) or return to Broome via Marble Bar – 17 days. Our journey includes Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek, Billilluna Aboriginal Community, Lake Gregory (bird watchers paradise), Paraku Indigenous Protected Area, Kunawarritji Aboriginal Community, Wardabunni Rockhole, Durba Springs, Diebel Springs, Onegunyah Rockhole, Lake Disappointment, Helen Hill, Slate Range, Ural Native Title Well, Glen Ayle Station, then the rich mineral & Gold rush areas around Wiluna and Newman.
SEATS AVAILABLE – ASK FOR DETAILS
Canning Stock Route Tours
Join us Departing on this 16 day tour from Broome to Newman WA to fly out or return to Broome via Marble Bar - 17 days.
OR – Depart from Alice Springs – dates at booking link
Book Now on 1300 763 188 or 04172 44 600
Note Alice Springs departures meet Broome departures near Balgo / Lake Gregory after travelling from Alice Springs via Tanami Track, Tillmouth Well and Rabbit Flat. Both tours travel together and overnight at Canning SR end at Wiluna and visit Well 2. Alice Springs tour returns on Gunbarrel Highway (created by Len Beddell) via Carnegie, Everard Junction, Warburton (great Aboriginal art work), Giles Weather Station, Schwerin Mural Crescent, Docker River, Uluru, Alice Springs
Canning Stock Route Tours – Itinerary from Broome – see note at end re from Alice Springs
Day 1 – Broome - You will be collected from the airport in Broome or meet at our groups pre-arranged accommodation. Enjoy your leisure time in Broome during the day and join us for a debriefing and group dinner that evening and a good nights rest before the big adventure.
Day 2 - After breakfast we depart via the vast savannah grasslands, majestic Boab trees and powerful mountains of the Western Kimberley crossing the Fitzroy River near Willare. Travelling on we stop at a giant boab tree over a thousand years old, and appreciate more of the uniqueness of these trees. We travel via the Erskine Ranges to historic Fitzroy Crossing where we have time to visit the local Aboriginal Art centre and purchase art if desired. We travel adjacent the Napier Range, the ancient Devonian era limestone reef that was formed 350 million years ago by coral like creates, when this area was under seawater. Enjoy a delicious picnic lunch by the Fitzroy River. Travel on viewing ancient mesas and stopping at scenic Ngumban Cliff lookout, and later Marys Pool, popular with many native birds, and crocodiles. We arrive Halls Creek Hotel for overnight. B, L, D
Day 3 – Leaving Halls Creek we take the Tanami Track road south toward Alice Springs and Wolf Creek Crate. We travel via Ruby Plains, and vast cattle station still owned and operated by S. Kidman & Co the pioneering pastoralist who ruled the cattle country of the late 18 & 1900s. We travel by and see Wolfe Creek Crater, the world 2nd largest meteorite crater, before arrival at the Aboriginal community and owned cattle station of Billilluna, the start of the Canning Stock route. From here we pass by waterholes of Lake Gregory (bird watchers paradise) by the Paraku Indigenous Protected Area and check out the birds and wildlife.
Paruku is the Walmajarri name for Lake Gregory. Paruku/Lake Gregory is the only lake in the region with a reliable source of fresh water for large numbers of birds and other animals, supporting over 70 species of waterbirds and 175 aquatic species. Surrounded by hundreds of kilometres of arid desert lands, these wetland oases are fed from a catchment in the south-east Kimberley region. More than 100,000 birds visit the wetlands regularly, with up to 60,000 estimated at Mulan Lake at any one time.
We visit Bloodwood Bore and Wells 51 and 50, before stopping for our overnight camp at the restored Well 49, the Crystal Well.
Day 4 – On the track again we explore Breaden Pool and Godfrey's tank – named in 1896 after members of David Carnegie’s expedition. We stop at Wells 48 and 47 then it’s into the sand dunes with their unique vegetation and wildlife to arrive at Well 46 for overnight.
Day 5 - We are now in the Great Sandy Desert and check out Wells 45 & 44, and take a break at Gravity Lakes. From Well 43 we head over the Guli Lake System and past Well 42 to stop for overnight amongst the trees near Helena Springs track.
Day 6 - Enjoy the remote early morning nature of this area before arrival at Well 41, known by the locals as 'Tiru'. This was a popular resting spot for the drovers due to good feed here for their cattle. We head south to cross Lake Tobin then to Well 39, where lots of water here attracts abundant bird life including budgerigars. Wardabunni Rockhole & Well 38 is reached today, where we enjoy another night under the stars.
Day 7 - After another great breakfast we arrive at Well 37, where lay the graves of 3 early drovers who died under mysterious circumstances. We learn more of the mystery and their fate at the site, and numerous other stories of early pioneers before Well 36. Travelling on we visit Well 33 then overnight in comfortable and modern style rooms at the Kunawarritji Aboriginal Community. Here we have abundant water and a chance to catch up on personal laundry.
Day 8 – At Kunawarritji Aboriginal Community and store we can do personal shopping and restock some essential supplies & fuel. These remote communities are always fascinating insights into remote desert life. Onwards we visit Wells 32, 31 and 30 (known as Duna Jinnda). After lunch we travel to Thring Rock, a sandstone outcrop with a lookout we climb for a great view of the landscape, before our overnight camp nearby.
Day 9 - More sand dunes today before Well 27, then the rebuilt Well 26 with good drinking water. We take a break here and stock up with water, then travel to shady Well 25 for lunch under the Desert Oaks before arrival at Well 24 for overnight camp.
Day 10 – We are now also on part of the Talawana Track, which is a direct route to Newman. We see the Capricorn Roadhouse Fuel dump where many Canning trekkers still arrange fuel drops from Newman. Travel on to Georgia Bore, which was sunk in the 1970’s by CRA survey crews. Lake Disappointment is a large salt lake and our goal today. Named by explorer Frank Hann after he was expecting to find a freshwater lake. Overnight and sunset by the lake shore at Lake Disappointment.
Day 11 – We travel several kilometres by the shores of Lake Disappointment to Savory Creek crossing (or diversion crossing depending on water levels) and Well 19. After lunch we visit Onegunyah Rock Hole before majestic Durba Springs where we spend 2 nights in this restful shaded and well watered area.
Day 12 - Durba Springs is known as 'Jilikuru' by the local Martu people, who made this area their home. Elaborate Aboriginal rock art sites are here, and we walk through the Durba Hills area viewing these rock art galleries. Enjoy lunch back at camp and a relaxing easy afternoon as the drovers and cattle did in the good old days.
Day 13 – We leave this little haven and head for Well 16 with its challenging history then the lookout at Well 15 enables a wider view of this incredible landscape. Wells 14 and 13 are visited, then the restored Well 12 with good drinking water. Then on to wells 11 & 10 and MacConkey Hill for our camp under a starry sky.
Day 14 – Today takes us to Weld Springs (Well 9) and the edge of Glen-Ayle Station, where WA’s first premier John Forrest built a fort in 1874 to defend against Aborigines. We travel off the CSR here to Glen-Ayle Station and then to Wiluna for refuelling, before overnight camp at the southern end of Canning Stock Route.
Day 15 - From our last camp here we travel to the BHP mining town of Newman and check into our welcome hotel after lunch. You can explore Newman or just catch up with all those photos at your leisure. Group dinner this evening in Newman.
Days - 15-18 - Alice Springs tour returns on Gunbarrel Highway (surveyed by Len Beddell)
via Carnegie Station, Everard Junction, Warburton (great Aboriginal art work),
Giles Weather Station, Schwerin Mural Crescent, Docker River, Uluru,
Alice Springs
If returning to Newman / Broome
- Day 16 – Today you have time for an optional morning tour of the monster BHP Mt Whaleback mine. Our CSR Tour ends at 10 am after breakfast and for those flying we will transfer you to Newman airport for your flight to Perth.
- Alternatively if travelling back to Broome with us we depart after the mine tour and lunch. We travel through spectacular mineral rich Pilbara country, via Roy Hill, the new Gina Reinhart Iron Ore mine, visit the famous and impressive rock formation that is the Marble Bar then overnight in accommodation in Marble Bar township.
- Optional Day 17 – Visit the old Comet Mine before we travel mineral rich mining and Mesa areas of Shay Gap, before we cross the mighty De Grey River. Enjoy lunch at spectacular 80 Mile Beach, then a stop at Sandfire to arrive Broome late afternoon. BL
• Genuine small group travel – Maximum 12 in convoy Toyota Landcruiser vehicles
• All delicious meals on tour, including breakfasts, lunches and dinners
• Special diets catered
• 4 nights hotel / motel accommodation
• 12 nights camping with comfortable, modern, user friendly equipment including full height Easy Up tents (no centre pole), stretchers if required, self-inflating mattresses, linen and pillow case.
• Hot showers and real toilet
• Professional Driver / Guides
• Satellite phone connection to the world, Emergency services / Flying Doctor if required
• 2 way radio allows communication and sharing between vehicles
• Personal refrigeration for limited supplies of alcohol and medications
• Aboriginal Art purchase opportunities direct from source
• 240 Volt and 6 Volt USB charging for cameras and phones
Excludes -
• Flights to and from departure points
• Alcohol
Call Now to book or for latest tour dates and availability – Call 1300 763 188