Guide to Outback Queensland Queensland Australia

Outback Queensland is most of the state: everything west of the Great Dividing Range, from the New South Wales border to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and on this site it also takes in Cape York and the Torres Strait. It is a region of long straight roads, small towns with large stories, dinosaur bones, artesian water, desert dunes and tropical rivers, where the nearest neighbour may be an hour away and the sky takes up most of the view.

Known For

• Longreach, Winton and the stories of Qantas and Waltzing Matilda
• Dinosaur fossils, opal fields and artesian hot springs
• Birdsville, the Gulf and the drive to the tip of Cape York

The distances are hard to grasp until you drive them. Longreach is 1,180 kilometres from Brisbane, Mount Isa 1,800 and Birdsville 1,600; the tip of Cape York is 1,000 kilometres north of Cairns. Fewer than 100,000 people live across the whole area. Most visitors choose one part and give it a week or two, and the sections below are arranged that way.

The season matters more here than anywhere else in Queensland. From April to September the days are warm, the nights cool and nearly everything is open. From November to March the inland is dangerously hot, the north floods, and many roads, parks and businesses close.

Places to Visit

Longreach, Winton and the Central West

This is the heart of the outback and the easiest part to visit. Longreach has the Qantas Founders Museum and the Stockman’s Hall of Fame. Winton, where Waltzing Matilda was first sung, is surrounded by dinosaur country: real fossils at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs and thousands of footprints at Lark Quarry. Barcaldine remembers the shearers’ strike that founded the Labor Party, and Blackall has a steam-driven woolscour and the Black Stump.

Smaller stops have their own draw: the machinery mile at Ilfracombe, the Muttaburrasaurus at Muttaburra, Tambo Teddies at Tambo, the fossil crocodile at Isisford and the sculpture trail at Aramac. Bladensburg National Park and Combo Waterhole put you in the landscape of the song.

Birdsville, the Far West and the Channel Country

West of Longreach the rivers spread into the braided channels that run, in flood years, to Lake Eyre. Birdsville, with its pub and its September races, sits on the edge of the Simpson Desert, and Big Red is the first of the desert’s dunes. Boulia has the Min Min light and camel races, Bedourie an artesian spa, and Windorah red sandhills and Cooper Creek. Betoota is a pub in an empty town.

Jundah is the base for Welford National Park; Diamantina National Park is remote even by local standards; and the Burke and Wills Dig Tree stands on the Cooper near the South Australian border.

Charleville and the South West

The mulga country of the south-west is the nearest part of the outback to Brisbane. Charleville is known for stargazing, bilbies and a secret wartime base. Cunnamulla has new hot springs on the Warrego, Quilpie is the end of the railway and a boulder opal town, and Eromanga holds the bones of Australia’s largest dinosaur. Thargomindah, Eulo and the opal field at Yowah lie further west, with Currawinya National Park and its lakes near the border.

On the way in are Morven and Augathella; Adavale is a tiny town on the edge of gorge country; and at Hungerford and Cameron Corner you open a gate in the dingo fence to cross the border.

Mount Isa and the North West

The Flinders Highway runs west from Townsville through fossil country to the mining city of Mount Isa, where you can go underground and, in August, watch the biggest rodeo in the southern hemisphere. Cloncurry is the birthplace of the Flying Doctor. Hughenden and Richmond have dinosaur and marine reptile museums, and Julia Creek has artesian baths. Porcupine Gorge is a canyon in the savannah north of Hughenden.

North of Mount Isa, Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park is an emerald gorge in dry limestone hills, with the World Heritage fossil field of Riversleigh beside it. Camooweal is the last town before the Northern Territory, Lake Moondarra is Mount Isa’s lake, and McKinlay and Kynuna are famous for their pubs.

The Gulf Savannah

Between the ranges behind Cairns and the Gulf of Carpentaria lies a country of grass plains, old goldfields and tidal rivers. Normanton is its main town and the home of the Gulflander train; Karumba is for barramundi and sunsets over the sea; Burketown has the Morning Glory cloud. Croydon and Georgetown are gold-rush survivors.

The eastern Gulf has three outstanding natural attractions: the Undara Lava Tubes, Cobbold Gorge and Talaroo Hot Springs. Mount Surprise and Forsayth are their gateways, and tiny Gregory sits on a spring-fed river on the road to Lawn Hill.

Cape York and the Torres Strait

Cape York is the far northern frontier. The drive begins at Laura, with its ancient rock art, and runs north past Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park and Coen. Side roads lead to the mining town of Weipa and to the rainforest of Iron Range. Further on are the Old Telegraph Track and the swimming holes at Fruit Bat Falls and Eliot Falls.

At the top, Bamaga and Seisia are the bases for the Tip, the northernmost point of the mainland. A ferry crosses to Thursday Island, the capital of the Torres Strait, with Horn Island and its wartime relics next door.

Things To Do

Follow the dinosaur trail

Winton, Richmond, Hughenden, Muttaburra and Eromanga all have museums built around fossils found on local stations. You can watch bones being prepared, see footprints where they were made, and at Richmond dig for marine fossils yourself.

Hear the stories

The outback’s museums are among the best in the country: the Qantas Founders Museum and Stockman’s Hall of Fame at Longreach, the Waltzing Matilda Centre at Winton, the Workers Heritage Centre at Barcaldine, John Flynn Place at Cloncurry and the underground mine tour at Mount Isa.

Soak in artesian water

Hot water from the Great Artesian Basin fills pools and baths at Cunnamulla, Julia Creek, Blackall, Bedourie, Yowah, Eulo and elsewhere, a fine end to a day’s driving.

Fossick for opal and gems

Boulder opal is found at Quilpie, Yowah, Eromanga and Opalton, and topaz and agate in the Gulf Savannah. A fossicking licence is needed on public fields.

Go to an outback event

The Birdsville Races in September, the Mount Isa Rodeo in August, the Boulia Camel Races in July and the Julia Creek Dirt n Dust Festival in April are the big ones, but nearly every town has a race day or rodeo. Accommodation books out a year ahead for the largest.

Camp by a river

Free or cheap camping on a waterhole is one of the pleasures of the region: on the Thomson at Longreach and Jundah, the Barcoo at Isisford and Blackall, the Cooper at Windorah, the Georgina at Camooweal and the Gregory River in the north.

Take a train

The Gulflander between Normanton and Croydon and the Savannahlander from Cairns to Forsayth are slow, sociable rail-motor journeys through the savannah. The Spirit of the Outback, Westlander and Inlander are overnight trains from the coast.

Drive to the Tip

The four-wheel-drive trip up Cape York is one of Australia’s great road journeys, taking two to three weeks return from Cairns.

Where To Stay

The larger towns, Longreach, Mount Isa, Charleville, Winton, Cloncurry and Barcaldine, have a good range of motels, with a few places of real character such as Saltbush Retreat in Longreach, the North Gregory Hotel in Winton and Hotel Corones in Charleville. Smaller towns usually have a pub with rooms, a motel and a council caravan park.

In the national parks, camp sites must be booked online before you arrive, and most have no water. On Cape York nearly everyone camps, at roadhouses, stations and park sites. Remote resorts such as those at Cobbold Gorge, Adels Grove and Punsand Bay close for the wet season.

Eat & Drink

Outback food is pub food, and it is usually good: steak, lamb, barramundi in the north, and a counter meal that will defeat most appetites. The pubs are the attraction as much as the food, among them the Birdsville Hotel, the Blue Heeler at Kynuna, the Walkabout Creek at McKinlay, the Wellshot at Ilfracombe and the Purple Pub at Normanton.

Bakeries and cafes operate in the larger towns, and Longreach, Mount Isa and Charleville have a few proper restaurants. In the season, river cruises, station dinners and caravan-park camp-oven nights fill the gap. Outside the towns there is nothing, so carry food and plenty of water. Alcohol is restricted in many Aboriginal communities on Cape York and in the Gulf; check the rules before you carry any in.

When To Visit

April to September is the season throughout. In the south and centre, winter days are in the low to mid twenties with cold, clear nights, and frost is possible. In the Gulf and on Cape York the dry season runs from about May to October; roads reopen progressively after the wet and are at their best from July.

From October the heat builds quickly. Between December and March, temperatures of 40 to 45 degrees are common inland, the Simpson Desert is closed, monsoon rain cuts roads across the north for weeks at a time, and many tours and some pubs and parks shut. The reward for those who come in a good wet year is the Channel Country in flood and green to the horizon.

Getting There and Around

There are flights from Brisbane to Longreach, Charleville, Mount Isa and several smaller towns, from Townsville and Cairns to Mount Isa and the Gulf, and from Cairns to Weipa, Bamaga and Horn Island. Three long-distance trains run from the coast: the Spirit of the Outback from Brisbane to Longreach, the Westlander from Brisbane to Charleville and the Inlander from Townsville to Mount Isa, each twice a week.

Most people drive. The main highways, the Warrego, Landsborough, Capricorn, Flinders, Barkly and Mitchell, are sealed and suitable for any car or caravan, and the Matilda Way from the New South Wales border through Charleville and Longreach to Karumba is sealed all the way. Roads to Birdsville, into most national parks and up Cape York are partly or wholly gravel, and a four-wheel drive is needed for the desert, the Cape and many parks.

A few rules keep people safe. Fill up whenever you can, since fuel stops may be 200 kilometres or more apart. Carry at least ten litres of water per person, a spare tyre or two, and food for an extra day. Avoid driving at dawn, dusk and night, when kangaroos, cattle and emus are on the road. Pull well over for road trains. Check road conditions with the local council after any rain, and never drive into floodwater. Phone coverage ends a short distance from most towns; if you break down, stay with your vehicle.

History

Aboriginal peoples have lived across this country for tens of thousands of years, from the Wangkangurru of the desert to the Kalkadoon of the Mount Isa ranges, the peoples of the Gulf rivers and the many language groups of Cape York. The Torres Strait Islanders are a separate people with their own seafaring culture.

European explorers crossed the inland from the 1840s: Mitchell and Leichhardt, then Burke and Wills, who died on Cooper Creek in 1861, and the parties sent to find them. Pastoralists followed within a few years, and the frontier was violent. Wool boomed from the 1880s, railways were pushed west from the coast, and the bores sunk into the Great Artesian Basin made permanent settlement possible. The shearers’ strikes of the 1890s, the founding of Qantas in 1920, the Flying Doctor in 1928 and the discovery of Mount Isa’s ore in 1923 are the events the region is proudest of. Since the 1990s large areas, especially on Cape York and in the Gulf, have been returned to their traditional owners.