Type Road Region Tanami desert | Length 1,035 km (643 mi) | |
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Route number(s) State Route 5 (Northern Territory) South-east end Stuart Highway (National Highway 87), Burt Plain North-west end Great Northern Highway (National Highway 1), Mueller Ranges | ||
The Tanami Road, also known as the Tanami Track and the McGuire Track, is a road in northern Australia. It follows a cattle droving route northwest from the MacDonnell Ranges area of central Australia just north of Alice Springs to Halls Creek in the Kimberley.
Map of Tanami Rd, Australia
The Tanami Road is the most direct route from Alice Springs to the Kimberley, passing through the Tanami Desert. Along its route are Yuendumu and the Granites Mine owned by Newmont Mining. In the Northern Territory it passes through land owned by the Aboriginal Warlpiri people, and in Western Australia it passes through pastoral land.
About 20% of the road is bitumen, the remainder is dirt and gravel and, although it is navigable by two-wheel drive vehicles, a four-wheel drive is recommended. Some parts of the road are prone to severe corrugations, making for an uncomfortable and slow drive at times.
The mid-way point, Rabbit Flat, formerly a public roadhouse, was closed indefinitely at the end of 2010, so planning for this journey must take the lack of fuel and supplies into account. Another roadhouse, Tilmouth Well, located 186 km (116 mi) from Alice Springs between Alice Springs and Rabbit Flat, provides fuel service 7 days a week. Carrying adequate fuel and water supplies is essential.
The astronomer Eugene Shoemaker, best known for his co-discovery of the comet Shoemaker–Levy 9, died in a car accident while travelling along the Tanami Road in 1997.