Australians have always used cars as a way of breaking free from the humdrum of daily life. Unlike some countries, where a 200km drive would be considered an overnight odyssey requiring careful planning, Aussies think nothing of piling into the car and driving that far just to visit Nana on a Saturday. Cars have given Australians freedom, and there are still road trips worthy of these ‘freedom machines’, journeys that take you from the red hot desert to the cool green rainforest, the pounding surf to the snowy mountain top. Here are five of Australia’s most adventurous road trips.
Canning Stock Route (WA)
You know a road is something special when it makes the BBC’s list of the world’s most ‘extreme’ roads. The Canning Stock Route runs through 1,820km of desert between the towns of Wiluna and Hall’s Creek in WA, and was designed to transport cattle from the Kimberly region in the north-west to the southern goldfields around Kalgoorlie. The surveyor who plotted the route through the land of the various traditional owners, Alfred Canning, was looking for sources of water for the stock. One method he used was tying Indigenous people up and feeding them salt until they led him to waterholes out of thirst. Fortunately, today’s traditional owners are forgiving and kind-hearted and will issue you permits to see the amazing rock art that surrounds the water holes along the way – this is some of Australia’s best.
Eyre Highway (SA, WA)
The Eyre Highway links up South Australia and Western Australia across the great Nullarbor Plain. Meaning ‘no trees’, the Nullarbor is a flat, arid semi-desert with the Great Australian Bight to the south and the Great Victoria Desert to the north. Although the highway stops short of the capital cities in either state, most people begin their journey in Adelaide and end in Perth, a journey of some 2,700km. Mile after mile of stubby bushes and sand are alleviated by one of the most awesome sites in the world: the 60 metre high limestone sea cliffs of the Great Australian Bight.
Rainforest Way
Cool, dripping rock faces covered with ferns, crystal-clear waterfalls, moss-covered trees on the slopes of dead volcanoes… This is the experience of the Rainforest Way, a 650km round trip that crosses the border of NSW and Queensland and incorporates 14 national parks. The lushness of the area is owed to the 23 million-year-old slumbering volcanoes whose solidified crater plugs form monuments like Mount Warning. Dairy farms, banana plantations and Devonshire tea shops litter the area, but there’s still plenty of adventure. Start from the Gold Coast with a trip to Tamborine National Park.
Circumnavigate the State (Tas)
It’s our coldest and smallest state, but Tasmania also has a rich convict history and world heritage wilderness. Start in Hobart with a visit to the famous Salamanca Markets, admiring the Georgian architecture, then head north-east to Freycinet National Park on the coast and a pretty little spot called Honeymoon Bay. Next, Launceston and Cataract Gorge with its suspension walkway. The world heritage listed Cradle Mountain follows; you can trek to the beautiful Lake St. Clair. From here you enter Tasmania’s wilderness area, and the famous Franklin River in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park. This is one of the last temperate rainforest areas in the world, and the most pristine in Australia.
Red Centre Way
From Alice Springs to Uluru in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, this road trip covers the most spectacular desert country in Australia. Part of this road is unsealed, so you need to remember to shut the windows when you see a car coming or passing. You’ll soon see why! On the way you’ll go through Kings Canyon, which features heavily in Australian travel advertisement helicopter shots. It’s a sandstone gorge dotted with trees and palms, home to the Luritja people for millennia. There, cut into the red earth, is a turquoise waterhole surrounded by ferns; a Garden of Eden in the midst of some of the wildest territory in the world.
Taking a road trip is one of the most liberating journeys you can make, either alone or with family or friends. It puts the itinerary firmly in your hands and your destination can change simply on the advice of a local, or at the sight of a deserted beach or a distant mountain top where you can pull over and enjoy the serenity.
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(Feature image: ‘Welcome to South Australia’ by Richard Riley available at under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.
