Doing Dalhousie Springs
Where? Somewhere amazing of course! Short camper trailer trips are a nice bite of the cherry, but to plan and organise a trip which will be a little tougher, a lot more remote and a whole heap of fun is any die-hard camper’s dream! Located in a very arid region of Australia, Dalhousie Springs experiences little rainfall and the surrounding country is made up of gibber tablelands; low shrublands; and creek lines where Red Mulga prosper.
Plan Your Journey
Let’s pinpoint the almost-centre of Australia! Witjira National Park, on the fringe of the great Simpson Desert and located not far from the northern border of South Australia. We drove up through Oodnadatta to the Dalhousie Springs Campground, around 160km but be prepared for five or six hours of actual drive time. From the odd tiny township of Oodnadatta, you will veer off the Oodnadatta Track onto the Mount Dare Track and finally onto ‘Public Access Route Number 8’ – also called the Pedirka Track, which leads into the Dalhousie Campground. Crisscross the Old Ghan Railway Track numerous times along the Oodnadatta Track and explore the Pedirka Siding Ruins. This is 4x4 country and tracks are corrugated and can become slippery after rain. As always, make sure you have spare fuel, drinking water and medical supplies. Check out the Parks SA website for all current entry and camping fees and Desert Parks Pass info (tip: in previous Blogs the journey to this section of this trip has been written about).
Size of a Footy Field
There are some good walking tracks around the springs; ruins to explore; the night sky to be in awe of; and plenty of birdlife to observe. Dingoes do frequent the area so do not leave out food, shoes, rubbish and certainly don’t encourage or feed them! The Dalhousie Springs are unique in Australia as they are a huge artesian springs system, sporting ancient mineralised filtered water as warm as 38-43 degrees Celsius. As any trip into arid territory should be undertaken only during Australian winter months, the warmth and vitality of the springs is certainly appreciated as you step into the large expanse of water (tip: bring a noodle or blow up pool device to float around as you relax). We were lucky enough to have a Supermoon present during our visit, and just floating around in the warm water gazing at the gorgeous night sky was magic. Chuck this trip onto your Bucket List and Make some Memories!
