Stuart Highway - Adelaide to Alice Springs

Stuart Highway - Adelaide to Alice Springs

by Anonymous

Glendambo Roadhouse - Stuart Hwy

How desolate is the Stuart Highway?

I'm driving with 2 small children on the Stuart Highway from Adelaide to Alice Springs in July for a holiday and returning on the Ghan. Is the road that desolate that nobody would be there to help in case of an emergency?

Thanks for any info.

Response to Stuart Highway from Adelaide to Alice

Hi there,

although distances between towns and roadhouses along the Stuart Highway are up to 250 km (it's not always that much), I would say the Stuart is definitely not desolated.
By Australian Outback standards it is a road with a lot of traffic.

Of course, the scenery is is true Outback, fairly flat most of the times. But the landscapes are changing every so often, it is not boring.

You really don't need to worry. You won't have to wait long for another car to arrive in case of emergency.
In my opinion, the biggest problem while driving along the Stuart Highway is fatigue. However, I reckon the kids will keep you awake, and they will make you stop quite frequently.

Let me give you an overview about the towns and roadhouses along the way. You'll get fuel, drinks, food and accommodation at these places, along with mechanical assistance if needed.

Port Augusta - Pimba 172 km

Pimba - Glendambo 113 km - Don't miss the rest area at Lake Hart about 40 km past Pimba. It is one of the salt lakes that are really close to the highway.

Glendambo - Coober Pedy 252 km - This is the longest part without supplies, so fill up petrol at Glendambo. There are a couple of rest areas along the road, and an emergency phone halfway between.

Coober Pedy - Cadney Homestead 155 km

Cadney Homestead - Marla 84 km

Marla - Kulgera 180 km - Kulgera is already 22 km north of the South Australian/Northern Territory border.

Kulgera - Erldunda 74 km - The Lasseter Highway to Uluru and Yulara turns west from Erdunda.

Erldunda - Stuarts Well 108 km

Stuarts Well - Alice Springs 91 km - and that's it.

All roadhouses along the way have motel-style accommodation and camping facilites. I really liked Erldunda, but Glendambo and Cadney Homestead are also pretty nice.
Of course, Coober Pedy has a good choice of accommodation. Why not sleep underground? This is an unique experience. Check my Coober Pedy hotels page for more information.

Have a wonderful trip.

Rita

Adelaide to Alice Springs Camping Tour
A 10 day adventurous tour to the Flinders Ranges, along the Oodnadatta Track to Coober Pedy, and right into the red centre to Uluru and Alice Springs.

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Stuart Highway - Adelaide to Alice Springs

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Jun 04, 2009

Stuart Hwy In July
by: Amanda

Hi there,

I live in Alice Springs and regularly drive the Stuart Hwy, for both work and holidays.

July is probably the busiest time of year in Central Australia. The highway will be packed with Grey Nomads and other tourists. Should anything befall you (I'm sure it won't) there will be lots of people around to help you. There are emergency phones every so often and there is Telstra Next G mobile reception at Pimba, Coober Pedy, Marla and Erldunda. If you don't have a Next G phone, I recommend getting one.

The road is extremely boring in places - Glendambo to Coober Pedy is my least favourite slice of the journey. I hate this part with a passion. Once you get close to the NT border, the landscape becomes much more interesting to look at. There are low mountain ranges all the way into Alice Springs thereafter (e.g James, Waterhouse).

As Rita has written, there are loads of roadhouses along the way - Cadney is the best. Personally, I find the BIG Glendambo roadhouse too expensive, although it's very clean. The smaller one has more reasonable food.

Marla's outside toilets are often grotty and it will be packed with buses. We avoid stopping at Marla at all. Erldunda Roadhouse is always ridiculously busy because it's the turn off to Uluru - but it's clean and the accommodation is good.

Kulgera is nice and quiet and clean, and so is Stuart's Well (but if you're at Stuart's Well, you've got less than an hour to Alice Springs so you might as well keep going).

I'm not sure how small your children are, but there are a many things to stop and see along the way (like the OUtback Botanical gardens, lookouts, salt lakes, Coober Pedy, the NT/SA border, the dingo fence. I also recommend audiobooks - get something like Harry Potter to keep them captivated (get the ones narrated by Jim Dale). Also there are GEOCACHES all along this road. Geocaching is a fun hide-and-seek treasure hunt played with a GPS. Check it out at www.geocaching.com It's great for kids and long trips.

Hope this is helpful,

enjoy your trip to Central Australia.

Amanda

Stuart Highway Disappearing on Horizon, Australia

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Jun 04, 2009
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Submitted by: Amanda

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Comment
Hi there, I live in Alice Springs and regularly drive the Stuart Hwy, for both work and holidays. July is probably the busiest time of year in Central Australia. The highway will be packed with Grey Nomads and other tourists. Should anything befall you (I'm sure it won't) there will be lots of people around to help you. There are emergency phones every so often and there is Telstra Next G mobile reception at Pimba, Coober Pedy, Marla and Erldunda. If you don't have a Next G phone, I recommend getting one. The road is extremely boring in places - Glendambo to Coober Pedy is my least favourite slice of the journey. I hate this part with a passion. Once you get close to the NT border, the landscape becomes much more interesting to look at. There are low mountain ranges all the way into Alice Springs thereafter (e.g James, Waterhouse). As Rita has written, there are loads of roadhouses along the way - Cadney is the best. Personally, I find the BIG Glendambo roadhouse too expensive, although it's very clean. The smaller one has more reasonable food. Marla's outside toilets are often grotty and it will be packed with buses. We avoid stopping at Marla at all. Erldunda Roadhouse is always ridiculously busy because it's the turn off to Uluru - but it's clean and the accommodation is good. Kulgera is nice and quiet and clean, and so is Stuart's Well (but if you're at Stuart's Well, you've got less than an hour to Alice Springs so you might as well keep going). I'm not sure how small your children are, but there are a many things to stop and see along the way (like the OUtback Botanical gardens, lookouts, salt lakes, Coober Pedy, the NT/SA border, the dingo fence. I also recommend audiobooks - get something like Harry Potter to keep them captivated (get the ones narrated by Jim Dale). Also there are GEOCACHES all along this road. Geocaching is a fun hide-and-seek treasure hunt played with a GPS. Check it out at www.geocaching.com It's great for kids and long trips. Hope this is helpful, enjoy your trip to Central Australia. Amanda <div align="center"><a class="APCTitleAnchor" href="http://affiliates.allposters.com/link/redirect.asp?item=2502618&AID=2026342334&PSTID=1&LTID=2&lang=1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" title="Stuart Highway Disappearing on Horizon, Australia"><img src="http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/LPIPOD/BN4879_17-FB.jpg" alt="Stuart Highway Disappearing on Horizon, Australia" border="0" height="300" width="400"></a> <img src="http://tracking.allposters.com/allposters.gif?AID=2026342334&PSTID=1&LTID=2&lang=1" border="0" height="1" width="1"> <span style="font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica;font-size:10;" > <a class="APCTitleAnchor" href="http://affiliates.allposters.com/link/redirect.asp?item=2502618&AID=2026342334&PSTID=1&LTID=2&lang=1" target="_blank" title="Stuart Highway Disappearing on Horizon, Australia"></a> </span></div>

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Jun 07, 2009

Great advice
by: Rita

Hi Amanda,

thank you for your comment and great advice.

We saw lots of wedge tailed eagles between Marla and Glendambo, that outweighed the boring stretch of the road. :)

Rita

Related pages in the Outback Guide:
Stuart Highway main page
Uluru Tours
Alice Springs Tours

Reader's FAQ & tips
Epic trip to Uluru and the follow up by the same author
Bush flies in the Australian Outback
Stuart Highway - Adelaide to Alice Springs
Stuart Highway with conventional car
Driving Sydney to Uluru in September

Jun 28, 2009

thanks
by: Anonymous

Fantastic info thank you both! I had this vision we would be on our own most of the way on a long and lonely road.

We are so excited and leave on Saturday, downloading harry potter audio book sounds a great idea for my two boys, they're 8 and 6.

We are camping and are well equipped I hope, got a little heater for the tent in case of a night that's too cool!

This website is probably the best I've seen on here, great job Rita for setting it up!

Thanks

Jun 28, 2009

Have a great trip
by: Rita

Thank you for your kind words about the Outback Guide.
It is fun to work on the site and I am adding more content all the time. If travellers like you find it helpful, is a big reward. :)

There is another reader's submission with info about the Stuart Hwy. Check out Epic trip to Uluru

Have fun, and a safe trip. Let us know how it was, would love to hear about your journey.

Rita

Aug 09, 2009

Cold showers and great bacon and egg sandwiches
by: rojomusa

Hi
My experience in August 2009. Stopped at Erldunda caravan park on way to Darwin and on the way back and there was only cold water in the showers both times. Wouldn't stay there again.
Showers at Marla are fabulous.
Glendambo Mobil Roadhouse has great food, is very clean and well managed. The BP is exactly the opposite.
We travel this road frequently and have worked out where and where not to stop. Marla gets the best vote for the caravan park there, and Glendambo MOBIL only, for food and service.
Cadney is also a good caravan park, and a relaxed atmosphere. great stop off point for Painted Desert which way too many people miss

Aug 09, 2009

Thanks for the update
by: Rita

Hi rojomusa,

Thanks for the update! This really proves that things can change.

My stay at Erldunda was a few years ago, 2001, and we didn't have any problems. One thing I remember is that the shower block attracted all kind of insects at night, and the basins were covered with little flies in the morning.

We usually take a shower in the afternoon when we arrive at a place. Shower blocks are freshly cleaned and not so busy at this time of the day.

We stopped at Glendambo November 2009 and enjoyed the stay, and a delicious meal in the hotel.

Rita

Aug 31, 2009

Erldunda
by: Dave

I have just returned to Perth from travelling with the West Australian Variety Bash and we stayed at Erldunda for one night, I found this a great spot and it looks like there are a number of 4 x 4 tracks in the area. I have just purchased a caravan and told my wife that we will be going back to that area again and base our self at the road house for a few days. Lover the Northern Territory even though we did not have a lot of time to look around.

Oct 04, 2009

Oodnadatta Roadhouse
by: Joe

Hi All,
Anyone planning to head to the fabled Pink Roadhouse should expect just that. We were extremely disappointed upon a recent visit, the place was in such poor repair and it was obvious not much had been spent on the place for years. Everyone at the campground behind the roadhouse seemed to be of the same opinion. The girls in the shop were friendly, can't say the same about the older woman who seemed to run the show.
In all, we were very disappointed about the condition and poor value for money. Everywhere else along the track was as anticipated and we had an interesting experience, even at Maree where our powered site had not power from the outlet, still an interesting place

Oct 05, 2009

Thanks for the update
by: Rita

Hi Joe,

well yes, the caravan park facilities at the pink roadhouse were very basic, my visit was 8 years ago. However, they just had added a few new shower blocks, so I thought things would have improved.
My disappointment was that the roadhouse closed the kitchen at 5 pm on the day of our arrival, no "Oodnaburger" for me!

Yes, Marree is a beautiful place, even after the third visit, I still love this town.

Rita

Oct 05, 2009

Pink Roadhouse
by: Joe

Thanks Rita,
Unfortunately, the Pink Roadhouse, although with a 'new' shower block, does not really live up to many peoples expectations, it really is quite dilapidated.
The 'burger is not bad, luckily the kitchen remained open while we were there. we had to have food orders in by 6pm, but were able to go set up camp then return and eat at the tables.
The museum is well worth a visit,it was a bit of an eye opener for the kids to see how people used to live in the outback.
we found the road pretty good all the way from Marla to Maree, although we could see where it would turn bad if wet.
Cheers
Joe

Nov 13, 2009

Also driving the thru the centre.
by: Stuart

I am also planning to do this drive in December.
Can someone please tell me if the road is sealed all the way thru?

Nov 14, 2009

Stuart Highway conditions
by: Rita

Hi Stuart,

the Stuart Highway is a sealed road all the way from Port Augusta to Alice Springs and further north to Darwin.

If you plan to go to Uluru, the Lasseter Highway to Ayers Rocks Resort is also a sealed road.

Rita

Nov 15, 2009

Excellent information
by: Rob

A wealth of information for us too - thanks very much Rita and friends.

We are heading up to Uluru / Alice Springs for December also and we were wondering where would be good to stop and eat etc along the Stuart Highway.

One question I have is what would we be expecting to pay for petrol up there and where are the "cheaper" places to fill up the tank ??

Nov 15, 2009

Fuel Prices
by: Rita

Hi Rob,

I'm glad you found some helpful information here.

This website lists the fuel prices for the major places in the NT, so you'll get an idea what to pay for fuel in Alice Springs and Uluru.

I am sorry, I can't say anything about prices between Port Augusta and the NT, but maybe someone else can help.

Have a great trip.

Rita