The Canning Stock Route

By Barrie Posted on Adventure

For off-road and desert enthusiasts, the Canning Stock Route in outback Western Australia is the ultimate challenge. Known as “The Loneliest 4WD track in the world”, this 100 year-old cattle route stretches for more than 2,000 kms and traverses four different deserts - the Gibson, Tanami, Little Sandy and Great Sandy Desert.

There are no creature comforts, no towns, hotels, no restaurants, no phones and no roads – well, no traditional tarmac roads anyway, just challenging tracks through the sand. There is little water and no fuel – fuel drops have to be arranged well in advance. In spite of a series of wells which dot the landscape every 25 km or so, the land is so harsh that most years someone dies out there of dehydration and heat exhaustion. This trek is not for the feint-hearted and should never be attempted alone. 
The stock route stretches from the outback town of Wiluna (which has a population of just 300 and is 950 kms from Perth, the capital of Western Australia) to the slightly larger town of Halls Creek (with a population of 1,300). It takes a minimum of 18 days to ‘conquer the Canning’, and many more weeks to prepare for it! For this reason, one tour operator has begun running a ‘mini-tour’ which takes just 10 days and provides all the unique outback flavour of the extended tour but with less time and less hardship.

When traveling along the Canning Stock Route, you’ll see lizards, birds, kangaroos, wild camels, sturdy desert plants, spinifex and lots and lots of sand. You’ll encounter abandoned vehicles that didn’t complete the journey alongside the bleached bones of cattle who never made it to market. You’ll sleep under canvas surrounded by silence, caressed by desert winds and beneath a canopy of mind-blowing stars. While the days are blazing hot and filled with adventure, the nights can be silent and freezing.
The best time to visit is during the Aussie winter, ideally June, July or August, and the best way to travel is on a ‘tag-along-tour’. On these self-drive outback adventures, people drive their own or hired four-wheel-drive vehicles and travel in the safety of a small convoy led by an expert guide.

Let’s grab our hats, our sunscreen, a huge water bottle and go on a virtual tour of one of the larger deserts you’ll visit on a 4WD expedition along the Canning - the Gibson Desert. Named after Alfred Gibson, an explorer on the Giles expedition of 1876 who was lost while searching for water, this uninhabited arid wilderness measures about 60,200 square miles (155,900 square kms - about twice the size of South Carolina).

Situated in the remote northwest of Australia, the Gibson is dotted with endless small, reddish sand dunes which stand in parallel rows along with higher hilly and rocky areas. Clumps of tough spinifex grasses and scattered small, hardy saltbush shrubs cover the desert floor while sparse, spiny acacias and tall desert oaks form a backdrop.

Rainfall is very unreliable, maybe 200 - 250mm ( 8 - 10 ins) a year, and the Gibson relies almost entirely on thunderstorms (there are up to 30 each year!) and the occasional tropical cyclone for its water. Summer daytime temperatures are some of the hottest in Australia – often 42C or more (110F) - while winter daytime temperatures range from 18 - 23C (64 - 75F) and you can get overnight frost. Winter is fleeting and by late August it is fry-an-egg-on-the-road hot again.
 
And what about the wildlife? The camels you’ll see are descendants of the pack animals originally imported from Afghanistan in the 1800’s. Widely used by the early explorers and pioneers until the advent of the motor car, today, feral camels are a serious management problem because their aggressive grazing degrades the native vegetation. Other feral animals such as cats and foxes are also threats to the fragile ecosystem.

Even most kangaroos find this region too hot for comfort. But you’ll probably see prehistoric looking thorny devils - small colorful spiny lizards – searching in the searing heat for black ants to eat. Bird lovers may spot a rare Alexandra’s parrot (an elusive bird with a pastel-blue head and a long tail), a brightly colored mulga parrot or a scarlet-chested parrot. 
Because of the heat, many resident mammals are nocturnal. These include rabbit-like bilbies (delicate, long-eared marsupials), the tiny mulgara (a mouse-like marsupial that eats insects) and the golden, furry and blind marsupial mole that almost never emerges from its burrow.

There is little farming activity out here, although you may see a few sheep and cattle from isolated ‘stations’ or ranches. Several large Aboriginal reserves have been created but they are off limits to tourists. 
Travellers who tackle this ‘mother of all safaris’ need to be self-sufficient and well prepared and possess a true sense of adventure. They need a robust 4WD vehicle with good clearance as well as plenty of food, water and fuel. They’ll also need at least two weeks up their sunburned sleeves to navigate the harsh terrain.

Conquering the Canning is a journey like no other and is a magnificent achievement for those with a pioneering spirit. This expedition may not be for everyone, but if you love the desert, you’ll love the Canning.