Your complete Outback Queensland road trips guide
Guide
By Danielle Reckless
Looking for a new adventure in Queensland? It’s time to head to the outback.
Outback Queensland is more than just red dirt, though we have a lot of that too. It’s here you’ll find towering cliffs and deep gorges, dig for dinosaur bones, fossick for gems, and gaze upon one of the country’s most fascinating indigenous art displays. There’s tiny outback towns steeped in history, and local pubs that’ll draw you in for more than one round.
If big skies and open spaces are calling, but you’re not sure where to start, delve into this Outback Queensland road trips guide that uncovers ten of our favourite journeys.
To journey through the heart of the outback: Matilda Way
Where: Cunnamulla to Karumba
Time recommended: 10 days (one way)
Distance: 1,800km
This road trip has it all: endless blue skies, burning sunsets and stops at some of Outback Queensland’s most iconic towns; Charleville, Longreach and Winton, before arriving at the Gulf of Carpentaria.
The Matilda Way zips up the middle of the state, but take your time and you’ll experience the heart of the outback. Time it right and you can kick off your road trip with Cunnamulla Fella Festival, before making your way to Charleville to meet endangered bilbies and an astronomy lesson at the Cosmos Centre. Pass through character-filled outback towns before arriving in Longreach. It’s worth spending a few days here to experience a sunset over Thomson River, and visits to Qantas Founders Museum and Stockman’s Hall of Fame before heading north into dinosaur country at Winton.
They may not roam earth any longer, but you’ll have the chance to dig for bones and view the world’s largest Australian dinosaur fossil collection at the Age of Dinosaurs. From here, you’ll journey through rich outback country until arriving on the coast at Karumba, where the fishing is as spectacular as the sunsets.
Get planning with this Matilda Way guide.
Travel from coast to country: Overlander’s Way
Photo by @madeleinewb
Where: Townsville to Camooweal
Time recommended: 6 days (one way)
Distance: 1,100km
You’ll swap views of Magnetic Island to those of Mount Isa on this six day road trip through northern Outback Queensland.
Start your engine in Townsville (spend a few days here before you leave), and travel west for dinosaurs, cowboy culture, rich pioneering history and of course, dramatic landscapes. Record-holding Texas longhorn cattle, Gold Rush history and inland fishing awaits in Charters Towers, before hitting the red dirt at Hughdenden, your first taste of the Australian Dinosaur Trail.
Make the detour to hike the striking rock formations of Porcupine Gorge, continue on to Julia Creek and delve into early Australian history at Cloncurry. Make sure you’ve packed your Akubra for Mount Isa: this is official cowboy country, home to the largest rodeo in the southern hemisphere. This road trip ends right on the Northern Territory border.
Interested? Check out the complete guide to Overlander’s Way.
Embark on a 4WD adventure: Warrego Way
Where: Brisbane to Birdsville
Time recommended: 12 days (one way)
Distance: 1,500km
From skyscrapers to sky-high sand dunes, this road trip will take you from Queensland’s capital to one of the country’s most remote outback towns. But you’ll want a 4WD for this arid adventure, as there’s plenty of opportunities to jump off-road to visit historical sites and national parks along the Warrego Way.
Pass through picturesque food bowls of the Lockyer Valley and Toowoomba, before arriving in cattle country. If you make it to Roma on a Tuesday or Thursday, you’ll get to witness all the action of auctions in the southern hemisphere’s largest cattle yards. Soak up the history and scenery through Quilpie, Windorah and Betoota: population zero, before arriving in tiny Birdsville. Home to Big Red, the race that stops the outback and the world’s most remote music festival you could time your trip when Birdsville is heaving with action, or when you’ll have all the space in the world (and a guaranteed seat at the Birdsville Hotel). From here, take the challenge and set out on the Birdsville Track.
Read up on the full itinerary, or shorten the trip to Charleville for a five day adventure instead.
An outback experience with a tropical twist: Savannah Way
Time recommended: 8 days (one way)
Distance: 900km
Travel from the Great Barrier Reef to red-dirt country along Savannah Way for an outback experience filled with ancient wonders and a distinct tropical flavour. Starting from Cairns, you’ll travel deep into the Gulf Savannah in north-west Queensland, where the Sunshine State touches the Northern Territory.
The Savannah Way actually stretches some 3,700km to Broome in Western Australia – but take your time through Queensland to step beneath the surface into the world’s longest lava tube system formed over 190,000 years ago, fossick for dinosaur bones, canoe through the dramatic emerald waters of Cobbold Gorge and delve into Gold Rush history in Normanton, before reaching fishing paradise of Karumba.
A highlight of the trip is exploring the remote outback oasis of Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park (currently closed), rich in natural splendour and indigenous culture. If you’re a history buff, the world heritage Riversleigh Fossil Fields - named one of the world’s most significant fossil deposits by none other than Sir David Attenborough – is just a stone’s throw away (in the outback sense).
Follow this speedy six day itinerary or grab the kids for a family road trip adventure. For even more sights, take the Overlanders Way back home to the coast.
Walk in the footsteps of dinosaurs: the Australian Dinosaur trail
Photo by @outbackqueensland
Time recommended: 4 days (one way)
Distance: 330km
If you’re a palaeontologist at heart – or have a budding archaeologist in the family – make tracks for the biggest footprints in Queensland. Step back to when dinosaurs roamed on a road trip that links Winton, Hughdenden and Richmond: the Australian Dinosaur Trail.
It’s here you’ll explore the largest Australian fossil collection, dig for bones and find evidence of a dinosaur stampede, feel small against the sheer scale of immense Porcupine Gorge National Park, and visit some character-filled tiny towns along the way. Whether you’re young or old, or driving with the family, there’s plenty to find here that’ll fascinate.
Coming from Townsville? Here’s an itinerary for you.
Fossick for sapphires and hike to an Indigenous art gallery: Central Queensland Outback Drive
Where: Longreach and back, via Rockhampton
Time recommended: 9 days (round trip)
Distance: 1,985km
A fully sealed outback drive, this journey is suitable for nearly all vehicles. Kickstart your adventure in the heart of Outback Queensland, Longreach, to get an Australian history lesson at Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Qantas Founders Museum.
The Central Queensland Outback Drive will lead you to the remarkable Carnarvon National Park. An oasis teeming with prehistoric plants, birdlife and towering sandstone cliffs, and home to one of Australia’s most significant Aboriginal art galleries, that tells stories from the local Bidjara and Karingbal people. It’s best explored on foot once you arrive.
Experience old-fashioned country hospitality as you drive through outback towns and arrive in Rockhampton. Here, you can’t miss exploring the trails of Mount Archer or a pub meal with a rodeo show at the Great Western Hotel. In Rubyvale and Sapphire, try your luck uncovering gems amongst the largest sapphire fields in the Southern Hemisphere, and tour an underground mine before making the return journey to Longreach.
Big skies and big character: Winton to Tambo
Time recommended: 5 days
Distance: 500km
First time in Outback Queensland? The scenic drive from Winton to Tambo is the road trip for you. On this adventure, you’ll get to see the outback’s most famous sites, meet the locals at pubs along the way and get a big taste of outback driving without really roughing it.
Speaking of pubs, a beer at Winton’s North Gregory Hotel is a must: it’s where Banjo Patterson’s Waltzing Matilda was first performed in public. Visit the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, before making your way to Longreach where you’ll spend two days soaking up history and culture from QANTAS to the story of our stockman, to sunset cruises on the Thomson River. From here, make your way to Barcaldine for the goat races, soak in an artesian spa at Blackall, known for its sheep and shearing industry, then finish in Tambo where you can pick up one of the town’s most famous souvenirs: a Tambo Teddie.
To reconnect in nature: Adventure Way
Where: Brisbane to Cameron Corner
Time recommended: 5 days (one way)
Distance: 1,100km
From the Bunya Mountains to Australia’s largest billabong, Adventure Way will take you from Brisbane to our most tranquil country corners to end at a famous one: Cameron Corner, where the state lines of Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales meet.
This is a journey that will turn your head at every angle. Hike amongst the bunya pines, meet the outback’s largest population of kangaroos and wallabies at Cunnamulla, and cast a line at Australia’s inland fishing capital, St George. Recharge from all those hours in the car with a soak at Eulo’s ancient artesian mud baths, then soak up Aussie history with a stop at Dig Tree, where the fateful journey of explorers Burke and Wills ended.
Here’s your guide to the Adventure Way.
A roadie from the Beef Capital to Barcy: Capricorn Way
Photo by @saltysummits
Where: Rockhampton to Barcaldine
Time recommended: 4 days (one-way)
Distance: 600km
If you’re short on time but big on red-dirt and rocky adventures, the Capricorn Way is for you.
Starting in Rockhampton, drive or hike to the summit of Mount Archer for panoramic views, then take things underground at Capricorn Caves where you can tour ancient limestone formations. Journey through the Central Highlands to Emerald, the gateway of the Sapphire Gemfields – and if you strike out fossicking, you can check out a gem of another kind, the peculiarly placed 25m tall replica of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers right here in Emerald. There’s also time to throw a line in at Lake Maraboon: you might just catch barramundi or red claw crayfish.
Arrive in Alpha to explore the ‘Town of Murals’ and have a feed at The Alpha Hotel, before heading to your final destination: Barcaldine. It was here in 1891 that the unsuccessful Queensland shearers’ strike led to the formation of the Australian Labor Party.
Our tip? Arrive a few days early in Rockhampton to explore the beach town of Yeppoon and jump off into the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Start planning with this Capricorn Way guide.
For a quick taste in a long weekend
Where: Cunnamulla to Quilpie via Charleville
Time recommended: 3 days (one way)
Distance: 400km
You don’t need to bank your annual leave to experience Outback Queensland. In fact, you can get a taste in just three days on the road trip from Cunnamulla to Quilpie in the state’s south-west.
Kick things off in Cunnamulla (fly in to avoid the 800km trek from Brisbane) to meet the Cunnamulla Fella, sit under the shade of a Coolabah tree by the Warrego River, and feast on local bakery delights. Here there’s also opportunity to river kayak, fish or go sandboarding: the local’s will point you in the right direction. Next, head north to Charleville to visit the Royal Flying Doctors Service and meet some endangered Aussies at the Bilby Experience (open April to October). But the biggest attraction is the big sky – so check out the Charleville Cosmos Centre for a real life version of Starry Night.
Hit the road and head west to Quilpie for a day of opal fossicking and sightseeing to end the adventure.
