Gunbarrel Highway

The Gunbarrel Highway is Len Beadell's first and most famous desert road, pushed through the Gibson and the fringe of the Great Victoria Desert in the 1950s, and the original alignment is still one of the roughest tracks a tourer can drive in Australia. There is real confusion here worth clearing up straight away: much of the eastern Gunbarrel has been replaced by the graded Great Central Road, which is smooth and van-friendly, while the original Beadell route between Carnegie and Everard Junction is narrow, brutally corrugated and rarely touched by a grader. Know which one you are actually on. ## The route The classic run starts at Wiluna, the last town with easy fuel, and heads out to Carnegie Station. From Carnegie the true old Gunbarrel strikes east through Everard Junction, where the Gary Highway meets it, and on toward Warburton, where it joins the Great Central Road. From there you can continue east across the NT border toward Warakurna, Docker River and the Red Centre. All up it is well over 1,300 kilometres if you run the full length, and the middle section on the original alignment is where the difficulty lives. ## Can your rig do it The original Gunbarrel is a rig-rating 5 track, and no caravan belongs on it. The severe corrugations and washaways will shake a van to bits and punish even a good off-road camper. The realistic setup for the old route is a 4WD with a rooftop tent or a genuine off-road camper trailer built for punishment. If you want to tow a van, take the Great Central Road, which is a graded rating-3 style road in the dry. Our [rig-rating explainer](/articles/can-my-van-do-this-rig-rating-explained) sets out the difference, and [how to choose an off-road caravan](/articles/how-to-choose-an-off-road-caravan) is worth reading if you are still deciding what to buy for country like this. ## Fuel water and comms Fuel is the big planning problem. On the original route the gaps between reliable bowsers can stretch toward 600 kilometres depending on whether Carnegie Station and the roadhouses are open and stocked, so carry extra fuel and confirm availability before you commit. There is no mobile coverage anywhere out here, so a satellite phone or PLB is essential, along with extra water, two spare tyres, full recovery gear and the ability to repair your own vehicle. Self-recovery is the only plan that counts on the Gunbarrel. ## Permits and closures The route crosses Aboriginal land, including Ngaanyatjarra lands in WA and country in the NT, and transit permits are required for those sections. Apply well ahead through the WA and NT permit offices, carry the paperwork and stay on the road corridor. The track becomes impassable after rain and closes, and summer heat out here is dangerous. Treat every permit and closure detail as something to verify — check with DBCA, the relevant land councils and the NT authorities before you leave, because the rules and conditions change. ## When to go April to September is the window, same as the other central deserts. The corrugations are relentless on the old route regardless of season, so airing down properly and keeping your speed sensible is the difference between a manageable trip and a broken rig — our [tyre pressures for corrugations](/articles/tyre-pressures-for-corrugations) guide covers the numbers. We plan short days on the rough middle section because you simply cannot rush corrugations that severe. ## Camps along the way Carnegie Station and the roadhouses at Warburton and Warakurna are the set stops, with bush camping in between wherever you find a firm clearing off the corridor. Everard Junction is a Beadell landmark worth pausing at, with one of his original marker plaques. If you are running the Gunbarrel as part of a bigger desert trip, it links into a [Red Centre loop](/itineraries/red-centre-loop) at the eastern end. It is a serious undertaking — go prepared, go slow and enjoy one of the great pieces of outback history.