Simpson Desert 4WD tag along tour summary

In May we kicked off the first of our Hema Tours Simpson Desert tag-along 4WD tours of the 2024 season. The ideal time to visit the Simpson is between May & October, when temperatures are lower. For safety reasons, both the conservation park and regional reserve are closed from 1 December to 15 March, when temperatures can rise beyond 50 degrees celsius which isn’t particularly safe for people or vehicles. 

We had been monitoring the weather and flooding conditions in the weeks and months leading up desert season and the expectations of a wet desert crossing didn’t disappoint our group which included a mix of first timers and experienced 4WD owners! Yes, absolutely you need a 4WD vehicle to cross the Simpson Desert, one that has good clearance, fuel range and the right gear on board as it can take 3-4 days or longer depending on conditions and where you stop.

At Adrenalin Offroad Centre we don’t just sell 4WD accessories in our stores, we create a complete ownership experience no matter what brand or model of 4X4 you own. So you can buy accessories, do a canopy fit out, buy camping gear or get your vehicle inspected before going on one of our 4WD tours which visit the best destinations for four wheel offroad driving in Australia.

Getting started
We started this 4WD tour in Peterborouch, travelling east of the Flinders then across to the Outback Highway to begin our trek up the Ooodndatta Track. We noticed some recent changes on the Southern end of the Oodndatta Track around Lake Eyre South with some new fences and locked gates preventing access to some of the normal attractions. This is something we covered in some social media posts and some of the access restrictions were removed later in the season after our inquiries.

Tyres
An early issue one of our customers encountered on day 1 of the tour was a blown out tyre whilst travelling on a dirt road. This customer did set out with a very road style tyre and paid the price. We assisted them in sourcing a replacement tyre back down South in Port Augusta, however this was at the expense of leaving the tour for a day and catching up with us at Maree. When travelling the Outback, tyre selection is extremely important. We run Yokohama Geolandar G003 tyres on our 79 Series and they’ve performed flawlessly throughout our Central/Desert season.

Leaving civilisation 
Heading up the Oodndatta Track, we explored the Old Ghan Railway heritage, natural attractions such as mound springs and hot springs, and learnt about early exploration and Aboriginal culture. We peeled away from the Oodnadatta Track to head toward one of our favourite Outback locations, Mount Dare. The team at Mount Dare always look after us and provide awesome support and a great experience for Simpson travellers. This was the last bit of civilisation before crossing approximate 1100 sand dunes of the Simpson Desert to get to Birdsville.

The desert crossing 
Crossing the desert in a 4WD is always an amazing experience, and this crossing was no exception. Desert flowers and large flocks of Budgies were visible throughout the crossing, along with a few Dingos passing by. We did the obligatory swim at the Dalhousie hot springs and stopped for a look at Purnie Bore to see a couple more Dingos and some bird life. 

On our first morning of the crossing, we woke to found ourselves shrouded in a heavy fog, which is very unusual to see in this area. The fog lifted early and we continued our trek Eastward toward Birdsville. As we left the Knolls we came across another tour group that were the walking wounded with 3 vehicles limping along and 2 days behind schedule. They warned us of the sticky salt pan and water conditions that lay ahead of us. We stopped to assist one of the vehicles before continuing on toward Poeppel Corner.

Lake crossings
The salt lake crossing to get to Poeppel proved very difficult to cross, and at one point it captured our lead vehicle, which had to be recovered by our new guides Jeremy and Isabel in their Hilux. A second attempt on a different route proved successful for the big Landcruiser and the rest of our group followed in its tracks to safely cross the lake and get us to Poeppel corner as the sun was setting. We took a look at the corner post then made camp a short distance from there.

The following morning we had one more salt pan crossing to contend with on the K1 line and it managed to stick 2 of our groups vehicles, requiring recovery from our 2 staff vehicles. With the major salt pan crossings behind us we pressed on with only a couple of major obstacles left to tackle.

The Eyre Creek crossing has been flooded by water coming down from Far North QLD and was impassable for this tour. To get around it we used the bypass crossing, which is approximately 30km North of the regular crossing. The track to the crossing is an easy but rough dirt track, and there are a couple of sand dunes to cross to get to the alternate crossing. Once we got there we checked the depth and the bottom for obstacles then made our way across. The water level was almost a metre deep and flowing relatively quickly, but has a firm bottom. All our group crossed without incident. We did wash a couple of small fish out of the creek as we crossed through. Who’d have thought there would be fish in the desert!

Heading to Birdsville 
The last stint took us back to the QAA line and out to Birdsville via the Big Red sand dune. Everyone had a great time attempting the 40m climb up Big Red and eventually we all made it to the top. We headed to the Birdsville Caravan Park to freshen up before having our tour farewell dinner at the Birdsville hotel. Each driver received our custom made Simpson Desert challenge  coin as a memento of successfully completing their journey across this desert.

Simpson Desert Hema Tour dates are available 2025 season
Places on our 4WD tours are strictly limited to 10 vehicles. If you are considering doing a safe crossing of the Simpson as well as having a great time with our experienced 4×4 tour guides then book a place and join other passionate 4WD enthusiasts