Will Your Fuel Get You There?
Check your tank against the long stretches between fuel stops on each road into Birdsville — and see how much extra to carry.
Birdsville sits at the end of long, lonely roads with very few places to fill up. Put in your tank size and how much fuel your vehicle uses, and this checks each way into town against its longest stretch without a fuel stop — and tells you how much extra to carry if your tank won't make it.
How much fuel your tank holds when full.
Highway figures from the handbook are optimistic out here — soft sand, corrugations and a loaded vehicle use far more. If unsure, enter a higher number.
Fuel you want to arrive with, never run down to. 20% is a sensible minimum.
From Marree — the Birdsville Track
≈520 km · unsealed, maintainedThe classic southern route up from Marree, South Australia. Unsealed but graded so a well-prepared 4WD or high-clearance SUV can tow a camper. Mungerannie Roadhouse, about halfway, is the only fuel between Marree and Birdsville.
Longest stretch with no fuel: Mungerannie Roadhouse → Birdsville — 315 km
- Longest fuel-free stretch
- 315 km
- Your usable range on one tank
- 533 km
Your tank should cover this stretch.
That is the maths on the figures you entered — not a promise. Always carry a reserve and check the road report before you set out.
From Windorah — the Birdsville Developmental Road
≈386 km · part sealed, part unsealedThe eastern route through the Channel Country. Part sealed, part unsealed, and regularly maintained. It passes the Betoota ghost town, where the hotel and fuel closed in 1997 — so there is no fuel for the whole stretch from Windorah.
Longest stretch with no fuel: Windorah → Birdsville — 386 km
- Longest fuel-free stretch
- 386 km
- Your usable range on one tank
- 533 km
Your tank should cover this stretch.
That is the maths on the figures you entered — not a promise. Always carry a reserve and check the road report before you set out.
From Bedourie — the Eyre Developmental Road (Bilby Way)
≈190 km · mostly dirt, 4WD onlyThe northern route down from Bedourie, with patches of bitumen but mostly dirt. Open to high-clearance 4WDs only. Bedourie has the last fuel.
Longest stretch with no fuel: Bedourie → Birdsville — 190 km
- Longest fuel-free stretch
- 190 km
- Your usable range on one tank
- 533 km
Your tank should cover this stretch.
That is the maths on the figures you entered — not a promise. Always carry a reserve and check the road report before you set out.
From Mt Dare — across the Simpson Desert
≈520 km · deep sand, 4WD only, no fuelThe hardest way in: the QAA and French Lines across the dunes from Mt Dare, South Australia. There is NO fuel for the whole crossing, soft sand uses far more fuel than the highway, and you should be fully self-sufficient. Carry well beyond what the maths shows.
Longest stretch with no fuel: Mt Dare → Birdsville — 520 km
- Longest fuel-free stretch
- 520 km
- Your usable range on one tank
- 533 km
Your tank should cover this stretch.
That is the maths on the figures you entered — not a promise. Always carry a reserve and check the road report before you set out.
From Innamincka — the Cordillo Downs Road
≈424 km · unsealed, 4WD recommendedThe south-eastern route up from Innamincka. Unsealed and 4WD-recommended; conditions vary a lot with weather and traffic. Innamincka has the last fuel.
Longest stretch with no fuel: Innamincka → Birdsville — 424 km
- Longest fuel-free stretch
- 424 km
- Your usable range on one tank
- 533 km
Your tank should cover this stretch.
That is the maths on the figures you entered — not a promise. Always carry a reserve and check the road report before you set out.
No fuel across the Simpson Desert
Floods cut the roads, not the town
Before you set out
- At least one full jerry can of fuel — and several more for the Simpson Desert crossing, where there is none for ~520 km.
- Two spare tyres, a tyre-repair kit and a good air pump; let your tyres down for sand (the “4 psi rule”) and pump them back up for the hard road.
- Recovery gear — a sand shovel, recovery tracks and a tow rope.
- Several days of drinking water, in case of a breakdown or a road closed by rain.
- A satellite phone or personal locator beacon: there is no mobile coverage once you leave town (roughly a 20 km radius).
- Tell someone your route and when you expect to arrive.
Check the roads first
- Live local road conditions and closures around Birdsville.
- Diamantina Shire road report
- Queensland road closures, flooding and hazards.
- QLDTraffic live map
- The town's go-to page, mirroring the South Australian, Queensland and Diamantina reports.
- Birdsville Hotel — roads & weather