Quick Links
No one ever said a shortcut has to be short. The Outback Way is a 2,700 km (1,690 mi) long road slicing diagonally through the center of Australia - it goes right through the remote Outback with not a soul in sight. The road runs from Laverton in Western Australia to Winton in Queensland passing through the Northern Territory's Red Centre en route. This long and lonely road is known as the longest shortcut in Australia.
Australia is also home to the longest national highway in the world - Highway 1 which circumnavigates the country. The longest drivable road in the world (according to the Guinness World Book of Records) is the Pan American Highway (which runs from Alaska to southern Argentina).
The Outback Way - Australia's Longest Shortcut
The Outback Way is sometimes called Australia's Route 66. But the reality couldn't be further from the truth. America's Route 66 was one of the popular Interstate highways connecting the two halves of the country at the dawn of automobile transport. It is linked with the boom of America's car culture.
The Outback Way is a road from nowhere to nowhere and most of it remains unsealed (for now). Laverton is the sort of remote and rugged frontier town one would expect at the end of a trip - not at the start of one.
- Route: Laverton, Western Australia to Winton, Queensland
- Length: 2,700 km (1,690 mi)
- Runs: Through The Red Centre Of Australia
The Outback Way stretches 2,700 km and puts a new meaning into "remote". One can drive vast distances without seeing a soul or a settlement.
What To Expect Along The Outback Way
Along the route, one will find that just because the center of Australia may be largely denuded of human life, that does not mean that it's empty and featureless. It is the road trip of a lifetime where one can gaze out into the peaceful colors of the Aussie Outback and soak in nature's diversity. Discover deserts, shimmering gorges, ranges, arid forests, and more along the way.
- Passes Through: Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland
The route has the chance to save days or even weeks off one's travel if one was to go all the way around the country.
The starting point, Laverton, is sat on the edge of Australia's two largest deserts (the Great Sandy Desert and Victoria Desert). The closest major city, Perth, is a 12-hour trip down the road and the closest significant town is Kalgoorlie - a five-hour drive away. Reaching Winton at the other end in Queensland is little different. It is also a remote outpost thousands of kilometers from the nearest major center.
- Perth: 12-Hour Drive From The Start Of The Road
- Unsealed: 1,200 km or 750 miles Remain Unsealed in 2021
- What To Expect: One Of The Longest and Emptiest Roads On Earth
It doesn't take long for the tarmac roads to disappear under a blank of red sand. At night gaze out to pollution-free night sky of the most brilliant starry skies possible.
The Outback Way passes through numerous indigenous homelands while skirting isolated national parks. Infrastructure is sparse mostly being made up of a few life-saving outback roadhouses.
Ultimately the road connects Perth in Western Australia with Cairns in Northern Queensland on the other side of the continent. The savings in time and distance are immense from following the paved and more established coast routes.
Terrifying Beginnings To Australia Future Alternative Highway
Many of the Outback tracks were laid between 1947 and 1963. Some 6,000 km of tracks were plowed by bulldozers through Australia's remote interior. These sometimes terrified the desert peoples who roamed the Outback far from white settlements. They wondered in terror at what great monsters could have left the tracks left behind by the bulldozers according to the BBC.
- Monsters: Remote Aborigines Thought Monsters Laid The Tracks
The road is being developed and state and federal governments are working on upgrading the road - although as of 2021 around 1200 km or 750 miles of the road remain to be sealed. Soon the jarring, bumpy, and dusty stretches are likely to give way to newly laid tarmac that any car can drive across.
Remember that this is a very remote road and insurance may not cover breakdowns. After rains (and they do happen on occasion in the desert) unsealed sections of the road can become impassable. That being said in a few years it is likely to be fully sealed.