Hay River Crossing — Plenty Highway Riverbank Bush Camp

The Plenty Highway crosses the Hay River out in the Northern Territory’s eastern Barkly-Plenty country. Most of the year it’s a dry sandy channel lined with coolibah and ghost gums. Travellers on the Alice Springs to Boulia run pull off on the flats beside the crossing to camp. There’s nothing here but shade, flat ground and a big sky. No facilities, no water you should trust, and no signal. Bring everything, including your own toilet kit, and carry out all your rubbish.

The Plenty is a mix of bitumen and graded gravel. Corrugations and loose stone sections will punish loose gear and tyres at pressure, so drop them before you get here. Don’t camp in the channel itself. After wet-season rain, or any storm upstream, the river can run and cut the road for days. Best season is May to September, when the nights are cool and the road is firm. Stations around here are working cattle country, so keep to the road corridor, shut gates and leave no trace. Check road conditions with NT Road Report and Queensland TMR before you go. Pin the exact camp spot yourself, as I haven’t confirmed coordinates. Have a dirty day.

Dry riverbed shade out on the Plenty.