Breakaways to Painted Desert — Coober Pedy Outback Rim Track via Stuart Range

Thirty kilometres north of Coober Pedy, the landscape cracks open into the Breakaways — a series of flat-topped mesas capped in white clay and ochre ironstone that look like they were lifted from the American Southwest and dropped into the dead centre of Australia. The track runs from the Coober Pedy visitor area out through the Dog Fence — one of the longest fences on earth — and across to the Painted Desert conservation reserve, where layered reds, purples, and yellows stack up in the low hills like something out of a fever dream. Key waypoints include the Breakaways Lookout, the boundary of the Painted Desert protected area, and a string of rough two-track sections through salt-encrusted claypan country that demands attention after rain.

This is technically accessible to high-clearance 2WD in dry conditions, but a wet spell turns the claypans into a greasy nightmare — 4WD is the sensible call year-round. No fuel between Coober Pedy and Marla (over 200km north), so top up before you leave. The Breakaways Conservation Reserve has a self-registration fee. Best run May through August when temps are sane — summer out here will cook you. Carry 10+ litres of water per person. The payoff is one of the most alien landscapes in Australia, with almost nobody else on it.