Tanami Track — Alice Springs to Halls Creek via the Tanami Desert

The Tanami Track is Australia’s loneliest sealed-to-dirt corridor, running northwest from Alice Springs across the Northern Territory border into the Kimberley edge at Halls Creek, Western Australia. The road starts paved for the first stretch past Yuendumu, then turns into a corrugated, sandy, often-bulldust-choked dirt track for the bulk of its 1,060-kilometre length. Key waypoints include Yuendumu, the turnoff to the Granites gold mine (one of the few fuel stops in the void), and Rabbit Flat — once the most remote roadhouse in Australia, now closed, a fact that has caught more than a few travellers badly short on fuel. The desert itself is vast and flat, with low spinifex, ghost gums, and the occasional mob of camels or dingoes as your only company for hours at a stretch.

The Tanami is rated moderate in dry conditions but becomes genuinely dangerous after rain — the red clay surface turns to slick grease that stops even well-equipped vehicles cold, and it can stay closed for days. A minimum two-vehicle convoy is strongly recommended. Carry at least 200 extra litres of fuel and 20 litres of water per person beyond your expected needs; the gap between reliable fuel at Yuendumu and Halls Creek is roughly 700 km and Rabbit Flat cannot be counted on. A UHF CB, HF radio, or satellite communicator is essential — there is zero cell coverage. Best season is May through September. Permits are required to cross Aboriginal land managed by the Central Land Council. The track is raw, repetitive, and punishing — and that is exactly why it earns its place on the list.