Sturt National Park

Sturt National Park occupies the far northwest corner of New South Wales around Tibooburra, taking its name from Charles Sturt, who pushed into this country in the 1840s searching for an inland sea and was trapped by drought for six months. The park covers several desert landscapes: red sand dunes in the west, stony gibber plains that shimmer with heat, jump-ups or flat-topped mesas, and the Cameron Corner post, where New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia meet at a single surveyed point marked since 1880. Red kangaroos are abundant, emus common, and the dog fence runs along the northern boundary. Facilities are minimal and distances between them long.

What you actually see

• Cameron Corner - the marker where three states meet, with a store just over the line.
• The red dunes - parallel sand ridges in the western part of the park.
• The gibber plains - stone-covered desert flats stretching to the horizon.
• The jump-ups - flat-topped mesas rising above the plain.

When to go

April to September; summer temperatures exceed forty-five degrees and travel is genuinely hazardous. Roads are unsealed throughout and close after rain, sometimes stranding travellers for days. Wildflowers follow good winter rain.

Honest expectations

This is remote desert travel: fuel, water, spare tyres and communications need planning, and there is no phone coverage over most of the park. Tibooburra has one fuel stop and two pubs. Road closures after rain are enforced with heavy fines.

Nearby

Tibooburra is the base village; Innamincka and the Strzelecki Track lie west in South Australia.