Plenty Highway/Donohue Highway

Whatever they are now is likely to change.
There is a fella named Trevor probably going to dump a whole heap of rain in the area.

Plenty bad/rough road at Tobermorey at the moment Monitor the following web page. NT road closures

We have driven this road East to West two consecutive years, 2016 and 2017. I know this is a little while ago but I will indicate what we found.
A considerable amount of work is continuing on the NT side around about the Gem Tree area. Whilst I am mentioning Gem Tree CV Park it is worth a stopover as they do an excellent campfire dinner a various times during the week. You can also do fossicking tours. Back to the road. They appear to be sealing about 20km per year so it is slowly approaching the Queensland border. However, at the current rate it is going to take some time.
We did note that little maintenance had occurred on the unsealed NT sections from 2016 to 2017. There was much bulldust and it was badly corrugated in sections. Of course may have been graded since.
The Queensland section is in better condition and the bitumen extends over 100km west of Boulia, if I remember correctly. Thus about 60% of the Queensland road is sealed.
Jervois is very basic for camping. You do need to be quick for the limited bathroom facilities. But it is an OK place to stay.
There is a good bush camping site at Arthur River and Tobermorey is also a good place to take a break or stay.
Boulia has an interesting museum, The Stone House, with some excellent marine dinosaur fossils and of course the Min Min Experience is worth visiting.
Boulia has a very good caravan park.
Hope this helps.

This question is posed sooo many times on the forum, and the answer in each case would be the same: (a search will demonstrate my point)
1) it is a long stretch of road, no one comment can apply to the whole road.
2) you will encounter smooth sections depending on where the grader was,
3) and a combination of gravel, sand and rocky sections where the grader has not been for a while
4) there will be patches of bulldust somewhere along the way absolutely no doubt about that
5) if it rains it is a different ballgame again
The above will apply that is for sure, especially item 1) is applicable.

There’s bitumen from Stuart Highway to Hart’s Range community now. As Robert mentioned, the Donahue has about 100kms of bitumen, in sections, to the border.

The remainder is a mix of stones, gravel, bull dust & good surfaces. Les PK Ranger & I did Gem Tree to Winton in a long day, in early July, 18. We saw quite a number of camper trailers & some caravans that day.

Just drive to conditions. Gem Tree is a great spot. Back in 2011, we also camped at Bendgeacca Ck, just off the Boulia-Mt Isa bitumen.

Bob

Thank you to all who replied, I appreciate your time, effort and knowledge. We shall not be in Alice Springs until around ANZAC Day and depending on the weather we will make our choice then with your comments in mind.

Macquarie

I agree with the above comments.
One bit of advice I will add is if you want to stop for lunch or a rest stop, make sure you can get right off the road as far as possible, as lunatics will pass you at 100Kmh plus without slowing down and shower you with rocks.

It is an unfortunate feature of most dirt roads in this country that many are inconsiderate.
By the same token if you see someone parked on the side of the road slow down and move to the other side if safe, and if they have a problem ask if you can help.
Regards Philip A

I will be travelling east to west on the 28th and 29th April after spending 4 days including Anzac Day in Birdsville. Will be heading down to Alice Springs for a week