BIG RED - a few stooopid questions.

Google earth may give you the coordianates you require.

Hi Fab,

1. Latitude 25.87904º S 25º 52' 44.54" S
Longitude 139.0531º E 139º 03' 11.33" E
Altitude 61m

2. No pass required. You are not yet in the Simpson Desert National Park.

3. No sand flag needed to get to Big Red. The dunes on the way are minor.

4. Yes, no trouble. Some might even give the big fella a crack in a Captiva. If you got stuck someone will always tow you off.

Have a great trip. Take water, it will be warm in August.

2 - No
3 - No
4 - No - The track from the main "road" when we went in September was severely rutted and I don't think a captiva would get through them wheel clearance wise -- Its also a long way to walk in to the track over Big Red - not sure exactly how far but could be a kilometer in ?? Might be best to park on the main track and hitch a lift in with a bigger 4X 4 ..

Rgds

Steve

1.....S25 52 50.8 E139 03 11.6

2 NO

3 NO

4 YES....

are a few dunes on the way out ...NO, the road is well formed and dunes have been cut and capped, at S25 54 04.2 E139 04 14.5 are a picnic table and a warning sign.

.

Yes you can drive along the track to big red.

The first dune you come to is little red, turn right and follow the track to Big red, when i was there for the Birdsville races there were holden cars parked at the bottom.

With a good run up an AWD will do both tracks but not after a few large 4Wd have dug up the sand, have fun I did.

Hi Fab72, Just back from there, you don't need co-ordinates, sand flags etc.. just go to Birdsville which is defiantly worth a coupla nights stay and then the main road out of town west goes straight to the dunes, little red to be exact. Its well graded but a few bogs and minor ruts which are not a problem providing you slow down and pick your line...! The bogs have probably dried out by now but they were easy to drive around anyway. Its about 35 km or 40mins from town. The road ends in a car park at little red however just before the end on the right a 4wd track leads of to big red - its quite obvious. The road is rutted requiring first and second gear its now rock free as I went out with a local first before taking the captiva and dutifully moved all the large rocks of the track (I should invoice the shire!) so should be clear for a while. When returning that evening to take photos my underbelly carefully graded the remaining deep ruts...maybe I should just go on the council payroll! I never tried and wouldn't recommend trying to drive up little or big red as while its easy at the start they quickly become steep and soft = lots of problems if you get stuck, I decided I will save it for when I upgraded to something more suitable (eg with real 4wd). But don't let that put you of, you can still easily walk up little or big red and enjoy a beautiful touch of the edge of the Simpson desert, it really is a nice spot. Go out and watch the sunset (tell someone your going and when you expect to be back) and enjoy it, its great.
Just a note, before you head up that way, the main tracks are well graded however have a good look under the car with a torch while reflecting on how rocks the size of small footballs seem to wander onto the dirt roads at night and go to sleep waiting for unsuspecting AWD owners to come bowling along...its more a problem with minor roads but is something to be aware of. Couple of other things, on local advice I let my cold tyre pressure down to 28psi which significantly improved dirt road grip and ride quality and lastly holden ripped us of with a piddly little 65L tank (on a 3.2L V6!) I don't know what they were thinking, you'll need a coupla 20L's in the back as fuel is far between. Actually one other thing see if you can pick up a spare five stud second hand wheel for peace of mind, my local holden dealer found me a commodore wheel with tyre for $200 - cheap insurance. It was my first trip out there as well and I loved it. There is lots to see and do in an AWD, you just need to take it easy...., think of the pride when you come back to the city and park along those big flash expensive 4wd's with all the gears which are lucky if they see a pothole, while your humble captiva is covered head to toe in red dirt from exploring outback oz!

There are tours from the caravan park if you are a little nervous.

PeterD

Firstly, that was an excellent reply Cantiva Clay.
Secondly Fab, I don't think anyone has mentioned that Big Red & Little Red are different crossings on the same dune. Big red is just a few k's north.

Fab,

Most of your ? hav been anwsered. AWD getting up Big Red, well I guess this may depend on the year and how dry the sand is. I have only done it 1x in a hi lux, took me a few tries, holden rodeo did not make it, except by chicken track, this could have also been the driver.

Any way, whatever I am sure you will all have a good time trying.

R

I was on Big Red in Aug 09 and went over in high range 4WD in my D40 Navara...so I can't see why an AWD wouldn't be able to do likewise. That said I probably have a bit more clearance (60mm lift) than the average AWD and I had low range to fall back on if the going got too tough. Approached from the west and hit the dune at about 60 kph running 18psi in the tyres.

Image Could Not Be FoundHi Fab

I have worked in Birdsville for a few months and would like to help with your questions.

You just take the road straight West out of Birdsville(from Birdsville Hotel) and that takes you to Little red. That is a dirt road and just a bit rocky, easy for your Captiva. You follow the road till get to the signpost that gives you all the Do's and Dont's of the Simpson on the left hand side and from where you will stand looking at the board, straight further along the road sits Little Red and about 400m to right of that is Big Red...can't miss it.

You should further give Big Red a go from the same (eastern)side, it's nothing for your Captiva with just the right tyre pressures.(20 psi)

I know you will enjoy your trip to there because it is beautifull.Image Could Not Be Found

Glad the info came in handy...Just want to let you know that I'am not there any more, only worked there for 4 months some 2 years ago.

You'll have a gr8 time there anyway, enjoy our trip!

Regards

Hendrik