The French Line (or shot line as it's called) is the shortest and most direct route across the Simpson. The route crosses the dunes at right angles and there's about 1200 of them in all.
The track is crossed in both directions and because its only single lane wide, head on collisions are a reality but they can be avoided if you take the necessary precautions. These precautions include flying a dune flag from the front of your vehicle (lead vehicle in your party), carrying a
UHF radio and scanning all stations plus periodically making a warning call of your position from the tops of high dunes to warn any oncoming traffic.
Distances are often calculated from either Mt Dare
Homestead or
Oodnadatta because they are your last stops for fuel (diesel and petrol), water, a telephone and your last chance for supplies (although very limited). The trip across the French Line from Dalhousie to
Birdsville is regularly done by tourists with just 2 to 3
camp stops. There are no designated
camp sites in
the desert (other than
Dalhousie Springs and Purnie
Bore) but there's plenty of wide open spaces to find a place all to yourself.
Select a
camp site in the swales between the dunes where the ground is flat. There is very little shade as most trees are too low to offer any significant shade. There is plenty of dead mulga wood lying around for campfires but only burn small fires for cooking and make sure you carefully extinguish and cover it up with sand before you depart. It's ok to burn little bits of paper and cardboard rubbish including
toilet paper but bag the rest and take it out of
the desert with you.
How to Use this Trek Note
- To download this information and the route file for offline use on a phone, tablet, headunit or laptop, go to the app store and purchase ExplorOz Traveller. This app enables offline navigation and mapping and will show where you are as you travel along the route. For more info see the ExplorOz Traveller webpage and the EOTopo webpage.
Environment
The
Simpson Desert is the driest region of Australia and it is a dunal desert - a sea of parallel red sand ridges around 300-500 kilometres long covering a total area of 170,000 square kilometres. The South Australian section of the
Simpson Desert is divided into 3 protected areas,
Simpson Desert Conservation Park,
Simpson Desert Regional Reserve and Witjira National Park managed by the South Australian Desert Parks department of the SA Department of Environment and
Heritage. A permit (the SA Desert Parks Pass) is required for all travel and camping. Rains normally occur in the heat of summer (late December through to early early March), although floods have been known to remain as late as July. Each season is different and you must plan your trip by keeping an eye on weather conditions and road reports .
There are numerous salt pans and lakes throughout the
Simpson Desert and these can flood after rains and close
the desert to vehicle traffic. Camping around the
salt lake areas near the
Erabena Track Junction/French Line is most rewarding because the gidgee
woodlands provide shade,
shelter and soft ground for camping. There are increased wildlife viewing possibilities and you'll see great colours over the lakes at sunset.
Flora
The majority of the plant life you'll see is Spinifex and upside down trees! Desert vegetation depends on seasonal conditions. In particular after rain the Simpson puts on an incredible show of desert
wildflowers including Billy buttons, Poached egg daises, Cunningham bird flower. Most are short lived, and during the peak travel season most people have missed their chance of seeing
the desert in bloom, unless you are fortunate to travel in a season that has seen rain in May.
Fauna
Of all the wildlife you'll encounter in the
Simpson Desert, you'll become the most acquainted with the bush fly - annoying but thankfully gone after sundown. " Eagles" are the most commonly seen of the birds in
the desert area although there are some 150 different species of birdlife including the Bustard, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Brown Falcon, budgerigar and Zebra Finch. Around the floodplains you could see Black Kites, Crested Pigeons and Galahs. Many creatures are nocturnal, so they are not easily seen or photographed. These include small marsupials but there are also some feral animals such as rabbits, foxes, camels and donkeys. Dingoes and camels are very common throughout the Simpson with the highest
population of camels being in the southern parts so the
Rig Road is the best place to spot them. If you get out of your vehicle during the day you might see some reptiles such the Perentie (goanna), Western Brown Snake, Woma Python and the Banded Skink.
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