This must be one of the best sand tracks to be found in Victoria (well close to being in Victoria anyway). It follows the border from near Pinnaroo right down to near the Melbourne - Adelaide hwy.
This track has very large sand hills to get over. Most of these hills have tracks to get around them if you are not able to get over them. Some of these hills are so extreme theres no way anyone will get over them, so this track can very easily be classed as a \'Difficult\' track.
Very Important. Check with the SA National Parks and Reserves for information on when the track is closed, and what direction you need to go in. Go here for information on the track closure, but you need to call them too, to find out the direction (N to S, or S to N) that you need to take!
The track is about 100km. If travelling southwards, when you get down to the turn off at about -36.10903359678313, 140.9662628173828, follow the road to Telopea Downs then on to Nhill (if travelling home towards Melbourne).
Allow a full day to make this trip. For a more enjoyable weekend, take your time and camp anywhere along the track. Stop in or camp at Red Bluff - scenic red sandstone hill.
Make sure you pack all your recovery gear, and travel in a group with other 4wd\'s.
(second photo below is taken from the top of Red Bluff)
User ID | Log | Vehicle | Date |
---|---|---|---|
33793 | Compltete the Pinaroo to Red Bluff section. Track was in reasonable condition apart some rougher sections climbing the bigger dunes. Still there was nothing that couldnt be driven easily. Camped at Red Bluff. Was a fantastic weekend trip!!! | Toyota Prado | Jun 6, 2015 |
11056 | Awesome | Nissan Patrol | Nov 2, 2014 |
10203 | Heaps of fun for something different to the high country. Will definitely go back. | Toyota Hilux | Oct 6, 2013 |
36778 | Suzuki Sierra | Jul 24, 2013 | |
40693 | Good fun. | Mitsubishi Triton | |
38024 | Great tack with soft sand, dunes, mud holes and good campsites. | Toyota Landcruiser | Apr 9, 2013 |
29209 | Track was really dry and busy. All dunes were passable and did not require any towing. | Nissan Patrol | Jun 11, 2012 |
25867 | After an inch of rain last weekend the track was easily negotiated, Had a convoy of 11 cars ranging from a standard Prado, Pajero and Navara up to a 6 inch lifted Patrol. Prado and Navara took a couple of chicken tracks but the sand was easy work and the ruts were mostly dry. Great weekend stay at Pine Hut Soak, Red Bluff and then Mundulla Oval. | Nissan Patrol | Jun 11, 2012 |
6015 | Nissan Patrol | Apr 24, 2012 | |
22117 | Very dry track with a lot of wheel marks being the week after Easter. We went from Pinaroo to Bordertown in my Rodeo and a mate's Patrol towing his trailer. Despite loose sand, the hills were not a big drama and we only had to re try a couple. Being so dry, I'd guess this would be the hills at their most difficult as they're all sand and while there were a couple of challenges, they were very doable in the Rodeo and the fact the Patrol pulled an 800kg trailer over them confirms it. Red Bluff is a great camp site and well worth stopping at if you're doing the trip as a leisurely 2 dayer. Wash outs on the bottom half were a non event with no scrapes from either car. That's in the dry though and I'm looking forward to re doing the bottom half after rain as I reckon it'll be some mud filled carnage ;) | Holden Rodeo | Apr 22, 2012 |
24152 | Great 1st 4x4 trip in new Ranger. Went all the way to Bordertown Road, inc 'narrow section of track', no major scratches thanks God. Left the BT at ~ -36.211593,140.966088 and came out on the Serviceton North Telopea Downs Road at ~ -36.212584,140.997757 . . . followed this down to Serviceton. | Ford Ranger | Oct 16, 2011 |
20518 | What an experience. We had a great time on this track. Excellent sand driving experience. Make sure you check the warnings before you go however, the track was certainly passable when we went. Will definately go back again! | Toyota Landcruiser | Sep 28, 2011 |
24941 | A lot of fun with some great campsites. We'll be back | Toyota Landcruiser | Sep 24, 2011 |
23255 | I found this track to be very nice but be prepared for lots of woops lol I found the edge of my patience a coupe of times lol especially with a heavily laden truck. But overall I'm glad I did it and would do it again for sure but with less weight. Both Pine Hut Soak and the Red Bluff campsites are tremendous spots to camp and relax. | Toyota Landcruiser | Sep 2, 2011 |
21824 | Did this track with one car after some heavy rains. The was fun but it had no real challenges so long as you stayed away from deep ruts on the road in. I found the camping along the track the best draw card for going there. | Nissan Patrol | Aug 19, 2011 |
14545 | This track was our first real 4X4 track, we had a great time. We are hooked, Make sure you travil with other people, and check the bog holes before you enter them. | Holden Jackaroo | May 29, 2011 |
17462 | In a convoy of 15 cars, we enjoyed the track camping at red bluff overnight before finishing it off the following morning. Well worth it, and not too wet either. Also in the convoy was a Rav and a Grand Vitara. | Nissan Patrol | May 21, 2011 |
10633 | GREAT TRACK FOR A SHORT WEEKEND | Ford Courier | Jun 15, 2010 |
12365 | We went from Pinnaroo and headed South. Turned off before Red Bluff so missed the big bog holes. There had been alot of rain and the track was very firm, so firm that I saw a Ford Territory get up a couple of the bigger hills after a couple of attempts. He had to absolutely flog it and he had backup in the form of a Cruiser and a Patrol. The appearance of the Territory explained why the ridge in the middle of the track looked like it had been graded all the way from the start. :-) | Nissan Patrol | May 29, 2010 |
11118 | Check the depths of the mud holes between Pinaroo and Kaniva. John C | Jeep Wrangler | May 1, 2010 |
10822 | Awesome fun track, several big dunes, some with bypasses, but I achieved the climbs on all of these in one hit. Momentum is your friend. Started the Border track at scorpion springs (North to south ONLY) and then went through to Mount Shaugh and turned west into Ngarkat for a days driving. lovely scenic trip with a few moderate to hard parts. well worth the trip to experience. | Jeep Wrangler | Apr 27, 2010 |
12619 | Great track, good for the long weekend! Watch out for the holes they are really deep! | Nissan Patrol | Dec 5, 2009 |
5055 | We did this track from Pinnaroo to Bordertown last weekend (October 09). IT was HEAPS of fun but the maps are TERRIBLE!!! Where do i begin! The 4WD SA book had a breif map, but nothing to any resemblance of a scale, the BP roadhouse at Pinnaroo had a better map, but again, scale was WAY out the window, and even the CFS map was pretty poor. We ended up missing the supposed turnoff to red bluff, that according to the maps was "well signposted". We took a left turn where we thought it was and went half an hour into the bush and just went over hill after hill but no 'bluff'. WE camped at The Pines first night, then due to not finding the Bluff camp site went right through to Bordertown and stayed in the caravan park, which was WONDERFUL!!! Green lush grass and showers and toilets for $18 a night for a couple. If we did it again, we'd probably stay at the pines again, then go to Pertendi via the Centre Track then setup camp as early as we could and then do some scouting around withy empty vehicles for some fun tracks, Mt Shaugh and also Red Bluff. We took mostly dual cabs which did great cos their so light. I took a GU and camper trailer, nicknamed "the prime mover" but it was jsut great! The only casualities was a few broken plastic crates in the camper trailer from all the bouncing around. We did the trip leaving Adelaide Friday morning, and then back at lunch on Sunday. It was 900lm round trip. If you want any more information, please email me bkdjones@gmail.com | Nissan Patrol | Oct 12, 2009 |
11262 | Good fun | Toyota Hilux Surf | Aug 9, 2009 |
2749 | Recent rains had packed down the sand fairly well so sand hills were reasonably easy to negotiate. Avoided most of the bog holes but was recovered out of one. | Mitsubishi Triton | Aug 1, 2009 |
2701 | Hyundai Terracan | Dec 10, 2008 | |
589 | From Pinnaroo to Red Bluff. Dry weather, soft sandy climbs. The old MQ with the little 2.8 litre on LPG did pretty well, but had to work hard. Used 15psi tyre pressures. | Nissan Patrol | Sep 8, 2008 |
12810 | Toyota Landcruiser | Aug 30, 2008 | |
3294 | This track is serious fun | Toyota Landcruiser | Aug 9, 2008 |
652 | Completed from Border Cliffs to Red bluff returning home via the Big Desert and Little Desert Queens Birthday weekend Doing again this years (June) | Nissan Navara | May 17, 2008 |
6202 | First real 4x4 trip in GU. Very wet. Made the tracks too easy. | Nissan Patrol | Apr 25, 2008 |
12810 | Toyota Landcruiser | Aug 26, 2007 | |
2271 | i have done this track twice in diferent vehicles a 60 series landcruiser and 1983 subaru touring wagon | Toyota Landcruiser | |
96 | Awesome track | Toyota Landcruiser | Mar 23, 2004 |