Marree, Australian outback desert town is where heritage railway relics, quirky sculptures and the desert create an intriguing destination. Campgrounds, the adjoining hotel and general store offer overnight accommodation. Local tours include flights over the vast desert and Lake Eyre. The settlement is at the junction of the Birdsville and Oodnadatta Tracks.
MAREE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA – HIGHLIGHTS, THINGS TO DO
- MUSEUM PARK, MAREE. The town was the terminus for the former railway line. Coal and cattle and the original Ghan railway. The parked up diesel locomotives are reminders of a time when the Marree line was one of Australia’s first to use them RAILWAY ENTHUSIASTS will be in travel heaven with the platforms, the static trains and the sense of timelessness.
- Walk along the streets of Marree, helpfully named First, Second and Third and witness the sheer immensity of the desert with roads and houses simply swallowed up into the landscape beyond.
Marree Tours & Adventures – RESERVE NOW, PAY LATER
- Mutonia Sculpture Park. The sculptures are massive and in the middle of nowhere. The former railway siding is home to quirky and unique Mutonia Sculpture Park. There is no explanation to what each unusual sculpture signifies. Each piece is largely made from recycled materials found nearby. Robin ‘Mutoid’ Cooke is the creator.
Mutonia Sculpture Park Location
30 km from Marree along the Oodnadatta Track, South Australia
- Replica of an Afghan mosque made from bush materials is a poignant reminder of the role Afghan cameleers played opening up Central Australian desert to settlement, cattle farming and exploration
- Marree cemetery is divided into Aboriginal, Afghan and European sections. The desert intrudes into the cemetery with dust motes
South Australia tourism poster, Marree, Emmus in desert Marree, South Australia outdoor tourism poster of a cattle muster - The Tom Kruse Museum in the Marree Hotel documents the life of the outback postman with photographs and articles.
- Hergott Springs, one of many artesian springs along the Oodnadatta Track.
- The best selfie is in front of the Lake Eyre Yacht Club complete with a boat in the front. The lake is usually a salt pan shimmering tints of pink and crystal white.
Marree Railway Station in South Australia north’s went from being the change-of-gauge station on the line between Port Augusta and Alice Springs from 1957 to being superseded in 1981 by the alternative Tarcoola-Alice Springs line and completely cut off from rail input from 1987.
The diesel locomotives recall when the Marree line was one of Australia’s first to use them exclusively.
Marree continues to exist as a service centre for the cattle stations in northeast South Australia as well as a stopover destination for tourists exploring the Birdsville or Oodnadatta Tracks.
WHAT TO DO NEARBY MAREE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
MARREE MAN
The Marree Man, which can only be seen from the air, is a geoglyph which lies on a plateau of arid land, 60 km west of Marree. The giant geoglyph of the Marree Man is an icon of the small settlement and its creation is unknown.
The site is not accessible to the general public as it falls on Native title lands, the geoglyph is slowly fading through natural erosion.
KATI THANDA, LAKE EYRE
South Australia’s much photographed pink tinted salt lake receives an annual rainfall of less than 125 mm. Lake Eyre is below sea level and is a natural drainage point for over 1.3 million square kilometres.
Reviews & Tours on TripAdvisor
Lake Eyre Tours & Activities – RESERVE NOW, PAY LATER
ROAD TRIP MARREE TO WILLIAM CREEK – OODNADATTA TRACK
BIRDSVILLE TRACK
The dirt track to Birdsville heads north from Marree to Birdsville for 519 km across the unforgiving arid Simpson Desert and Sturt’s Stony Desert. It was developed in the 1880s as a stock route and, in recent times, has become popular with 4WD enthusiasts.
The Birdsville Track eventually contacts Queensland via Mount Isa. Officially the Birdsville Track is route 83, South Australia.
AERIAL TOURS FROM MARREE
Arid Air is a popular aerial tour operator departing from Marree – Reviews on TripAdvisor
MAREE FESTIVALS
- Marree Picnic Races and Bronco Branding held on the Queens Birthday long weekend in June, with the Bronco Branding following the next weekend.
- The Camel Cup is held on the first weekend in July.
- Marree Gymkhana & Motorkhana, held on the June over a 3 day period including a weekend.
WHERE IS MARREE LOCATED?
The edge of the vast desert area of Central Australia. To the north lie the Simpson Desert and Sturt’s Stony Desert and to the north-east is the Strzelecki Desert.
The vast salt pan, Lake Eyre, lies to the northwest. Marree is a true desert settlement receiving an average annual rainfall of only 125 mm.
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