Murranji Track

Sister Ellen Kettle vehicle while travelling on the Murranji track, 1962
Stock on Murranji Track after being dipped at Lake Nash, 1953

The Murranji Track or Murranji Stock Route is a stock route in the Northern Territory of Australia and it runs between Newcastle Waters and Top Springs.[1] The track was primarily operational between 1904 and the late 1960s and it attracted descriptions as the "ghost road of the Drovers" and the "death track".[2] It was used as an entry point to the Barkly Tableland and it is nearby to Wave Hill, Auvergne and Victoria River Downs Stations.[3][4]

It is on the lands of the Mudburra and Djingili peoples and their rights to this land has been established by the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 and the Native Title Act 1993.[5][6]

Use of the track declined from 1966 when the Buchanan Highway was completed and it is now rarely used as a stock route and is now an unsealed road.[5][7][8] It is 644 km long.[9]

  1. ^ "Welcome to Newcastle Waters". www.exploringaustralia.com.au. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  2. ^ "The Murranji Track – Boolarong Press". Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  3. ^ Hartt, Haliden (1 October 1944). "Out on the Murranji". Walkabout. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  4. ^ Australian Geographical Society. 124143 421c3670-a164-5721-8ebb-e16110b2ed57 (1 June 1950), "MURRANJI TRACK (1 June 1950)", Walkabout, 16 (6), Australian National Travel Association: 10, ISSN 0043-0064{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "DCD2007/002 - Newcastle Waters - Murranji Determination". Native Title Determination Details. 26 September 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  7. ^ "Buchanan Highway". NT Place Names Register. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Map of Murranji Stock Route in the Northern Territory - Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia". www.bonzle.com. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  9. ^ O'Neill, Sally, "Nathaniel (Nat) Buchanan (1826–1901)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 22 February 2024