Canning Stock Route - Traverses

Traverses

When horses became scarce in the Kimberley in the 1950s due to widespread losses because of the "Walkabout Poison", the stock route was used to drove horses north from around the Norseman area where they were sold to the stations.

Wally Dowling, a drover who had made nine droves along the stock route took what was probably the last horses northwards along the route in September 1951.

In 1968 the entire length of the track was driven for the first time. During the 1980s fuel dumps were created and adventurous travellers became interested in the history of the track and the challenge to drive it.

In 1974, before the route was regularly negotiated in four-wheel drives, an ambitious attempt to complete it on foot took place. Two English brothers, John and Peter Waterfall, and a New Zealander, Murray Rankin, fashioned a homemade trolley from bicycle tyres and metal tubing, and began their attempt. Although one of the brothers (John) turned back, Peter and Murray continued to Lake Disappointment before being forced to abandon their attempt. The remains of their trolley lie 19 km north of Well 15. Two years later, in 1976, Rankin achieved his ambition to walk the stock route. After driving the route in a Land Rover and establishing food depots along the way, he set out from Halls Creek on 12 July 1976 with three other bushwalkers, Ralph Barraclough, Kathy Borman and Rex Shaw. Ralph turned back after becoming ill, but the others completed the journey in just under three months.

In 1977, the first commercial tour completed the drive.

In 1985, a Beach Buggy and a Citroën 2CV became the first two-wheel drive vehicles to complete the entire route

In 1994 long distance walker Drew Kettle walked the route.

In 2004 Kate Leeming completed a cycling trek on the route.

In 2005, Jakub Postrzygacz became the first person to traverse the entire track without backup, travelling alone by bicycle for 33 days. Using large tyres and a single-wheel trailer, he carried all his food with him, stocking up on water at the periodic wells.