Buchanan Highway, current conditions.

Submitted: Sunday, Jul 05, 2026 at 21:59

ThreadID: 152924 Views:582 Replies:2 FollowUps:0

John Baas

Hi all, looking to go to the Gulf country ex Perth, leaving Tues. Am aware of a relatively recent thread on this. But looking to see in anyone here has actually driven it in the last few weeks. Cheers. JB.

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Reply By: Peter_n_Margaret - Monday, Jul 06, 2026 at 11:00

Monday, Jul 06, 2026 at 11:00

NT road report
The NT road report has no current warnings or closures.
That is enough information to check it out personally, for us. So much the better if no one has used it recently.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

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AnswerID: 649375

Reply By: Member - nick boab - Wednesday, Jul 08, 2026 at 07:12

Wednesday, Jul 08, 2026 at 07:12

Having a look at the Buchanan Highway on the Traveller app and had a bit of a giggle at the average speed allowed for this section of the highway in photo below .
Having driven this road several times over the years and also did one on the Blacktop the long way around when travelling on into the gulf country myself.
Admittedly you can change the average speed in the app but it's unusual I would think that the average speed would be higher on a very average Road compared with the black top .

There is no doubt that the buchanan highway is a lot shorter in distance than the long way round but I have often questioned myself if it's any quicker, the section shown in the picture from Top Springs to Timber Creek can be rough & slow from my experience.