Marree Attractions

The little outback town of Marree (pop. 400), situated at the junction of the notorious Birdsville Track and the Oodnadatta Track, was an important station on the overland telegraph line in the 19th C. A monument commemorates the surveyor John McDouall Stuart, who camped here during his 1859 expedition. For many years Marree was a staging post for the Afghan-led camel trains of the 19th C. Of the camel-men's settlement, known as Ghan Town, only ruins remain. The Ghan railroad which later followed the old trade route also passed through Marree, and the cattle which had been driven from Queensland on the Birdsville Track were loaded on to the train here. After the line was interrupted by flooding, however, it was moved further west towards Tarcoola.