Welford National Park near Windorah: Complete Guide!

If you’re chasing a true outback adventure, the Welford National Park in Outback Queensland is one of those hidden gems that often gets overlooked, yet it’s home to some of the most striking landscapes in the region.

But here’s the thing: being so remote, many travellers wonder how do you actually get to Welford National Park, what can you see when you’re there, and is it worth the effort?

In this guide, I’ll take you through everything you need to know about visiting Welford National Park. This is from the best way to access the park, to the winding through the “Desert and River Drives” highlights you can’t miss, and tips to make the most of your outback road trip.

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Exploring the Welford National Park Near Windorah

Exploring Welford National Park was easily one of the best attractions near Windorah and is absolutely worth adding to your Outback Queensland itinerary. Its a mix of red sand dunes, spinifex grasslands, mulga woodlands, and the winding Barcoo River, making it an incredible place to see the diversity of the outback in one location.

Not only is it visually striking, but the park is also home to fascinating wildlife like emus, red kangaroos, and even rare bird species such as the yellow-footed rock-wallaby.

History buffs will also enjoy the remnants of the original Welford Homestead and Aboriginal heritage sites, which add another layer of depth to the visit.

In terms of time, you’ll want at least two full days to really do Welford justice. This gives you the chance to tackle the Mulga Drive, Desert Drive & River Drive, each of which offers something different, from red dunes to river floodplains to rugged outback scenery.

If you’re short on time, you could squeeze the highlights into a single day (like we did), but it will feel rushed and you might miss out on the slower moments that make the park so special.

Note: Even better if you camp in the National Park for longer and separate your exploration.

1. River Drive – (12 klms – 30 mins)

The River Drive is a scenic drive, the shorter one of all three and it’s where you’ll find the Little Boomerang camp. As the name suggests, it’s driving along the river and gives you a few points of interest to explore.

This is where I found a lot of birds around, like Cockatoos and Crows. Plus, as you get closer to the river, you definitely needed a four-wheel drive.

Surprisingly, there is swimming allowed in the river, but maybe paddle boarding or canoeing might be better as I wasn’t sure I would swim there.

2. Desert Drive – (22 klms 1.5 hours)

The Desert Drive was the highlight for my trip and exploring more of the red sandy dunes. Not only that, but I loved getting footage of driving around the windy roads and capturing all the colour contrast between the green and red.

You can watch my You Tube HERE to see more about that, or get a visual on the area.

But it wasn’t just about the red sand, you also have several stops along the track, like the Oil Bore, Old Pastoral Stock troughs, and I managed to find more wildflowers.

This bore has been drilled around 1800 metres below bring up oil

This was my favourite of the two completed and if given the opportunity, I would go and see it again. Although, since we were there in the middle of the day, the sand was a bit on the warm side.

I guess if I wanted to walk around in shoes, I would have been fine, but the sand was so soft! Although if you want to check out more Sand Hills in the area, you have a few to choose from.

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3. Mulga Drive ( 71km Total – about 4 hours) 

The Mulga Drive we will have to see another time and hopefully bush camp inside the park. We could have completed them all in one day, although that would have been very rushed. 

If you do want to tackle all these “Drives” in the one day, I would leave really early from town. Otherwise expect to get back very late. As it was, we were trying to get to the another Red Sand dunes for sunset and ran out of time.

How to Get there?

From town, it will take about one hour to drive into the National Park (please see location map here).

There are a couple of entrances, including one from Jundah, in the North. Although, with these drives, they are recommended one way, and I think entering the “Quilpie Windorah Road” in the south is the best.

Out of town, the roads are sealed and single lanes. However, the turnoff into Hammond Downs Road is clearly signposted and will then have you driving on the dirt.

The roads from here on are all unsealed but not intensely four-wheel-drive territory. Both Desert Drive and River Drive are similar, but it’s still recommended for a 4WD.

I have heard Mulga Drive is more demanding ( Known for the Mulga Trees).

Park Map

The Map below shows how easy it was to enter the park from the south and complete both the River Drive and the Desert drive. If your in need of Bathrooms, this is only available at the Little Boomerang Camping site. 

Where to Camp

There is camping available in the Park with sites at the Little Boomerang Camp. It’s open-plan, suitable for tents and camper trailers, and on the edge of the Barcoo River.

There are no facilities here except for a non-flushing toilet, so you need to ensure you bring plenty of water. Additionally, any other supplies you need with food, insect repellent, first aid kit, etc. Also note, there is no phone service!

You can book the Little Boomerang Camp through the Qld Parks National Parks website HERE.

Can you see Termite Mounds?

We found plenty of Termite Mounds on the side of the Jundah Quilpie Road.

If you’re going to stop off and explore, then make sure you have closed-in shoes and long pants on – The spinifex can scratch and hurt if you brush by it too much.

Obviously, these weren’t as big or unique as the Magnetic Termite Mounds you can find in the Northern Territory, but you were about the walk through them. Plus there were hundreds of them!

Wildflower Discovery

For us, this particular road trip started from Brisbane, driving west to Charleville, Eromanga Dinosaur Museum, Windorah, and Birdsville. Then coming back through Quilpie and Charlotte Plains Station.

Eventually, after Charleville and closer into the Diamantina Region, we started to see more wildflowers on the side of the road. So, Just be on the lookout!

Wrap up!

Thanks for reading this blog post today on the Welford National Park near Windorah, Queensland. I hope you found what you were looking for, but if you’re still researching, please learn more about Outback Queensland HERE for inspiration and planning.

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