Outback Off-Roading Oasis

Drive the ridges to your heart’s content at the Bendleby Ranges station stay, where all 4x4s are welcome

- Scott Mason

THERE are some places around Australia that I am very adept at finding excuses to revisit. For some inexplicable reason a detour of a few hundred kays or adding another night here or there just so I can once again enjoy a place, seems perfectly reasonable.

Of all those places, Bendleby Ranges is right up there for me, but why? Well, with more than 220km of awesome tracks, stunning camps, plenty of wildlife and commanding views, it’s a no-brainer for a 4WD tourer. But it’s also more than that, it’s the ‘feel’ you get from a place that can make all the difference, and Bendleby has a fantastic ‘feel’ to it.

Bendleby Ranges is a privately owned station located near the township of Orroroo in South Australia. You could say it is pretty similar to the Flinders Ranges, but farther south. It is a working sheep station, but what dominates the landscape are the two ranges which almost run parallel to each other and in the middle, a small plain that hosts the homestead, and the multitude of private and secluded camps which mostly nestle into the bottom of the ranges.

Pick-a-range

EACH range has a distinctively different feel to it: the Bendleby Range to the west is more gently sloping with a good scattering of native pine; while the Hungry Range to the east is far taller, steep and rugged, with sharp rock, various gums and plenty of native yakkas. What they each share though, is myriad dirt tracks ranging from easy to hard. There is plenty of driving here for everyone, from stock-standard rigs (and no prior off-road experience) right through to well-modified touring rigs (and plenty of offroad experience).