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The Birdsville Track developed as a droving route for stock travelling between Queensland's Channel Country and South Australian markets. Between 1890 and 1960, as many as 50,000 cattle were moved down this rough stock route.
Initially, drovers relied on good seasons to supply sufficient natural water sources along the route for the cattle. However, without adequate rains the track could become impassable. Between the late 1890s and the 1920s the South Australian government sank bores at intervals of around 50 kilometres along the track, formalising the route and ensuring a regular supply of water for stock.
The proliferation of motor transport after the Second World War changed the track forever. Transporting cattle by truck and, later, by large road trains, meant that by the 1960s droving along the Birdsville Track went into decline. Birdsville, the town that gives the track its name, is now a small town servicing the remaining large properties and an ever-growing number of tourists.
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