Camping

Please Note: NO Camping is allowed at the Finke Desert Race Start / Finish line.

Saturday is commonly when most campers will head down the track to set up camp for the weekend. All campers are asked to make a gold coin donation to the Finke Desert Race Inc for the pleasure of staying out under the stars. Camping is allowed anywhere throughout the whole 220km course, at your own risk. Although, there are many things you need to consider.

Safety First

You will need to extremely aware of safety both for yourselves and our competitors. If you are camping with young children, please watch them at all times and stand well back from the track during racing. Don’t wander on the track, it may look clear but you can’t be sure of what is coming at you at race speeds. Standing on the outside of corners can be dangerous, so avoid this at all times – car and bikes are travelling at very high speeds in dusty conditions! Our competitors are focused on their race and are not looking for you, your kids or your dog – leave your dog at home! It is their track from 6am – 6pm, give them the respect they deserve! Avoid driving up and down the access road (next to the racetrack) during racing as the dust and traffic can be very distracting and dangerous for our competitors.

Drink Responsibly

This is a motor sport event, not a night club. Alcohol and high speed racing are not a good combination. There are hundreds of competitors risking everything to entertain you, so do really don't need to get plastered!

Campfires

Campfires - these need to be monitored carefully and fully extinguished when finished with. Please take your own firewood.

Road Closures During the Event

Another issue to be aware of when camping is the road closures. Parts of our racetrack are public roads which are officially closed during racing, therefore most campers will set up Saturday and stay put until racing is over on Monday afternoon. These roads are closed at 6am on Sunday morning (Race day 1) until 6pm on Monday night, and the same applies on Monday (Race day 2). Although it may appear that the race is over, medical, disabled and sweep vehicles may still be operating on the track. The first 80km of road before Checkpoint 1 (Deep Well) remains open at all times. Please see maps for further detail of checkpoint locations.

Police Presence

Throughout the whole weekend we have a strong Police presence along the track. They assist us in ensuring our spectators are being safe & responsible, respecting landowners and competitors. Police will conduct random breath testing, watch for speeding (leave racing to the pro’s) and the driving/riding of unregistered vehicles along the road

Landowners

The land you are camping on during the event is privately owned cattle station property. We are extremely grateful to the station owners, and need to respect the fact that they have allowed us to use their property. Remember to bring your own firewood, take extreme care with all fires and take your litter home with you. Keep the impact low on their land by sticking to the designated tracks, don’t make your own tracks into the bush, there are hidden dangers you may not be aware of. Keeping our event successful means we need to support the cattleman’s land care programmes and care for our environment.

Medical Assistance

If, during your time camping as a spectator you require any medical assistance St John Ambulance are situated at the following locations along the track from Saturday afternoon until the last bike has passed through on Monday afternoon. (Please see maps for checkpoint locations at Deep Well, Rodinga, Bundooma, Mt Squires and Finke Checkpoint. We also have access to one Paramedic based jet ranger helicopter based at Bundooma checkpoint and two smaller helicopters following the event. These are obviously intended for competitor use, but would be used in the case of an emergency for any patient.

Camping at Aputula Community (Finke)

You may be camping at the other end of the racetrack in Finke to help a competitor or just to experience the race from the other end. Camping at Finke gives you the option of taking an alternative route rather than down the race track. You will need travel south on the bitumen to Kulgera (280km from Alice) and then in to Finke community on the dirt (about 120km) This route is commonly used by the support crews, caterers etc as it is a smoother road for larger vehicles to get to Finke and this road will not close. When in Finke, a race camp is established about 2kms from the Aboriginal Community of Aputula. Some 1500 people - competitors, crew and spectators – camp in the race camp. The Aputula Community is a dry community which means no alcohol is allowed. You may consume alcohol in the campgrounds only!

Weather in Alice

You might be in the middle of the desert, but this time of the year when the sun goes down at night temperatures can be freezing, make sure you pack plenty of jumpers, jackets, blankets and a beanie to keep warm. When the sun does break through during the day it can still pack a punch and burn unprotected skin so remember you slip-slop-slap routine. Average daily temperature for June is around 20 degrees, Sunrise around 7am and Sunset at 6pm.

Consider Others

Nobody wants to stop you from having a fun filled weekend but be aware of your surroundings. There may be others camping nearby that may not enjoy your particular brand of Death Metal music, use of foul language or anti-social behaviour. Please be considerate to other campers and keep noise to a minimum.