Wanna to Sleaford 4WD track; unbelievable coastline
We’re on a mission to explore all of the best 4WD tracks in Australia, and anything that follows beautiful coastline is always high up on the list. If you are in the Port Lincoln region, you absolutely have to check out the Wanna to Sleaford 4WD track (or Sleaford to Wanna 4WD track!); the views are beyond magnificent, and took our breath away on a number of occasions.
It’s another amazing track to add to our 4WD tracks in South Australia post.
Where is the Wanna to Sleaford 4WD Track?
This fantastic 4WD track is located within the Lincoln National Park, and starts or ends at Wanna and Sleaford, depending on which way you do it. Both Wanna and Sleaford are roughly 22 minutes drive from Port Lincoln making them easily accessible.
Wanna is stunning beyond words
We’ve seen some seriously stunning coastline around Australia, and these days it takes a fair bit to impress us. Wanna is shockingly beautiful. Stopping at the East lookout first, I was thoroughly impressed by the colour of the water and the island in the distance and took plenty of photos.
We then hopped in the car and took the short, rocky track to the Wanna West lookout, and I was blown away. The beach, headlands and islands here are something else, and you know what? You can get right down onto the beach you can see in the distance, and enjoy it for yourself!
We absolutely picked a stunning day to go with the water colour beyond words, but apparently its quite stunning when the weather is rough as well, with big swell pumping in.
How long does it take?
In a perfectly straight line, the track is 13.3km long. In real life though, its nothing near straight, and the beach is curved making you drive further. I’d estimate the track is probably about 20km long, depending on where you stop, and how many times you drive around looking for the red markers!
We left Horse Rock (at the start of the Lincoln National Park) at about 10AM, and finished the track around 4PM, after spending a couple of hours on the beach, and looking at every attraction along the way (and spotting schools of salmon).
I think if you did the track on its own and didn’t stop much, you could do it in under 2 hours, but its nice to make a day of it.
See our vlog
If you’re chasing a different perspective, we’ve got our vlog from the stunning Wanna to Sleaford 4WD Track:
What are the track conditions like?
This track has everything you’d want for a coastal 4WD track. It starts off driving through sand dunes, and then you can either pull up on top of the point, or drive down onto the beach, and then it continues through the sand dunes, then onto some rocky limestone bits, and you end up on some dunes again, before more rocky bits and finish in the dunes again, near the lake at Sleaford.
There was only one challenging bit on the track which was at the end of the 2nd dune system, where a whole heap of sand had blown over one side of the track, making a normal dog leg much harder. I didn’t make it the first time, but spent a few minutes pushing sand from the top down to the bottom, and with a bit more right foot made it without too much of an issue.
There is nothing overly complicated about the track, but more than enough to keep you occupied and enjoying the stunning views.
Follow the markers
When you head to the track, the sign tells you to follow the red markers, and not to deviate off the track. These are spaced out at regular intervals, but you 100% will lose sight of them from time to time and have to drive around looking for them.
We found having Exploroz turned on was a huge help to follow the rough track and you’d eventually find markers again. By the sounds of things you are discouraged from driving through the dunes, and there are dedicated sandboarding areas at two of the dune systems where you need to stay out of, but you can easily (well, its a hard slog) get to the top of lots of the dunes by foot, and the views are stunning.
Do you need a modified 4WD?
No. A completely stock 4WD is perfectly fine for this, and my folks did it without any issues in their Mitsubishi Pajero. You want to avoid some of the sharp rocks, and anything that sticks up too high, but there’s absolutely no need for lift kits, huge tyres or anything else crazy.
Tyre pressures
You 100% need to drop your tyre pressures down, and if you don’t, you’ll spend some quality time digging your 4WD out of the first dune system that you drive onto. Its a bit of a balancing act though, as you don’t want your tyres down too low for the really rocky sections (and even more so if you have large wheels). This is beach driving 101, and many of you will already be all too familiar.
I started off at 22 and 25 PSI, which was fine until we drove onto the beach, and I knew we’d have issues getting out.
As it was, I went down to 17 and 20 PSI, and still had to have a second attempt getting out as the sand is really soft. I left our Dmax at those pressures for the rest of the track, and it will hugely depend on your tyres and the weight in your vehicle, but you’ll need some lower pressures for the sand driving.
What’s worth looking at along the way?
There’s a number of places that you can stop and check out. If you are starting at Wanna, do the lookouts first, as they are stunning, and then head through the dunes. We really loved the first beach you can access, and then there’s Millers Hole, a memorial site, and Salmon hole.
Do the Sleaford to Wanna 4WD Track
If you are going to do a 4WD track in the area, this one is absolutely magnificent. We all thoroughly enjoyed it, and if you pick a good day the scenery will be shockingly beautiful. We really rate this track, and highly recommend you check it out, in either direction. You’ll love it.
