thumb|right|A sign marking the boundary of Victory Downs, the beginning of the original Gunbarrel Highway. This section is now known as Mulga Park Road.
thumb|right|A sign at Wiluna, Western Australia.
The Gunbarrel Highway is an isolated desert track in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. It consists of about of washaways, heavy corrugations, stone, sand and flood plains. The Gunbarrel Highway connects Victory Downs in the Northern Territory to Carnegie Station in Western Australia. Some sources incorrectly show the highway extending west to Wiluna.
The road was built as part of Australia's role in the weapons research establishment called Woomera which included Emu Field and Maralinga, both atomic bomb testing sites. The name comes from Len Beadell's Gunbarrel Road Construction Party, so named as his intention was to build roads as straight as a gunbarrel. The highway was protested by the Australian group Midnight Oil in their song of the same name as the highway.
History
There were three main reasons for the construction of the Gunbarrel Highway. The first was to provide access for a future meteorological station which was needed to forecast upper winds prior to the testing of atomic weapons in South Australia. The second was for instrumentation along the centre-line of fire for rockets launched from Woomera. The third was to allow surveyors from the Australian Division of National Mapping to continue the geodetic survey of little known areas of outback Australia. A consequence of the construction was the completion of the first east-west road link across the centre of Australia.
First stage
The road was built in four stages beginning in 1955. In early November, the Gunbarrel Road Construction Party (GRCP) assembled near Coober Pedy in South Australia, half coming from Adelaide together with a bulldozer, and half with a grader from Maralinga, led by Len Beadell. The starting point was Victory Downs homestead just north of the border with the Northern Territory, and west of the Stuart Highway.
Work began on 13 November 1955, and continued westward to Mulga Park. An interruption occurred after about when the grader's blade mounting bolts were snapped after hitting a submerged Mulga tree root. Beadell made a hurried return trip to Alice Springs for parts. The road reached Mulga Park on 2 December, where construction ceased for the year, as the bulldozer's starting pilot motor had failed.
Johnson and Beadell each had a Land Rover in the advance party, and they were followed by two other Land Rovers and a supply truck. The second group included an officer from headquarters in Woomera, and an aboriginal affairs officer.
The route passes directly into Aboriginal land. It is a legal requirement for travellers to hold a valid transit permit at the time of travel. Three free permits are required in Western Australia and a permit is required to enter the APY Lands in South Australia.
Permits for the abandoned section from Warakurna and Warburton require at least two vehicles and either a HF radio or satellite telephone and requires a minimum of five working days turnaround. Entry to the abandoned section is only permitted at Warakurna or Warburton. Access to the abandoned section via Jackie Junction is not permitted. Jackie Junction Road is on sacred land and not open to the public.