Your Visit

Visitors are welcome to visit the Dig Tree Reserve and reminded to tread carefully at this remote and fragile site. The site was refurbished in 2020. The health of the three heritage-listed trees is now protected by a boardwalk and remedial work to the nearby creek bank. Discreet signage tells the site’s tragic story. Three-dimensional replicas of all six blazes allow visitors to view the original messages carved in the trees. Some of the original blazes are still partly visible on the trees which can be viewed closely from the boardwalk.

Burke and Wills Dig Tree stands on the bank of Cooper Creek in far south-western Queensland’s Bulloo Shire. The nearest towns are Innamincka in South Australia, 116 kilometres west of the Dig Tree and Thargomindah in Queensland, 326 kilometres to the east.

Driving from Brisbane, you take the Adventure Way and drive west for 1,360 kilometres, about 20 hours driving time. You travel the Warrego Highway through Dalby, on to Cunnamulla, then Thargomindah before taking the Innamincka road. The Dig Tree Reserve is within Nappa Merrie station, between Thargomindah and Innamincka.

There are three significant trees at the Dig Tree Reserve: the Dig Tree, Brahé’s Tree and the Face Tree. Each of the trees was carved although some of the blazes are now grown over. Two of the trees were carved with the word “Dig” – one was the original message for Burke and the second was carved by a later search party. Recent scholarship has shown that the original carving was on Brahé’s Tree.

There is a conservation fee of $20 per vehicle or $60 per bus to visit the Dig Tree Reserve. If you are planning a visit to the Dig Tree, you can pre-pay the conservation fee by clicking here to pay with Bookeasy. The South Australia Desert Parks Pass does not cover the Dig Tree conservation fee. There are basic bush camping facilities included. You must provide your own firewood.

Dig Tree Ranger Penny, 2023. Photo by Lee Beanland.

Burke and Wills Information Shelter. Photo by Lee Beanland.