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Famous Ranches and Stations

Clifton Hills Station: The Biggest Holding on the Birdsville Track

Established in 1876 on the Diamantina and Georgina floodplains, Clifton Hills became the largest holding on the Birdsville Track.

What is Clifton Hills Station?

Clifton Hills is a pastoral lease and cattle station in far north-east South Australia. It sits on the Birdsville Track and is the track's largest holding. The station was established in 1876, though the page used here does not name the founder. Its land was gazetted as a locality in April 2013 under the name Clifton Hills Station, as the Wikiwand copy of the Clifton Hills Station article describes.

What sets it apart is water. The Georgina and Diamantina rivers spread across the property in flood, and about 1,500 square kilometres is flooded each year by the Diamantina. In that arid country, floodwater means grass, and grass means cattle.

How big is Clifton Hills Station?

Sources differ on the size. The article's description gives about 17,000 square kilometres, while the 2018 sale listing gave 16,510 square kilometres. Older figures are smaller: 4,000 square miles in 1891 and 3,566 square miles in 1912. By 2018 the holding comprised four pastoral leases across north-eastern South Australia and south-western Queensland.

Cattle numbers have swung widely. About 14,000 head were recorded in 1891 and about 2,000 in 1904, the year the rivers spread over roughly 2,099 square miles of the station. In 1912 the station held about 9,000 cattle and 168 horses. By 1923 the Brooks family ran about 20,000 Shorthorns across Clifton Hills and neighboring Kanowna.

Who owned Clifton Hills over the years?

In 1881 J. H. Howie owned the run and overlanded 1,000 cattle from Aramac Station in Queensland. Andrew and J. Broad held it from 1883 to 1891, and it was managed by a Mr Turnbull by the end of that period. In 1912 Elder Smith and Co sold it to G. and E. A. Brooks, who already held Buckland Park at Two Wells. In 1914 they also bought the adjoining Kanowna Station from the Beltana Pastoral Company, and in 1923 the pair together had a combined 7,000,000 acres.

Hector Brooks owned the station in 1960. In 2018 the sellers, David Harvey, Charles Simpson and Katherine Hartley, offered it for sale for the first time in about 60 years. A partnership including Viv Oldfield, who already owned the adjoining Pandie Pandie Station, was reported as the buyer, though the article reports the purchase as news rather than confirming completion.

Clifton Hills and the Birdsville Track

In 1960 Hector Brooks sent 53 bullocks by truck down the Birdsville Track to the Marree railhead. The article describes this as the first road transport use on the track and the first sale at Gepps Cross under the beef roads concept. Before that, cattle from this country had to walk to market, which limited how fast they could be sold and how fat they arrived.

That change shows why a single shipment mattered: trucks cut the weeks of droving, shrinking the main cost of selling beef from remote Channel Country.

What Made It Work

Clifton Hills lasted for nearly 150 years because its owners matched stock to a floodplain system that few other places can offer. The record also shows how hard that system is on people.

Seasons are the risk: the 1904 flood and the 1930 flood, the largest since 1917, show how far the water can reach, and the herd dropping to about 2,000 in 1904 shows how quickly numbers can change.

  • Using floodwater: the Georgina and Diamantina spread over the station, and about 1,500 square kilometres floods every year.
  • Long family ownership: the Brooks family held the station from 1912 into at least 1960, which gave consistent management through drought and flood.
  • Combining runs: buying neighboring Kanowna Station in 1914 spread risk across two properties.
  • Early road transport: the 1960 truck shipment of 53 bullocks opened a faster route to market.
  • Organic certification: the 2018 sale included about 18,000 certified organic cattle, a higher-value niche.

Learn more about Clifton Hills and the Birdsville Track

The best starting point is the Wikipedia article on Clifton Hills Station, with a South Australian pastoral heritage document for the Mungerannie area adding regional context. The Birdsville Track is a rough outback road, so any visit needs serious preparation.

Readers interested in remote-country beef can browse the ranching section on farm.FM or read a farm.FM story about droving cattle over long distances.

Timeline

  1. 1876Clifton Hills Station is established
  2. 1881J. H. Howie overlands 1,000 cattle from Aramac Station
  3. 1883Andrew and J. Broad take over, holding until 1891
  4. 1904Georgina and Diamantina floods cover about 2,099 square miles
  5. 1912Elder Smith and Co sells to G. and E. A. Brooks
  6. 1914Brooks family buys adjoining Kanowna Station
  7. 1960Hector Brooks trucks 53 bullocks down the Birdsville Track
  8. 2013Locality gazetted as Clifton Hills Station
  9. 2018Station offered for sale for the first time in about 60 years

Frequently asked questions

Where is Clifton Hills Station?

It is in far north-east South Australia on the Birdsville Track, the track's largest holding, with country that floods from the Diamantina and Georgina rivers and runs into south-western Queensland.

How big is Clifton Hills Station?

Sources differ: about 17,000 square kilometres in the article's description and 16,510 square kilometres in the 2018 sale listing. It comprised four pastoral leases by 2018.

How many cattle does Clifton Hills run?

The 2018 sale listing estimated 18,000 head, licensed for up to 21,500, and the sale included 18,000 certified organic cattle. Historic numbers ranged from about 2,000 in 1904 to 20,000 Shorthorns in 1923.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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