[10] Marree is an important service centre for the large sheep and cattle stations in north-east South Australia as well as a stopover destination for tourists travelling along the Birdsville or Oodnadatta Tracks.

The town was home to Australia's first mosque, which was made of mud brick and built by the Afghan cameleers employed at Marree's inception.

In 1957, a standard-gauge line was built south from Marree on a flatter alignment to facilitate the movement of coal from the Leigh Creek Coalfield to Port Augusta.

In 1987 the standard gauge line to Marree was closed north of the coal mine and the town lost its railway connection completely.

This route crosses some of the most challenging sandy and stony desert country in Australia, and it was a remarkable feat for fully loaded trucks to make the run at all.

A collection of hundreds of photographs, documents and memorabilia from Kruse's Birdsville mail run are on display at the Marree Hotel.

Calls were made to turn it into a state icon but the unimpressed local population preferred to let it fade naturally back into the landscape.

Temperatures above 40 °C (104 °F) have been recorded in every month from October to April and rainfall is extremely erratic, falling mostly in brief heavy downpours experienced usually between one and five times per year, or when cold fronts in winter manage to penetrate far north enough into the Tirari Desert.