The South Pole Traverse is a 1650 Km overland (ice) route from the US McMurdo station on Ross Island to the Amundsen–Scott South Pole station. The route was formed to enable supplies and fuel to be transported overland by means of tractor trains and specialised sleds, which previously was completed by multiple flights using Hercules LC-130 aircraft (Anandakrishnan, 2001). This paper aims to briefly outline the controversy around the proposal and formation of the South Pole Traverse. First a short overview of the construction and reasons behind the construction of the route will be presented. A search of the literature is next presented, with further analysis of the three key themes identified: environmental impact, wilderness impact and tourism. Discussion of the various themes is undertaken, concluding with suggestions for future research. The primary reason the South Pole overland traverse was considered necessary was because of the efficiency savings sought, due to the high cost of flying fuel and materials to the South Pole Station. The main savings would be realised with respect to savings of fuel, as it is up to 40% more fuel efficient to transport overland than by air freight (National Science Foundation, 2004). Other advantages include the opportunity to conduct more science by freeing up planes that other wise would be used to re-supply the South Pole Station. Environmental impact would be also reduced by lowering the amount of fuel consumed, and larger load sizes are able to be hauled compared to flown. Construction of the route started in the 2002-2003 summer season, and the route was operational four seasons later in the 2005-2006 summer season (The Antarctic Sun, 2006). The first operational traverse was completed during the 2008 – 09 season (The Antarctic Sun, 2009). The route traverses two crevasse fields, the McMurdo shear zone and the lower Leverett glacier. Crevasses in these areas were filled in using explosives and heavy snow moving machinery, allowing the safe passage of the tractor trains. As the areas of crevasse fields are constantly moving every season requires newly opened crevasses to be identified and filled. The remaining route is relatively flat with little attention needed. The entire route is marked by flags at regular intervals to indicate the way (The Antarctic Sun, 2009). The route selected (figure 1) was not the most direct path to the South Pole. Rather it goes along the Ross Ice Shelf almost parallel to the Transantarctic Mountains, then rises up the Leverett glacier to an altitude of 2400m gaining the polar plateau, turning south for the last 440Km to the Pole. The Leverett glacier was chosen as it has a low gradient, low katabatic wind component (Schwerdtfeger, 1984) and a relatively low number of crevasses compared to more direct routes. Early suggestions that the route would also supply an on ice cable for internet traffic (IT World, 2002), was never realised due to the movement of glacial ice flows. It takes approximately 40 days to deliver a cargo load to the South Pole Station, and each load consists of 110 tonnes of cargo, equivalent of 11 re-supply flights of the LC 130 aircraft previously used (National Science Foundation, 2006). The return trip carrying waste and obsolete materials is significantly shorter (The Antarctic Sun, 2009). Limitations of load size are also negated by the use of tractor trains; large loads previously were constrained to the 3m by 3m door opening on the LC 130 aircraft. Severe weather conditions on the continent hinder many re-supply flights, were as the tractor trains are able to continue in all but the worst weather (Niiler, 2011). The South Pole Traverse does not intend to stop all flights to the South Pole Station, personnel, equipment and supplies are still being transported by aircraft, while large cargo and bulk fuel is going overland (Anandakrishnan, 2001). There are many names given to the overland route from McMurdo to the South Pole such as South Pole Traverse, South Pole Route, Ice Road, South Pole Highway and Surface Traverse. In this paper different terms will be used with respect to different themes as discussed next