Carnarvon Great Walk- 90km. Queensland, Australia.

 

The Trail:

The Carnarvon 'Great Walk' is a circuit loop hike up in the lush, gorgeous highlands of Carnarvon National Park in central Queensland.  

It's a long way from anywhere and perfect for those who long to lose sight of power lines and fences and other humans.

You get tall gum trees, iconic wildlife, easy walking and big skies.

The trail is operated and maintained by Queensland Parks and Wildlife, bookings for the campsites can be made on the website where all other relevant information concerning the walk is found. Queensland Parks

Travel time is huge from anywhere you are coming from.

9 hours from Brisbane by vehicle. 

7 hours from Toowoomba.

No public transport (you could try a tour bus) and sealed roads all the way to the start of the walk which kicks off in the upper carpark near the visitor center.

Map sourced from Google maps.

Map sourced from www.parks.des.qld.gov.au

What we did:

I hiked the trail with my partner Jen.  We allocated 5 days and took our time muddling along the track.  There was a prescribed burn off for the month of June before we wandered the trail so very little long grass and mostly open horizons and simple navigation.

Day 1- Start to Big Bend Campsite.  12km.

We drove up in the morning from an overnight at Injune and plugged along the heavily trafficked tourist trail that rolls up Carnarvon Gorge with many side trails to various 'highlights' along the valley.  

We encountered many middle age pear caravan dwellers, difficult to avoid signage extolling the virtues of the area and a sense of being underwhelmed by mediocrity.

In all honesty I could have easily skipped the crowds and just nailed it to Big Bend as I have seen most of this kind of thing in Australia before.  

It's pretty, yes.  

There is rock art, lovely natural features and a very well graded pathway interrupted by numerous creek crossings.  But fuck me there was quite the fair number of homo sapiens all compressed into a small space.  Including us... 

Big Bend Campsite is situated on a side trail before Boowinda Canyon.  

Beautiful but windy as all hell the evening we dropped by.

Water, toilet.  Avoid if possible.

Big Bend Campsite.

Boowinda Gorge.

Day 2:  Big Bend Campsite to Gadd's Campsite.  15km.

Through the gorge and up the slope to views and cruisey walking through grasslands and undulating landscapes.

Gadd's has water, shelter, toilet.

Day 3:  Gadd's to West Branch Campsite.  16km.

Another low volume mileage day enjoying the changing flora and camping at the car accessible camping ground.

Water, toilet, tables.

Day 4:  West Branch to Cabbage Tree Campsite.  31km.

The Mahogany Forest was bewitching, full of crowded, competing plant life and bustling birdlife.  We stopped for lunch at Consuelo Campsite and sat in a tree and made coffee and went wow, yes.

Onwards to Cabbage Tree the track stayed flat and a no brainer.  Just back up and keep following the management fire trail when things get confusing.  That night we lay in the tent under an impossibly star laden sky and listened as a powerful owl swooped in and hunted the shit out of resident gliders.

Water, shelter, table.  No toilet and poop paper everywhere.  

Please bury your kaka and bag up your used bog roll and take it with you.  

Some people are fuckin disgusting.  No excuses. 

Day 5:  Cabbage Tree to end of the trail.  16km.

Views, up and down and up again.  

There's a dam with great wildlife viewing opportunities, some stupendous sheer cliffside outlooks and the obligatory downhill plunge to the end.

Navigation:

Orange triangle markers are hammered onto trees every 50 metres.  

There is a deliberate footpad that is hard to miss and signage when needed.

We used the topographical map provided by Parks Queensland and the All Trails offline digital map.

 

West Branch Campsite.

Flora and Fauna:

Fauna; Loads of feral pigs and horse and cows left their tracks and scat for us to clearly see and in the case of the pigs; immense amount of churned earth where they had chased a feed.  

That was the not so good but not the end of the world.

Other than those species it was a fantastic assortment of some the greatest hits of Australian wildlife.

Emu's, dingoes, roos, raptors, scuttling goannas, darting woodland birds and chunky insects.

Flora;  mighty gums, endemic Carnarvon fan palms, cycads.   There's an amazing variety of plant life in the various temperate zones of the park.  

Rainforest habitat in the gorges and temperate open forest on the plateau host diverse genus specialising in the particular locations.  

Shit, we live on a spectacular continent.  I certainly re-appreciated it during this walk.

The invasive plant species usually prevalent in South East Queensland public lands were noticeably absent in Carnarvon.  No lantana, very little cobblers peg, no spikey stuff; just healthy forests, thriving grasslands and prolific birdlife including pardalote, pheasant coucal and black cockatoo.

Water and Camping:

Water is available from pumps at each campsite.

Camping is $7.50 per person, payable upon booking on the Parks website.

We only encountered one other person walking clockwise as we were.  A few other hikers bumped into us heading the opposite way but the trail was in no way crowded.

When we reserved the campsites, they were reportedly booked up solid online but we only had company from that one solo hiker every evening.

Thoughts:

Once you get away from the main tourist track in the gorge area and head up out of Boowinda I felt a genuine sense of solitude and wildness.  

The walking is simple and low effort and affords a slower pace that lends itself to peeking up every tall tree and soaking up the distant drumbeat of resident emus and dingoes howling away.

Absolutely worth the effort and recommended for those that revel in pristine Australian environs.

Highfields Falls Bushland- Toowoomba, South East Queensland. 3km - 5km circuit walks.

This weekend was a bit of a reboot.  

An awakening.

Getting back to who I am, connecting with the things on this good green earth that feed my soul and nix the dark, twisty shit inside me.

I've enjoyed (possibly a tad too much) the constant partying, casual hookups, getting really, really fucked up and the swanky hotel rooms of late as I explore my new home in this corner of Queensland.  

But on Saturday morning I decided enough was enough; it was time to switch gears.  

So I kiboshed a number of invites I had to various weekend sessions with new friends and played house and hit the kettlebells hard and ran and walked local paths and made solid plans to get out and hike and camp overnight once a week from now on.  

Back to basics.  

The Circuit:

Highfields is a swish area 12 kilometres north of the city of Toowoomba.

Remnant bushland surrounded by semi rural housing has been conserved into a tiny pocket of steep well maintained paths suitable for a family ramble and walking the woofer.  

Or decompressing and finding your arrow again.

I have wandered the various short trails in Highfields Falls Bushland a few times but rarely spot the so-called abundant wildlife that is purported to be easily spotted trail side.  Plenty of twangy bird calls though and a worthy stop if you happen to be buzzing up the New England Highway to Crows Nest.

Getting There:

I started my circuit walk from the Kleve Road carpark, marked above as YOU ARE HERE on the trail sign.

Just punch in 'Highfields Falls Bushland directions' and you will be taken past the police station to the pull off parking area.

Cascades Circuit and Ridge Trail: Main Range National Park, Queensland. 10km.

 

INTRODUCTION:

Widely known and often visited by many for good reason, this short walk blew me away due to the well kept trail network and lovely Dalrymple Creek which will require more than 2 hands to count the number of times you cross and recross the water feature. 

It was the first public land area in the region that I had a 'well fuck me this is classy' epiphany while toddling along with my neck craned up gawking at the forest canopy.  

Since relocating to South East Queensland I have been a tad underwhelmed by the immense amount of invasive weeds and long grasses and overgrown, neglected trails in National and State Parks.   

Looking at you Scenic Rim from the Thornton trailhead.

However the Cascades Circuit really kicked that in the dick.

It's uber lush.  Easy to walk.  Loads of wild life and never dull.  Lots of good stuff.

Main Range National Park info here.

Map of Goomburra area walks sourced from Parks Qld

GETTING TO MANNA GUM CAMPING AREA (Start of trails):

Punch in 'Manna Gums Campgrounds Directions'.  

Your heading to the Goomburra region of Main Range National Park.

Approximate travel times by private vehicle: 

• 80 minutes/ 100km from Toowoomba
• 135 minutes/ 175km from Brisbane

Parking is at the eastern end of road past the campsites, opposite the trail signage.

No public transport options but cycle touring would be doable.

Fuel up beforehand, this is a rural area.  Bring water and food.  

Watch for cows and calves on the road over the last 10km.  They think it's India.

Plenty of private camping options on the drive in and also within the National Park.

No charge if not camping.  Camping sites booked here.

Map sourced from Google maps.

TRAIL TREAD & NAVIGATION:

Basic online mapping again via this link.

I used the digital All Trails mapping system, downloading 'Cascade Circuit and Ridge Trail' beforehand.

It states distance as 7.6km but my Suunto reckoned it was 10km all up.

I started anti clockwise up the hill and cruised around over 3.5 hours taking my time and soaking up the splendour of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area .  

Trail is a bit scrubby to start.  A steep plug up the hill leads to an intersection with a well kept chunk of the Scenic Rim Trail then your off to discover some waterfall features and wander along Dalrymple Creek.  Tracks are signed and well maintained.

Watch for stinging trees and ticks and snakes but otherwise safe as it gets.

I would classify the walk as EASY. 

WILDLIFE AND FLORA:

So many critters.  

I bumped into 3 snakes including a beautiful carpet python with a big swollen mid section having a quiet drink.

The usual bush turkeys, eastern yellow robins, red necked wallabies, monitor lizards and fairy wrens abound.  You'll have your ear canals pinged by the Whipbirds doing their high pitched song.

I also saw various skinks, quails, colourful parrots and yabbies.  And I listened to the crazy call of the green cat bird.  

The plant life is a constantly changing lineup of tall gums and hoop pines and lilies and boxwoods and dogwoods and cabbage palms.  Cool eh.

Hume and Hovell Track- 400km New South Wales. 2024 Thru-hike update.

 

THE TRAIL:

This was my second hike of the Hume and Hovell.  Impromptu and unplanned as I decided to jump on the trail 24 hours before I headed off from Yass.

I went East to West again, from Yass to Albury.  I parked my vehicle at Albury airport, the only long term parking I could suss out, hopped a cramped Vline bus to Yass ($20, 3.5 hours) and road walked along Black Range Road to the Captain campsite, arriving after 9pm.

Major differences hiking this time involved the multitude of angry, aggressive bogans in white utes raging past and half a dozen tents set up in the dark at Captains.  I shuffled in as quiet as I could, gathered water and heard a young female voice whisper "there's someone out there, what should we do?"

Last time I was passed by maybe half a dozen slow moving vehicles and I had the campsite to myself.  Yass and the Hume and Hovell are getting busier, no doubt.

Lake Burrinjuck.

Map sourced from Google maps.

Day 2 involved a short wander to Burrinjuck Waters Tourist Park on Lake Burrinjuck.  Last time I rocked up and Dean scooted me across, now there are scheduled ferry services on Monday and Thursday only.

Lucky I hit Yass on a Tuesday, arrived at Lake Burrinjuck on a Wednesday and there was availability to fit me in with 5 others on Thursday morning for the short transfer across the lake. 

Fare was $50 which includes campsite and use of facilities and Wendy and Dean were as super friendly and helpful as they were 6 years ago. 

I stumbled across quite a few of these monitor lizards, they always scuttled away up the nearest tall tree.

CAMPSITES, (C/S) DAILY MILEAGE:  Approximate estimates, I don't really know.

Yass - Captain C/S                                                                                                       27km

Captain C/S - Burrinjuck Waters Caravan Park                                                           18km

Burrinjuck Waters C/P - Micalong C/S                                                                        42km

Micalong C/S - Campsite at 132km near swing bridge                                                35km

Ride into Tumut                                                                                                              3km

Taxi back to 132km mark,  Hilltop C/S at Blowering Reservoir                                  28km

Hilltop C/S - C/S on trail near farmland at 200km mark.                                             40km

Farmland C/S - C/S near Coffee Pot trail register, snorting stallion                             33km

Coffee Pot C/S - Tumbarumba via West Burra Rd and Tooma Rd                               26km

Tumbarumba - Munderoo C/S via Albury St, Highway walking                                  18km

Munderoo C/S - Hillview Oak BnB                                                                               26km

Hillview BnB - Granite Rock C/S near Norths Lookout, Mt Jergyle                            30km

Granite Rock C/S - Lake Hume Holiday Park                                                               32km                                                                                                                                    

Lake Hume H/P - Table Top Reserve C/S                                                                      28km

Table Top C/S - Albury Airport                                                                                      19km

TRAIL CONDITION:

Far superior maintenance than my previous walk, thank you all who work and volunteer and hack back the blackberry and repair the bridges and marker posts.  Absolute bloody legends all of you.  

It looks great and I was able to switch off and cruise.

The blackberry is lush and green and impossibly thick, creeping high up some gum trees and impeding most of the access to the streams and creeks. But as I said it's kept in check and I didn't suffer a scratch.  The crazy amount of branches and twigs on foot tread in the Snowy's was more of an actual hazard, a reminder that the forest is naturally gathering more fuel for the next wildfire.

I barely recognised the trees and bushes as the same flora since my first thru hike.  

A major bushfire event rampaged through the region (and much of Eastern Australia) during 2020 and the remaining regrowth is a sad second rate substitute of the glorious forest I wandered through in 2018.

Really fucked up.

My favourite campsite high above Blowering Dam. 

WILDLIFE:

So many beautiful, noisy birds.  

How lucky are we to have all these lovely winged chirping, squawking, singing feathered little dudes? Too right.

Twitchy brumbies and their foals were often sighted even though a contentious aerial cull had just finished adjacent to parts of the trail I was walking on.  

One stallion in particular gave me an earful for a few hours when I camped out on a flat near the Coffee Pot area, he was going off stamping and snorting and mock charging until after dark and I was too stoned and tired to care.  

Then there were a couple of poor, blind wallabies possibly suffering from toxoplasmosis (feral cats), the usual foxes, deer, roo's, snakes, lizards, and more flies than I care to remember. 

Sunset over Lake Hume from the holiday park.

NAVIGATION AND RESOURCES:

• First stop should be the official website: Hume and Hovell to chew through planning info and download GPX files if wanted.

• Trail marking is really good but keep a close eye on where you are heading when crossing private farm land.

• I used a mix of All trails and Open Street Maps.

• Telstra mobile service is available on many of the high tops and around the major town areas.

There's always kooky shit and half cut locals to keep yourself amused.

TRAIL TOWNS AND RESUPPLY:

I walked into Tumut and Tumbarumba this time, continuous footsteps instead of hitching.  

Actually that's bullshit.  

Well I was walking up Goobragandara Road into Tumut, planning on a few hours of quiet road bashing when an elderly woman scooped me up and dumped me in town at 8am outside a coffee shop.

I didn't need a ride and I was happy to walk but I have learnt not to turn down a kind offer and it was actually really fun conversation driving into Tumut.  Sometimes I need these interactions as a counterbalance to an introverted life.

I resupplied, annoyed the locals, stayed overnight and caught a taxi back to where I was picked up from and poked on to Blowering Reservoir.

So, kinda continuous footsteps.  

No skips, no flips, but I am happy to jump off trail and road walk when it gets me into town before a storm thumps down.  

Tumut is far busier than 6 years ago, the motorcycle touring crowd are obviously a large money spinner.  I asked many locals what it's like to live in Tumut (I have it on the short list as a possible spot to reside in), anyone under 35 described it as Hicksville and boring, anyone older profused undying love for it.

There is a Coles and Woolworths and I purchased a gas cannister from the excellent Tom's Outdoors again.

Tumbarumba is also a busy little hive of activity, tourists swarming the town.  IGA supermarket, cafes, laundromat.  

I was unable to procure a gas cannister at the hardware store, they actually acted like they wanted me to fuck right off so I did.  I've noticed the uptick in tourist visitation has correlated with less than friendly attitudes in Tumut and particularly Tumbarumba which is shame.  But that's progress folks.

This shot of Buddong Falls shows the state of the surrounding forest after the wildfires ripped through the region in 2020.

Blowering Reservoir.

Table Top Hotel is a nearly on trail, a nearly not quite resupply option; chips, candy, beers, average bar food.  I passed on the $28 hamburger but camped out in the nearby reserve with a 6 pack of something cold.

A doozy of a thunderstorm smashed the Lankeys Creek section right when I was trudging through so I booked a room at the Hillview B&B- right on trail on the road walk section- with Marie and Irvine.

Cool folks, I had a great night and dried out and watched the lightning and downpour from indoors.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

• I took 14 days to hike the H&H during October 2024.

• Water was plentiful.  I met a few people this time too which is nice for a change to talk shit and hear someone else's story or whatever is going on their head.

• Many of the campsites have had upgrades and there is an obvious, concerted effort to care for the 400+ kilometres of trail.

• I appreciated how I could still stealth camp easily without hassle and not need to book anything or worry about bogans and firearms unless I was to choose to stay at official camping areas.  Which I didn't.

• I can't see the Hume and Hovell ever getting crazy popular  and crowded but it's definitely on the long distance hiking trail radar of many in Australia now. 
• I'll be jumping on again for another 2 week walk sometime soon.

Link to my previous blog post regarding hiking the Hume & Hovell in 2018 here.