7 Mile Diggings (Old coach Rd - Nanango Qld)

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

Does anybody know if the Old Coach Rd between Blackbutt & Nanango is still open (4wd only)? There doesn't seem to be any up to date info on it on the net that's more recent then 2 years and a few comments on it were that it was closed by the council. I just don't know if they've re-opened it since or not. The track is in an old Dirty Weekends book I've got that I've never done and am keen to check it out this weekend along with the Benarkin State Forest with a mate.

[rob_macca67 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close rob_macca67]

I believe it's partly open... They closed the full length off even though there is some that ignore the signs and still drive the whole distance. The section from nanango to Campsite#2 I think is open and u can go to the diggings as well and then onwards up to the falls. I've been there a few times b4 the BIG floods and 1 time AFTER the floods and it's like chalk and cheese..... Where there was once a small creek with plently of trees / shrubs and camping areas along the creek to a completely gutted and in some places up to 70>100mtrs wide river with a lot of rocks exposed. Not sure what the closed section looks like though, I would say it would be worse.

It's not somewhere that I would take my good 4wd (but that's just me though) if u want to go there 4wdriving as u may come off 2nd best..... I've only taken my little zook there as that is an idea place for it.... If u stick to the main tracks u should be fine though.....

I've got some pics that I'll try and find and post up if I can....

There's some good exploring areas up and around there if u know where to look to

[rob_macca67 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close rob_macca67]

Here's a link to some pics of our very 1st trip back in 2008 B4 the BIG floods:
http://s217.beta.photobucket.com/use...14481491597422

and then again in 2009:
http://s217.beta.photobucket.com/use...14481491597422

then what it looked like AFTER the floods of 2010/11:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1177004...OldYarramanRd#


This pic is of where we camped on our 1st visit:


and this pic is of what it looks like AFTER the flood:

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

Great photos, thanks Rob. Thanks very much for your input, it's a great help. I could definitely see the damage the flood would've done to the place and it would've gutted the living hell out of it. It looks like it's been to hell & back when compared to your earlier photos. I'm going to go and have a look since I've wanted to do it for years anyway but never got around to it. It's just one of those things and I do know my limits. I wasn't planning on taking any side tracks and will stick to the main track from the Nanango end up until the track closures provided it doesn't get too dodgy prior to then. I am always mindful of the CV's and never over do it with front wheel spin. I'll pull the winch out if I get to a difficult hurdle where a front wheel is off the ground and there's a risk of shock loading a CV and winch it the 5 meters or so to get past. It should be good. I'm mainly scouting for new places to go to as I've been to so many places so many times and need to see new scenery. If I think it's worth a 2nd trip I'll go back and allocate a full day to it. I've already got kinked side steps so kinking them some more doesn't phase me much. It'll be a good excuse to get some steel sliders down the track if I damage them too much. However, panel damage does concern me so if there's risk of that by progressing further on then I'll turn around and go back.

I'm also going to check out the Lockyer State Forest for a bit sometime very soon too before going back to do a proper trip out there exploring sometime after. I'll see if anyone else from P'Point wants to come if it's worth a decent 2nd trip, is pretty good, not too easy and I've learned my way around the place a little (provided nobody else beats me to it). What's the bet the side tracks are all blocked off now though just like at Mt Mee. The side tracks at Mt Mee used to be so good and some were legitimately scary but the last time I went I couldn't even find where they used to be.

Thanks again, Rob. You've been a great help.

[rob_macca67 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close rob_macca67]

No worries... I'd be keen to here about the Lockyer area..... I went out the other week up to Wallers Rd nth of Gatton and thats a nice little track with one good little play section where u can test your wheel travel...

Mt Mee use to be a great little spot and the track to Diana's Bath swimming area was a nice little trip, but like most things that National Parks get their hands on, it's now all closed up..... last time I was up there u could drive your 2wd car around w/o any real major problems.... I've been told that there is some good tracks still up there but I'm pretty sure that they would be out-of-bounds anyways.....

cheers....
rob

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

I've changed the plan slightly and will check out the Lockyer State Forest this weekend as well as the campsites in the Benarkin State Forest and will look at the Old Coach Rd near Nanango a few days after. The plan for now with the Lockyer SF is to go up Wallers Rd and continue onto Seventeen Mile Rd, provided no afternoon storms look like they're going to hit while we're out there. If I see some interesting side tracks I'll turn onto a few and have a quick look. It's just for a bit of a look on this occasion. I'll take some pics of anything interesting and post them up afterwards and if I really like it out there I'll see if anyone else is interested in coming for a day trip in the new year sometime, maybe February after the holidays.

Mt Mee used to be awesome and I'd been on the Dianna's Bath track a couple of times which pitted you into the forest floor with some creek crossings, a bit of rock hopping & some other interesting obstacles. It was good & just like a specially made amusement park for someone in a 4wd looking for endless fun. There were a crap load of really steep tracks only a couple of km's from the Neurum Ck end off a side track to the left when heading north. I'm sure they're all still there because they wouldn't bulldose the lot, only the entrances, and they'd disguise them by planting trees across some descending side track entrances to make them hard to find when seated in a vehicle going past and you could probably access them still if you spent a bit of time looking hard enough. But I'd be too worried about getting caught or reported by someone. Plus going where you're not allowed only makes it more difficult for others in the future if you get caught. I'm just glad I saw it how it used to be. You'r right, it is very tame now and can pretty much be driven in 2wd.

[rob_macca67 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close rob_macca67]

If you are going to camp up at Benarkin SF, stay at the Emu Creek campgrounds and not Clancy's.... Emu Ck is better and there's a good amount of water in the creek to...... well there was the last time I was up there a month ago at least

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

I'm in luck then Without having been there before or really knowing anything about the place, I booked into Emu Ck having a hunch it may have been the better of the two. We're camping there early next year but thought I'd have a look prior to see what it was like and what kind of 4wd tracks there were around..... And to make sure I made the right decision with booking us into a good spot. We were originally wanting to camp at Kinkuna NP but it was completely booked out! The others I'll be camping there with are looking forward to Emu Ck though which is good. We'll be taking secateurs expecting to do some track clearing.

[rob_macca67 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close rob_macca67]

We were originally wanting to camp at Kinkuna NP but it was completely booked out! The others I'll be camping there with are looking forward to Emu Ck though which is good. We'll be taking secateurs expecting to do some track clearing.

Brett, What's it like camping up at Kinkuna NP?.... Is there mozzie / sandfly issues up there at all.....


Re: Track Clearing.....
I was up there a month or so following some old tracklog files from a mate of mine..... The track I was on was that overgrown I had to get off as the radiator was getting clogged from the grass seeds and the engine was starting to get hot......

rob

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

I haven't actually camped at Kinkuna yet. I've driven through there once and it looked good. There's a long soft sandy track taking you out to the 40 odd sandy camping sites behind the foredune. The campsites looked nice and secluded and were overlooking the water. I was there in late December last year and didn't experience any sand flies or mozzies but that's nothing to go by. I had relatives renting a holiday house in Woodgate, so we were staying there before going to Fraser for a week. But I would recommend camping at Kinkuna. I'm keen to camp there next year sometime for 4 or 5 days when it's nice and hot. The nice clear Theodolite Ck has a massive flat bank of white sand that everybody parks on (who have 4wds) and cool off in the water all day long.

As for the track clearing at Benarkin... WTF??? I won't have room for a ride on mower haha. I'm not cutting grass with an over sized pair of scissors all day long in the hot sun either haha. I was going to use them on overgrown lantana to limit bush pin striping. A bloke in our group has a new car and his wife would be pissed if he got scratches on it so early on. I've cut hundreds of meters of lantana with a mate before which was lining both sides of a narrow track near Peach Trees at Jimna. When we drove through scratch free we realised the track was not worth continuing on anyway... Complete waste of time

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

We were up there camping (not at Kinkuma but at Burrum Pt) for a couple of weeks and have just got back.

You really need to book at least 3 months ahead and give the Rangers a call to get the latest conditions. Bruce and John are great guys. Bruce even drives a Prado.

Kinkuna like most of that area has its fair share of sand flies and march flies but as the beach is a bit more exposed they fall off with a good breeze. The camping is basic with no facilities and you need to take in everything you will use and of course take out all your rubbish too. The track from the South can get a bit used and abused. We went for a drive through Sunday a week ago and the Southern access is now closed for maintenance. Some of the creek crossings were half metre steps. I was impressed at how easily the Prado walked in and out. My only comment other than that is watch out for snakes, plenty of browns, blacks and whip snakes in the area.

The beach area at Theodolite has been pretty much closed with bollards preventing access over the dunes to help regenerate the dunes, access really only for boat drop off and retrieval. Sand flies are fiece all along Theodolite and get worse at dusk and dawn. Really really bad!

A few fish around at the moment, we picked up the usual whiting and flathead (good sizes), some bream, grunter, moses perch and dart. Pretty sure I picked up a nice mangrove jack in the Gregory until he took me into the snags and all was lost.

Sadly plenty of Jurgens now and the tracks are getting chopped up something fierce. All up we performed about 7 rescues with a fellow camper pulling out another 3. One lady in a V8 100 series decided low low was the correct set up and rooster tailed all along the sand track. Made it nice and fluffy for the next people through.

King tides have flattened the beaches so watch out for wet patches. Usually ok but some places it gets extremely soft.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

Hey Rob, I read your Wallers Rd trip report on 4x4 Earth. I came across it by accident. The pics are good! It looked like you had a lot of fun.

[rob_macca67 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close rob_macca67]

Hey Rob, I read your Wallers Rd trip report on 4x4 Earth. I came across it by accident. The pics are good! It looked like you had a lot of fun.

Yeah, had a good time playing on the hillclimb

There's a bit more exploring that can be done up there but not sure if/when I'll get back there..... Might take some more time up around the Bellthorpe / Benarkin SF areas....

rob

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

I won't start a new thread or use someone else's, I'll just post these pictures here even though it isn't 7 Mile Diggings and in fact the Lockyer State Forest. I'll post photos of the Old Coach Rd (7 Mile Diggings) here too when I do go out there very soon. I visited Emu Ck & Clancy's campground first in the Benarkin State Forest today. Emu Ck is definitely the better camping area of the two and much larger. There's a fair amount of water in the creek. The grounds are well kept & there's cold showers & flushing toilets. We took a couple of turn-offs down side tracks, but there was nothing challenging that we did. We followed one for about 10 minutes and it just kept going and going and didn't offer much... A bit like a narrow forestry road that wasn't overgrown (too much). We did another track too but only followed it for a few minutes before turning around. I'll leave the exploring until we camp there soon. We'll explore a whole heap of tracks then. I did pass a few tracks that you could see were overgrown with vegetation. Lots of lantana, long grass and tall weeds.

The Locker State Forest:

Wallers Rd.... Great track! We did it a couple of days after a good downpour so it became moderate in difficulty. It would've been enough to stop a standard AWD anyway in a few parts. I would love to do more exploring out there. I was accompanied by my two cousins in a 2010 model X-Trail and I have to admit even though I thought it would've struggled and would need towing in parts, it proved me wrong. The traction control in that thing got a severe workout that's for sure, but it worked very well.

When we arrived at the bottom of that first steep incline we got excited. We walked up to the first right turn and it was a decent hill climb alright and got steeper as it went on. We came back down to the bottom and aired down our tyres. I lowered mine to 18psi for good traction expecting the track to get slippery later on and put the X-Trail's down to 25psi so it could maintain some ground clearance which was more important for that vehicle. The ground had a good soaking from the recent rain and the long rut snaking up the track was a little concerning. If we slipped & dropped a tyre or two into that it was going to cause damage trying to get out of it. The rut crossed the width of the track up near the top of the incline in the shot so I decided to drive the right hand line. My cousin followed my wheel placement as it was his first time 4wding on a bush track.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

I gave them my camera to take a few pics of me going up the hill.