Well returned from the Clarence River Wilderness Lodge. I had a very pleasant stay and the place truly is wilderness. The lodge if you want to call it that is situated at the head waters of the Clarence River. The campground is right on the river and very quiet. Across the river from the campground is a steep rise and it is home to a Black Rock Wallabies. I know they are there but I did not see a single one. But you can hear the rock slides at night as they move from place to place. Fires are allowed and there is plenty of firewood all around the property).
Getting to the lodge is a bit of a trek. Once you turn off the Buxton Highway on to Paddy's Flat road it is 30Ks to the turn off for The Lodge. It is another 7Ks from the turn off to the front door of the lodge and campground and it all pretty much dirt road. The track leading in is pretty good but you would not want to be on them in the wet. Some steep decents to get in and 4LO crawling to get out. There is no fuel near the lodge so fuel up in Tabulam which is about 10Ks from the turn off before you head in.
The tracks are not that challenging except maybe the Phone Track. I decided to start my Saturday with that Track and man was I worried going up. The Nav clawed it's way to the top in pretty much 4Lo the entire way. Just gravel rocks, some rutts and steep drop on one side and a mountain on the other once you are committed you are committed. This is the track to the telephone receiver for the lodges phone and I feel sorry for the phone tech who has to climb up that in a Telstra work ute (not pretty). I have some video but about 1/3 of the way up the camera came loose in its mount and swiveled to look out the passengers side door. Almost like it could not stand to watch what was coming next. I was glad to get to the top.
The river was up pretty high so one of the tracks was closed at the water crossing. There are 3 other tracks one, the Eight Mile track goes by a working gold mine. After spending most of Saturday on the Phone Track and the the road down on the Clarence River I was pretty much done for the day. I had a nice lunch on Paddy's Flat at the end of one of the Tracks (forgot the name). There is are some really nice spot along the Clarence River and nice track that runs right along side it for a while.
All and all it was a pretty nice trip. Oh if you are really keen for some serious 4WDing then you pass Emu Creek 4WD Park on the way to the lodge off Paddy's Flat Rd. Place is supposed to be pretty good. They recently stopped allowing motorcycles so they are keen to get more 4WDs to visit. Just like the lodge fuel up before you go because it is a long way to refuel.
When I figure out how to post pix I will post some picture of the campground and the Nav!
I would recommend this place for families as they have a Platypus that lives near by and the canoes are free to use for the kids. I would also recommend this place if you just wanted to get away from it all as it is pretty remote. They do have toilets and solar showers. If you do want to camp they have some cabins and a large area for groups. The lodge is a wilderness refuge so no fishing or hunting. If you leave the property I am sure you could wet a line someplace on the Clarence River.
I rate this place a great little get away and camping was only $12 a night!
