Just back from a five night stay at Clarence River Wilderness Lodge. Northern NSW really should be annexed into Qld, it is such a wonderful area full of great places to stay and see.
Getting There:
Our Trip started out at a leisurely pace from the coast and headed SW through Beaudesert and onward to Urbenville 2hrs later where we stopped for a counter meal at the delightful Crown Hotel. Inside, at an area designated as Qld Corner (right next to the fireplace) we enjoyed our very tasty $10 meals.
From here we continued South to Upper Tooloom Road where the dirt section of the trip began. We were very lucky as the roads in the area had recently been graded so made good time to the bridge at Tooloom Creek. Paddys Flat Road from this point on is (at places) narrow and winding so care is needed, we were averaging around 40kph through here. This is why i love our 14 so much, it is small enough to get into these areas and still provides you with glamping conditions when you arrive. I don't think you would want to pull a 20 footer through here unless you were very experienced. Oncoming traffic was light but passing another van or truck may have been interesting.
We soon had the entrance to their 7lkm access track in sight.
While the road surface was stable it does get steep and narrow in places. We passed other vehicles twice and it was a bit of a squeeze.
The road is 2wd suitable but low range made the steeper sections easier on the tug.
The owners (Stephen and Sharon) are great hosts, very friendly and have a wealth of local knowledge. They pointed out our camp area and we soon had our slice of paradise set up.
Hows this for a front door view of the Clarence River
The main camping area offers a large flat space and they restrict the number of guests so no crowding problems. Plenty of room for kids to play. Canoes and kayaks are available free of charge for use in the river, the only restriction is you can't go past the rapids. this gives you about 500m of river to paddle in with their gear but if you have your own the river is yours to see.
They also have panning gear available for free so you can try your luck. The water was rather cool at this time of year but once gold fever hits that wont stop you.
There are some bush walks that leave from camp, we did the ridge walk which took us about 3hrs at a slow pace with lots of photo stops. It is steep at places so may not be suitable for really young ones but the views are spectacular.
Some of the local Area attractions include the ww2 Tank traps built to stop the Japanese invasion
And of course plenty of off road tracks in the surrounding National parks and state forests.
Yabbra state forrest
Driving along the Clarence at Paddys Flat
River access at the lodge
Wow I could go on and on, so much to see and do we have only just scratched the surface of this area. The Lodge has onsite accommodation in the form of cabins and safari style tents which are right on the waters edge so if you don't want to bring the van there are other options as well. This place would be worth pulling the tent out of mothballs for and would be a great summer destination with plenty for the kids to do. The toilets are of the composting type and a couple of hot showers are also available. No powered sites but hey they do have "wilderness" as part of their name, so don't expect caravan park facilities. The camp kitchen is good and even has a wood fired oven you could make pizza or bread in.
As we usually do when we visit a new area we take gps readings and add details to Open Street Maps. If you have a look here you can see the camp layout and the ridge walk trail etc.
Getting There:
Our Trip started out at a leisurely pace from the coast and headed SW through Beaudesert and onward to Urbenville 2hrs later where we stopped for a counter meal at the delightful Crown Hotel. Inside, at an area designated as Qld Corner (right next to the fireplace) we enjoyed our very tasty $10 meals.
From here we continued South to Upper Tooloom Road where the dirt section of the trip began. We were very lucky as the roads in the area had recently been graded so made good time to the bridge at Tooloom Creek. Paddys Flat Road from this point on is (at places) narrow and winding so care is needed, we were averaging around 40kph through here. This is why i love our 14 so much, it is small enough to get into these areas and still provides you with glamping conditions when you arrive. I don't think you would want to pull a 20 footer through here unless you were very experienced. Oncoming traffic was light but passing another van or truck may have been interesting.
We soon had the entrance to their 7lkm access track in sight.
While the road surface was stable it does get steep and narrow in places. We passed other vehicles twice and it was a bit of a squeeze.
The road is 2wd suitable but low range made the steeper sections easier on the tug.
The owners (Stephen and Sharon) are great hosts, very friendly and have a wealth of local knowledge. They pointed out our camp area and we soon had our slice of paradise set up.
Hows this for a front door view of the Clarence River
The main camping area offers a large flat space and they restrict the number of guests so no crowding problems. Plenty of room for kids to play. Canoes and kayaks are available free of charge for use in the river, the only restriction is you can't go past the rapids. this gives you about 500m of river to paddle in with their gear but if you have your own the river is yours to see.
They also have panning gear available for free so you can try your luck. The water was rather cool at this time of year but once gold fever hits that wont stop you.
There are some bush walks that leave from camp, we did the ridge walk which took us about 3hrs at a slow pace with lots of photo stops. It is steep at places so may not be suitable for really young ones but the views are spectacular.
Some of the local Area attractions include the ww2 Tank traps built to stop the Japanese invasion
And of course plenty of off road tracks in the surrounding National parks and state forests.
Yabbra state forrest
Driving along the Clarence at Paddys Flat
River access at the lodge
Wow I could go on and on, so much to see and do we have only just scratched the surface of this area. The Lodge has onsite accommodation in the form of cabins and safari style tents which are right on the waters edge so if you don't want to bring the van there are other options as well. This place would be worth pulling the tent out of mothballs for and would be a great summer destination with plenty for the kids to do. The toilets are of the composting type and a couple of hot showers are also available. No powered sites but hey they do have "wilderness" as part of their name, so don't expect caravan park facilities. The camp kitchen is good and even has a wood fired oven you could make pizza or bread in.
As we usually do when we visit a new area we take gps readings and add details to Open Street Maps. If you have a look here you can see the camp layout and the ridge walk trail etc.
