2021 (Mar) - Mt Kaputar & Mid NSW Exploring Trip

Distance: 2782kms
Economy: 11.9ltrs/100kms
No of Days: 8 days
No of vehicles: 4

Link to route taken:
2021 (Mar) - Mt Kaputar & Mid NSW Explore Trip (Part-1)
2021 (Mar) - Mt Kaputar & Mid NSW Explore Trip (Part-2)

Link to all Photos: 2021 (Mar) - Mt Kaputar & Mid NSW Explore Trip PHOTOS
Link to a video of the trip: 2021 (Mar) - Mt Kaputar & Mid NSW Explore Trip VIDEO


Headed out of Brisbane and towards Tenterfield with a detour through Girraween NP to check out a round Stone Hut.




From Tenterfield, we headed west via Mt McKenzie Lookout and continued west via some dirt backroads passing through some brilliant countryside




Reached Torrington State Forest where we stopped to check out the Mystery Face





From there we pushed onwards to the town of Emmaville but not before stopping to check out the old Ottery Mine





From Emmaville we headed towards the town on Inverell and stopped at Copeton Dam for Lunch. The Dam level looked pretty low....




After lunch, we continued along the main road towards the town of Bingara. The road to Bingara passes some great camp spots along the Gwydir River. Stopped at the Ancient Geological Glacial Site for a swim and afternoon Smoko. From here we stopped at Sawn Rocks and made our way up to Mt Kaputar NP for the nights camp.







Woke up to a rainy/windy morning with the weather doing a complete change from hot to freezing cold. With the weather being what it was, it was no point doing any of the walks as u could not see anything due to the cloud cover.




Once back down off the Mountain, it was off twds the Hot Baths at Pilliga stopping in to see the CSIRO Observatory and the nearby Karrie Lake






With the weather still raining and the roads becoming slipperly, we decided to stop at the Salt Caves and setup camp






The following day we headed off to our next destination via the southern 4wd track into Sculptures in the Bush. Had smoko there where I realised that my rear brake pads had worn down to metal on metal. Luckily I had some old 2nd hand ones in my vehicle so while the other fellas had smoko, I changed my rear brake pads out. With the rain not letting up, we decided to do the walk to the 2nd sculpture and then return back to the cars and head out to the next location - Yaminba Sandstone Caves







With time getting on we pushed on to checkout another place I had heard about and definitely wanted to see, especially with all the rain that had fallen - Dripping Falls. This ended up being our camp for the night as well





The next day was a early rise and headed to the next town of Barraba and the local falls - Horton Falls.





From the falls it was off to next destination whick was another old Mine site and our camp for the night on the eastern side of Copeton Dam. This turned out a little more involve as we started to hit flood roads and creeks, so we had to take quite a few backroads to get to our camp for the night...










The next day, it was time to start making our way twds the coastal area visiting the following places along the way - Bakers Creek Falls; the old town of Hillgrove, then Wollomombi Falls and Ebor Falls and Point Lookout










Finally reached our camp for the night - Wattle Flats




The following morning we did a bit of exploring some of the local tracks but were hindered by the fast-flowing rivers. Once out back on the main track, we headed towards Falls Road Lookout. This turned out to be where we all had to use our winches to get through a section that had been washed out. Once we were all clear, we then south to Georges Junction for Lunch.







With time getting on we made our way towards the town of Kempsey not realising that it was one of the towns that got hit hard with the floods. Upon reaching Kempsey it took us a fair bit of time to find a way around the flooded sections to allow us to get to the Hwy and north towards Coffs Harbour and then onto Glenreagh where we had planned to camp for the night...


The following morning 2 vehicles had to head homewards while my mate and myself continued exploring the area around Glenreagh; Nana Glen and out twds Ulong. We found one of the old Historical Railway Bridges over Bobo River where we stopped for lunch. After lunch it was time to try and find our last POI which was a couple of old Railway Tunnels near Glenreagh. This proved a little harder as the tracks into the tunnels were washed out and we were running out of time to get back home in time for dinner. We ended up turning around and heading out to the Hwy and head off home...