Enjoy the golden savannah grasslands and the monsoonal wetlands of this trek in this rather barren region of Australia. There are a variety of native animals and a diverse portrait of birds including herons, jabirus,
brolgas, sarus crane and many other waterbird species that migrate here - especially after the rains.
A good majority of the trek is on the Burke Developmental Road with minor portions being on the
Karumba Development Road, Kowanyama Development Road and Musgrave
Strathgordon Road before hitting Peninsula Development Road before
Coen. The majority of the journey is a true adventure drive with most of it being unsealed. Although some of these roads can be rough, it’s quite navigable by conventional vehicles with care.
The trek passes through beautiful scenery, including some old historic towns. Examples include:
Normanton, which is
well known for its diverse migratory wading birds and
Barramundi fishing and
Karumba which sits on the mouth of the Norman River and is
home to the Gulf of Carpentaria’s prawning and fishing industries and not to forget its stunning sunsets. Kowanyama, which means ‘the place of many waters’ is a culturally significant Aboriginal community town. This town is situated on the banks of Magnificent Creek and during the wet season, it’s not uncommon to have supplies flown in by air. There are many
homestead stations olong the way including Dunbar Station and there is an old ex-fortress telegraph station now called
Musgrave Roadhouse.
Coen is a beautiful small town located on the old telegraph line that ran from
Laura to
Bamaga and is considered the last place north for supplies such as food, fuel and mechanical repairs before heading towards the tip of
Cape York.
How to Use this Trek Note
- To download this information and the route file for offline use on a phone, tablet, headunit or laptop, go to the app store and purchase ExplorOz Traveller. This app enables offline navigation and mapping and will show where you are as you travel along the route. For more info see the ExplorOz Traveller webpage and the EOTopo webpage.
TrekID: 143