Laura to Maytown on Old Coach Road - alone with a trailer???

Hi Tim,

I wouldn't take the trailer; could be done but would be risky. I drove on it six months ago and some parts were a challenge just for the ute let alone a trailer.

Here some pictures from November:








Cheers
Alan

Hi Tim

We're a family of four, and we towed an offroad camper trailer along the Old Coach Rd in mid July last year from Laura to Maytown. Another family with young kids travelled with us but they weren't towing.

It took us 9 1/2 hours from Jowalbinna to Dog Leg Crossing, with a stop for lunch at the RL Jack memorial cairn, and a quick walk around the old Folders Hotel site.

It was very technical, slow going in low range most of the way, but at no stage did we need a winch or recovery. If you like your paintwork, don't even think about it, though judging by 'nicely rockblasted underneath' you've been practising ;-) You'll also need to be able to manoeuvre the camper between tightly spaced trees too.

We did need to do a bit of road building at the big rock step/cutting which took a while to get through as you basically drag the camper down it, but if you've got a good guide, you'll be right.

Jessop's Hill was another slow spot, but once we changed lines (a bit hairy reversing back down, especially when your brakes aren't working properly), we made it up with no worries.

If you're an experienced 4wder and have someone to guide you, then I think you'd be fine with the track itself, it's just the fact that if you do break down out there, it's a looong way from help, and that's if you can find anyone willing to go out there to help you.

We passed one other car along the track, and that was a family with young kids travelling alone, heading in the opposite direction. They'd spent the night on the track. They'd taken the easier route without the big rock step etc...(the Eastern track - it splits to the left and is signposted to Maytown not far before the RL Jack memorial and re-joins just south of the Folder's Hotel site).

We spent a couple of hours looking around the goldfields and Maytown area the next day, and from there, it was a 3 hour drive back out to the Palmer River Roadhouse, admittedly on an amazingly well constructed road.

In hindsight, we would have made it on our own if we all pitched in to work together, but it would have taken a lot longer and been a lot harder (physically and mentally) on my husband, and I'd hate to think what would have happened had we broken down out there. I felt more comfortable having good travelling companions with us just in case anything went wrong.

The Old Coach Road is an absolutely fantastic, epic track with spectacular scenery and loads of history. It was a highlight of our Cape trip, but I personally wouldn't recommend going alone, especially when towing.

If you do, make sure you've got all the recovery gear and spares etc..(and know how to use them) and a satellite phone and/or spot tracker/epirb, and let people know that you're out there... maybe the Palmer River Roadhouse too(unless you're heading straight down to Cairns).

Maybe you could find someone else that would love to do it too and you could team up with them?

The CREB Track was also a highlight if you're after some 4wding fun and great scenery, but again, that's one best done with another vehicle. You'd definitely find someone at the Lions Den Hotel willing to do it with you though ;-D

Not sure if I'm allowed to point you towards my trip report which happens to be on another forum, but if you're a member on Myswag, I've got tons of photos of the track there. It's under gclan & the Misadventure Crew's Cape Escape: Cape York 2012 in the trips, tracks etc... section(you do have to be a member to access that section though).

It is an amazing track. Good luck with your decision :-)

Cheers
Karen