High country CT route Merrijig to Dargo

Submitted: Tuesday, Dec 13, 2005 at 16:16

ThreadID: 28842 Views:2267 Replies:6 FollowUps:1

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Rusrob

Hi all

Need some advice of suitability of the following tracks for a standard navara/pioneer argyle CT setup

The route i planned was

Start Merrijig
Howqua tk, Brocks rd,Bluff link , Cairn creek rd, Brocks rd, King billy rd
Zeka spur tk, Wannagatta tk,Humpray river tk,Wombat range tk,Cynthia Range tk,Station tk,McMillian rd, Grant rd, Dargo high plains rd.
Finish Dargo

any advise would be appreiciated

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Reply By: Member - Tony G (ACT) - Tuesday, Dec 13, 2005 at 18:56

Tuesday, Dec 13, 2005 at 18:56

Looks like a good trip for a standard vehicle.

Some rough parts on Brocks and a bit over grown (Xmas 2003). King Billy not to bad now. From the junction of King Billy and Howitt Car Park Is a bit rough and narrow in parts.

Wombat Range will test you out, a bit steep in parts the rest should be fine.

AnswerID: 143704

Reply By: Member - Alan H (QLD) - Tuesday, Dec 13, 2005 at 19:05

Tuesday, Dec 13, 2005 at 19:05

I have taken my Aussie swag on all that route (over two different trips) and would agree as stated above that steep places like wombat track would need care without the added traction of 4WD.

I guess the real key will be the weather during the trip and the condition of tracks at the time of the trip as they can change dramatically from one season to the next.

AnswerID: 143708

Reply By: Crackles - Tuesday, Dec 13, 2005 at 21:38

Tuesday, Dec 13, 2005 at 21:38

Fairly straight forward drive up to the Howitt Plains. Zeka Spur has a few steep clay sections that can get slippery after rain. Take it slow & you should be right.
The rivers down the bottom of Wonnangatta are running fairly high at present so a snorkel is good insurance. The climb up Wombat is long & steep & not for beginners towing trailers. In places if you stopped I doubt you would get going again so a car in front would be advantagous. There are a few steep pinches on Cynthia & Station tracks but the real bad bits have all been cleaned up years ago. The rest is pretty easy.
An alternative to heading out Wombat should it be raining hard would be out the Wonnangatta track, East Riley rd, West Humphrey rd, Selwyn track, Great divide track, Twins Jeep track then along the Dargo rd. This route has the bonus of great views from Mt Selwyn, Mt Murray & Blue Rag Range.
Many people will say how easy the route you have chosen is but I've seen 4 cars rolled on those tracks over the years.(without trailers)
Take it easy......
Cheers Craig.............

AnswerID: 143751

Follow Up By: geocacher (djcache) - Wednesday, Dec 14, 2005 at 00:38

Wednesday, Dec 14, 2005 at 00:38

Ditto from Dave. Hope it's water proof it was bloody wet in there a few weeks ago.

I'd probably avoid overloading the trailer and make sure you have some weight in the back of the Navara too. You may do that already but I've seen plenty who don't.

The groups we saw in there with trailers a few weeks ago took double what I'd normally take to do Zeka. It's getting a bit rocky in many spots as the fines wash out with the rain.

Take a chainsaw too. Plenty of fallen timber has been cleared but there's plenty more there that's just waiting to drop in a summer storm.

Dave

FollowupID: 397250