Bloomfield Track Feedback

You will have no problems at all in the dry.It is vertually a 2wd track in dry conditions.

We did it last year in July coming from Cook Town boy was it steep in some sections even though it was the dry season it only takes one shower to wet the track enough to make it slippery and nowhere to trun around on those hills so BEWARE !!

easy money! It was dry when we did it in November last year in a hire car. The 2 steep sections were concreted from memory, mind you we went from Cape Trib to Cooktown so coming the other way, down hill, might be a bit more daunting!!!
enjoy that coldy at the Lions Den Pub! man there's some characters there!

Evan

Hi Michael, It's not a long run, if you have any doubts park the trailer in Cook Town and enjoy the drive over the hill and check it out first. If coming down from Cook Town, you start the first steep bit after a couple of hair pin corners not far south of the concrete ford crossing just past the community settlement. Be aware that you are likely to meet a few 4wd tour buses.

.

It's been 15 years since I did the trip so this may be way out.

Do you still have to drive through the Bloomfield River or has a causeway/bridge been built? If not I would have thought a Territory could have some problems if the river is high.

Jim.

Did it 6 years ago in a Cruiser in 2WD, We could have done it in a car with care at that time - even the steep bits.

Stevesub

Scooted up there in 07 - Jackaroo plus HD camper trailer - great drive, but as mentioned above, steep as hell in a couple of spots - we had no problems even though the road was damp (but not running with water) - the surface was indeed good, but if wet, traction would be a real issue even for low range 4WD, because its incredibly steep in a couple of places....... running up there with our camper was the hardest work our TD 99 SE Jackaroo ever did over our 8 years with it :-o).

Hi Michael,

We tried the Bloomfield from Cooktown in an XTrail towing a light ct. It was a disaster. We had been to the info centre + police + BP service station to get info before leaving that morning. We explained our rig. All said "Oh, they haven't had much rain there, you'll be fine". As it turned out the road had had light rain on and off for some hours. We did not realise how steep the hills were or how even a little rain could make such a difference. We crossed the causeway and ascended the hill only to come to bomb out on the second bend. Kind people assisted us to get back down the hill to safety.

Ironically while we there thanking our saviours we had to lend our recovery equipment to another 4x4 who was not towing, on that very hill.

We were green then although we had done a course for soft 4WDs before that incident. We now have a Prado and would still not tackle that road if there was any hint of rain.

Take care,

Last August , heading Nth , 80series factory turbo diesel auto towing Camp-o-Matic c/t -boat on vehicle roof rack , Mareeba to Wonga beach , to Cooktown via Bloomfield track 282 klm , 55lt used {diesel} , total weight 4950 kg -Vehicle +trailer ,, winch used 2x for total of 100mtr ,,, WHY ?????????????? Signs missing / defaced ... the signs stating engage low range / four wheel drive only / no c/vans - trailers ...... are /were not there ,,, this was in dry conditions ,,, the concrete sections are no problem ,, would have to say that if you know the Toowoomba range road uphill , multiply steepness by a factor of 2 and make it dirt 1 1/2 vehicle wide you get close to what the road is like ,, ,,, totally a different story going sth.

Thanks all will let you know how it goes next Wednesday rain permitting.

Michael,
I last did it in the 1980s in a L300 Mitsubishi van and I am sure the creek crossings have improved as some were a bit rocky, and the track was all dirt.
Well worth doing although there maybe a lot more people up there now.

Have a look at Bloomfield-Track for some good info and a couple of pictures
The Donovan Range is a 20% (1:5) and the Cowie Range is up to 33% (1:3). It was all dirt in those days
Cheers
Peter

Had virtually never had our Mitsubishi Challenger in 4wd before we did the track last year. Wasn't towing anything but had no problems at all. My comment to my wife after it was that it was good fun, but I would have enjoyed it much more if it was someone else's car we were driving. If you are doing the track just to get to or from Cooktown, the main inland road is twice the distance, but probably only half the time taken. Just watch out for the wandering cattle.
We left our caravan at Wonga Beach and drove to Cooktown and stayed at the motel for the night. Best outlook from any motel we have stayed in Australia. Walk across the road and fish on the jetty with the locals. Priceless.

KenD Brisbane.

G'day Axel, Yes we did have quite a play on the music ship. Had totally forgotten about that but have some good photos somewhere. Really good fun. Only spent one full day in Cooktown, a few more would have been good. What a great place. The historic stuff is really interesting and the views spectacular.

kenD
Bris