Kalgan
Pool is situated deep in the eastern end of the
Ophthalmia Range. Much of the journey to
the gorge is in/along the Kalgan Creek water course which requires a 4WD to negotiate due to loose shale, river
rock, and stretches of water. Access to this site is 4WD only due to water crossings.
To get here, you should fill out a permit application to drive on the BHP Railway service line to access the Kalgan Creek Track (available free online or for gold coin donation at the
Newman Visitors Centre). The trip from
Newman to the Kalgan's
Pool is slow going, taking about 80 mins on mostly rocky tracks with gravel, corrugations and many long stretches of creek water to drive through - some up to 600m long.
NOTE: Kalgan
Pool itself has suffered badly since the dewatering of the aquifer under/near to the Hope Downs iron ore
mine was allowed to go ahead in 2014. All of the once beautiful
waterholes in the
Newman Waterhole Circuit have been adversely affected, these being Kalgan
Pool,
Thunder Gorge,
Eagle Rock Pool,
Eagle Rock Falls and
Three Pools. However, there's oodles of crystal clear water being pumped into Kalgan Creek about 1.2km down stream of Kalgan
Pool which has created a whole new scenario.