Lee's Paddocks

[Thomas]

Hey all,

I am planning a day walk to Lee's Paddocks, 12th December. There is in total 9 persons in our group. As none of us have been up there before, i was hoping that maybe someone would be able to shoot me some detailed info on the walk, including general track condition, commencement location of the track from Mersey Forest Rd, I believe that it's just before the end of Road....is this correct..?? & maybe a total expected time to complete the walk.

Also, we were hoping to make it as far as Reg Wadley's hut. Any info on that part of the walk would also be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Thomas

[Son of a Beach]

The start of the track is about 2km (rough guess) before the end of the Mersey Forest Road. There is a 4wd track that heads off to the right moderately steeply downhill with a gate across it. That's the way in. There is enough room for a few of cars to park on the other side of the road. Don't get it confused with the Lake Bill & Lake Myrtle car park which is also on the left about 2km before the Lees Paddocks track. (The Lake Bill car park is just around the last significant left hand corner, the Lees Paddocks track starts amidst a reasonably straight stretch of the road).

The track always has a bit of mud, but we've had a fairly wet October and November, so it's currently likely to be even more muddy than usual (and confirmed by other forum topics here from people who've been through recently.

[kramster]

To get to Reg Wadley's you just keep following your nose upriver from Lee's Hut, keeping to the right hand bank of the Mersey (can't remember how long it takes - maybe 45 min). There is a track / pad / cattle route most of the way, but it can be a little hard to find in places. Wadley's is a really picturesque place for a camp (but 9 is way too many for the hut, which would fit 4 max) - there are no loos etc (so take a good jaunt up hill away from the river / hut to do ones business). Water from the Mersey just past the hut on the edge of the paddocks.

[shazcol]

To get from Lee's hut to Wadleys hut just walk down the valley on a fairly well defined pad and then generally follow the rivers edge. You will go through a couple of short sections of forest, the last has some very minor up and down track but very easy to follow pad. You then emerge into a large open grassed valley with the Wadley hut at the other end after a short walk out of the forest. You would be hard pressed to get lost between the two as there are large hills on both sides, only one way to go and only about 2.5km between them. Chapman's book has instructions and maps covering this and surrounding area's.

[flyfisher]

Please keep in mind that both huts are private but are open for use if the owners or guests are not in attendance.

Wadleys is one of the very special places with beautiful grass for camping and a fireplace! Please look after it, it's a gem.

[shazcol]

flyfisher is right. Anybody doing the wrong thing will ruin it for everybody else. The owners are very generous in alowing use by walkers when they are not in residence.
A couple of current rules at the Wadley hut.

Wadley Hut Quoll Sign

QuollSign.jpg (63.09 KiB) Viewed 2640 times

Wadley Hut rubbish sign

RubbishSign.jpg (32.84 KiB) Viewed 2640 times

Respecting the owners property by looking after everything, replacing used wood, cleaning up and removing anything carried in will go a long way to keeping these places available for all into the future.