Meadstone Falls Access

[Russ17]

Hi

Does anyone know the status of the road out to Meadstone Falls (off valley Road)?

i know from the Foresty Tas website there are two bridges down on the M road (and have seen first hand the bridge out down near Hardings Falls) so cant do the loop up from Avoca and back through Fingal but thought access was still possibel from Valley road at Fingal. Drove down there yesterday and there are new signs on the Valley road and Mt Puzzler signs saying Meadstone Falls Road closed

Ended up driving out to Mathinna Falls and walking to the base and top of the first drop - well worth it for anyone interested. Really nice multi tiered waterfall, easy walking track except for a scramble up the top of the bottom drop, road access is good and quite a lot of water heading over it at the moment

but still any feedback on Meadstone would be appreciated. even if car access was limited and it meant taking bikes and riding up from the vally road turn off

Thanks

Russ

[flyfisher]

Hi Ross17,

A friend and I drove through last summer from the Old coach road to Fingall.

There were 2 bridges out but with 4wd were passed without too much bother.

valley road.JPG (140.58 KiB) Viewed 12686 times

GPS TRACK OF OUR ROUTE.

[GerryDuke]

Thanks FF for the map. Pity they have been cut off. They are pretty spectacular when the water level is up. Also a nice scenic drive up Valley Road from Fingal. The image of the river is from the bridge which is no longer there. Might be a impassable after heavy rain.

MEADSTONE FALLS

1606-MEADSTONE-FALLS-037.jpg (48.5 KiB) Viewed 12641 times

TAKEN FROM THE BRIDGE THAT WAS WASHED AWAY

1606-MEADSTONE-FALLS-002.jpg (87.94 KiB) Viewed 12641 times

TAKEN FROM VALLEY ROAD

1606-MEADSTONE-FALLS-131.jpg (30.37 KiB) Viewed 12641 times

Gerry

[Russ17]

Hi Fly fisher

thanks for your map. I have seen the bridge down at the Hardings Fall end and agree that under normal flow conditions a 4wd would get through with water only halfway up the tyres - its the other end or bridge down I am wondering about. Looking at the map on theList it looks like the other bridge is gone after the meadstone falls turnoff when you turn onto the road that will take you out west and come out onto the old coach road and up to Avoca. Swan River (Avoca End) and Dukes River (Fingal end)

I guess my question is - coming from Fingal were there any bridges washed out before you get to the meadstone falls turnoff or were there any bridges out on the meadstone falls access road?

its one waterfall I want to see - especially with the decent rain over the last week

Thanks mate

Russ

[flyfisher]

Hi Russ17,

Not sure about which bridge was which now. Dukes river bridge was definitely out but not sure about the other.

Wasn't much of a problem with 4wd so didnt take too much notice. Coming from Old coach road you could maybe access the falls from near Mt Misery and Mt Puzzler.

Cheers Flyfisher

[Russ17]

So having been on my to-do list for some time and receiving no real info from P&W other than road closed I decided to chuck my bike in the back and drive as far as I could before riding the rest of the way to wherever the falls track was. I had no real idea of how long the road ride would be or condition of the road but yesterday the weather was good so off I went.
Turn off onto Valley Rd just after Fingal (closed sign #1 here) and travelled 16kms along Valley road to a broad sweeping left hander where Valley road continues on and the road to Meadstone is the left access. This looked to the most well travelled option. Another couple of kays along here and a second intersection is reached with road closed sign #2, the road to Meadstone is to the left. A bit further along here and a bund has been built across the road but an access track had been cut across it by enthusiasts. I should mention there were fresh 4wd tracks heading out and over this.
I road from here and another half kay or so further on was the remnants of a third road closed sign with barrier tape and a log barrier that had been cut up. Keep left at the next intersection and a kilometre or so further on was the parking area, bin and sign for the Meadstone Falls track. The road down was rough to ride on and you passed over a small bridge in a gully which was showing some signs of disrepair but nothing major and approximately 2.5kms from the bund over the road

The walk to the falls is getting overgrown but still obvious. It was good fun heading along the river bed and some really nice scenery approaching the falls and the gorge. The viewing platform looks in great condition and easily accessible. Not a lot of water going over the falls but the evidence is there of some big flows which would be spectacular.

Going down along the river bed and out along the upper track was an approximate 5km circuit

It was a great spot but I saw a minimum of three road closed signs and two barriers across the road and yet little to no evidence of why they are there??? there is plenty of evidence to suggest it is still commonly used by 4wds accessing over the bund.

Would be really interested if anyone had comment on why exactly the road is closed

[north-north-west]

Would be really interested if anyone had comment on why exactly the road is closed

So FT (or whoever has responsibility) doesn't have to maintain the road.

[Russ17]

why not just put a "use at own risk" or other disclaimer there?

[north-north-west]

Because FT really like closing roads. It's an ideological thing for them.

[Caedo12]

Been wanting to head here for a while but I've never been sure about what the access situation is like. Good to hear that it's still possible to visit. How far is it possible to travel up the road from Fingal in a 2WD (if at all)?

[naturelover]

Good Q Caedo12. I am really interested in an answer to this too. I want to go in while the water levels are up (having a bit of a waterfall binge at present), and am unsure of how far I'll have to walk if I take my 2WD, and seeing's I don't have a 4WD anymore, that's what I'm taking). Any info really appreciated.

[Russ17]

Hi

with regards to 2wd access - parts of Valley road were the roughest part (probably the first 10kays from the fingal rd) , once you turned off Valley Rd to the Meadstone access it wasn't too bad. In saying that the road isn't maintained so is bumpy, loose rocks etc but there were no sections that required 4wd or high clearance to go through. on the rougher parts I just took it easy doing around 20-30kmhr and it was fine

[Russ17]

Just as an aside - im not sure how your insurance will treat you if accessing past a road closed sign (it probably wont) and not sure if its actually a fineable offence over here. There is also no mobile reception out that way. A mountain bike isn't a bad idea for heading down past the road closed signs to the take off to the Meadstone track. I had to push mine up hill but going down was good fast fun

[naturelover]

Thanks for that info Russ. I'll risk going through the signs. I'm quite an expert at ignoring "No entrance" signs, both when walking / running and also when driving (see my blog on the Tarkine - my attempt to get to Wes Beckett Falls). I am sick of a society that cries wolf at the sight of a labrador puppy, and that wants to wrap the lot of us in cotton wool and have us stay at home, nice and safe, chewing no doubt on a soma tablet to make sure we don't actually experience life in its fullness. Sorry for the rave … but not really.

[Russ17]

I wouldn't stress too much, there are obvious signs of recent 4wd access over the bund in the road heading into Meadstone. and the road closed signs have in two places been pulled down and thrown to the side.
a little more info on the area - if you continue on Valley road heading south you will come to a t section. going left is the old way which would have ran past Mt Puzzler etc and come out near Hardings Falls (giving the loop trip from Fingal to Avoca). the bridge over the Dukes is definitely out, possible 4wd access but would want to know what you were doing or have a couple there with recovery gear. Turning left is the M road to St Marys - I went along this about 7kms to an intersection, right hand road went to a washout after a couple of hundred metres. lh road went uphill and was getting rough so I turned back but looking at maps this is the road that will come out near St Marys

[Lost]

Russ17 you didn't happen to see any trout in the waters on that trip by any chance.

[north-north-west]

Just as an aside - im not sure how your insurance will treat you if accessing past a road closed sign (it probably wont) and not sure if its actually a fineable offence over here.

If the road is officially closed insurance is usually void. It's a stronger worded version of 'travel at your own risk'. I've even heard of private emergency services (RACV sort of thing) refusing to attend breakdowns in such circumstances.
Never heard of anyone being fined or even charged down here. Even on the mainland it's only situations like when people without permits use the Licola-Mansfield road during the seasonal closures.