lseries92 wrote:Not sure how much you have had to chance to see when you have flown in but I have done the Cape twice - once in 2004 in the Forester and once in 2015 in a stock Mazda BT-50. In 2004 it was a lot more rough than it is today (although I dare say it was a lot more civilised than in the 80's and 90's and earlier especially before the Wenlock had a bridge). They have really put a huge amount of bitumen since then - I can only imagine a lot more has now gone in since 2015. I do remembering at the time that I saw a lot more smaller 4wds (including some Foresters) than I certainly did in 2004.
In 2004, I went up via Cape Tribulation and the Bloomfield Track and then onto Cooktown. I then used the Battlecamp Road to get out to Lakefield National Park. We hit the main spots in here but really did not do anything difficult (like head out to some of the coastal spots some of which can be a little challenging). We then headed to Musgrave to connect with the Peninsula Development Road and then up to the Telegraph Track as far as the Bypass Roads. The Forester really is not up to doing a great deal on the Telegraph Track (but it is worth heading in for a little look on the bypass tracks to see what the bigger 4wd are doing - especially at Gunshot Creek) but the main spots I really wanted to see was Fruit Bat Falls and Eliot/Twin Falls both of which do not involve too much difficulty. Eliot Falls does have a deepish creek with a bit of a climb on the northern side but the Forester was able to manage it). I even took the Forester down to Captain Billy Landing for some nice camping on the ocean ...
Once on the other side of the Jardine, I actually based myself at Punsand Bay (which is a beautiful spot on the beach just south of the tip - pity about crocs!) and did day trips out of there to Somerset, to visit the WW2 wrecks, the Tip (of course) plus a day trip to Thursday Island which I do recommend (not sure where you have flown into - if was Horn Island I am sure you have been here). On the way back I did try and go into Lockhart River but the road was absolutely horrible that year and I had to turn back after "turtling" the poor Forester a couple of times due to deep ruts - I was told by others that even if I had got through that, the mud further up would have stopped me. Since then the road has been realigned a bit and has been mostly sealed. This was really the only problems I had in the Forester but then again I did not go looking for (much) trouble.
We also skipped going via Lakefield on the way back so we could check out the rockart around Laura however we went home via Black Mountain, Cooktown and down the Bloomfield track again. If I had my time again I would make some time to walk into Cedar Bay (my friend's are not hikers unfortunately so this was a bridge too far).
In 2015, I took the same route in a friend's BT-50 except we did more of the Telegraph Track although certainly not all of it. While most of it would have been ok for the Forester, the real issue is handling the crossings which sort of bars the way to some places further on. In a lot of places you do have access tracks from the Bypass Roads into various points of the Telegraph Track so in some cases you can avoid dodgy crossings and still see key sites. The extra things I did in 2015 were:
* Actually get into Iron Range National Park and out to Lockhart River and Chili Beach (where we camped) - we went all the way up to Portland Roads which is the end of the line. As this has a lot of bitumen out to the Lockhart River and reasonable gravel road thereafter there is no issue aside from the depth of the crossings for the two major rivers on the way which I would not think would be a problem later into the dry season. You need to book ahead for Chili Beach and fuel is available at Lockhart River (surprisingly cheap too as it comes in via barge). It is quite a way in from the main road so it is not a place
* Went out to the WWII Radar Station at Mutee Heads east of Bamaga - whose mast was still standing defying the fact it was probably comprising 90% of rust, it is a pity more is not being done to preserve it. There is a still a fair bit of WW2 history up here including both around Bamaga and around Iron Range.
* The real Telegraph Track - took the bypass road in on the northern side of Gunshot (where we spent a morning of watching people do the crossing) and then headed north through Cockatoo Crossing and then up as far as Canal Creek before turning back. Some of these crossings would definitely be too much for a stock Forester - Forester's used to have a fair few aftermarket parts like lift kits etc. It would not surprise me some people from the various Subaru clubs have got a fair way through some of these places.
* We also took bypass routes off the Northern Bypass into see Nolan's Brook which can get quite deep - and Sam's Creek which was a gem! The swimming in the tiny little gorge below the waterfall at crossing is amazing plus there were pitcher plants everywhere. From memory Sam's is no problem for a Forester to get to using the diversion road off the Northern Bypass Road. This was every bit as good as Fruit Bat and Eliot/Twin Falls and a lot less crowded!
I used the book Cape York - Travel and Adventure Guide by Ron and Viv Moon which gave a fair good description of what was possible and what was probably out of the question in the Forester. These days most things are very accessible to the smaller 4wd and it would not surprise me that they will start to have some serious overcrowding problems due to the improving state of the roads. I stayed at Punsand Bay again in 2015 and even though the dirt road was still ordinary, it was pretty much packed (but then again it is a nice spot with decent amenities even if it is not as central as places like Seisia/Bamaga). That said, there are heaps of places to free camp if you like something quieter ...
P.S. One of the things I loved to do is camp at Archer River crossing (east side of the crossing itself, southern bank) - the river here is wide, clear, and very shallow. Lovely to lie in at the end of the day. Of course the added bonus is you can walk up to the Archer River Roadhouse and get an "Archie" burger for dinner. I managed to "engineer" our itinerary to stay there up and back both times I have gone to the cape - pretty much the most expensive "free camp" I have stayed in as those burgers are not cheap.
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