Description
Enjoy the golden savannah grasslands and the monsoonal wetlands of this trek in this rather barren region of
Australia. There are a variety of native animals and a diverse portrait of birds including herons, jabirus, brolgas, sarus crane and many other waterbird species that migrate here - especially after the rains.
A good majority of the trek is on the Burke Developmental Road with minor portions being on the
Karumba Development Road, Kowanyama Development Road and Musgrave Strathgordon Road before hitting Peninsula Development Road before
Coen. The majority of the journey is a true adventure drive with most of it being unsealed. Although some of these roads can be rough, it’s quite navigable by conventional vehicles with care.
The trek passes through beautiful scenery, including some old historic towns. Examples include:
Normanton, which is well known for its diverse migratory wading birds and
Barramundi fishing and
Karumba which sits on the mouth of the Norman River and is home to the Gulf of Carpentaria’s prawning and
fishing industries and not to forget its stunning sunsets. Kowanyama, which means ‘the place of many waters’ is a culturally significant Aboriginal community town. This town is situated on the banks of Magnificent Creek and during the wet season, it’s not uncommon to have supplies flown in by air. There are many homestead stations olong the way including Dunbar Station and there is an old ex-fortress telegraph station now called
Musgrave Roadhouse.
Coen is a beautiful small town located on the old telegraph line that ran from Laura to
Bamaga and is considered the last place north for supplies such as food, fuel and mechanical repairs before heading towards the tip of
Cape York.
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Normanton to Coen via Kowanyama
From: Normanton
To: Coen
Distance: 914.94 km
Direction: 29 °
Average Speed: 65.93 km/hr
Travel Time: 13 hours 52 mins
Using the Map
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Things to See & Do
Preparation
Fuel Supplies & Usage
Usage is averaged from
TrekFuel (* specific to trek) submissions and calculated based on trek distance.
Best Time To Visit
Closest Climatic Station
Kowanyama Airport
Distance from Trek Mid Point 56.2km NW
| | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| Mean Max. °C |
33.1 | 32.4 | 32.8 | 33.0 |
32.1 | 30.6 | 30.7 | 32.0 |
34.6 | 36.1 | 36.1 | 34.9 |
| Mean Min. °C |
24.3 | 24.2 | 23.7 | 21.9 |
19.2 | 16.1 | 15.4 | 16.1 |
18.8 | 21.8 | 23.9 | 24.3 |
| Mean Rain mm |
335.9 | 361.6 | 234.0 | 54.4 |
11.5 | 4.4 | 2.0 | 2.5 |
2.7 | 16.1 | 55.8 | 169.1 |
Best time to travel Ok time to travel Travel NOT recommended
Camp Sites & Accommodation
Driving Directions
| Normanton to Norman River, Burke Dev Road |
1.51 km |
NE |
59° |
4 min |
| Norman River, Burke Dev Road to Stake Hole |
21.31 km |
NE |
27° |
13 min |
| Stake Hole to Burke Dev Road & Karumba Dev Rd |
7.36 km |
N |
17° |
5 min |
| Burke Dev Road & Karumba Dev Rd to Maggieville |
1.72 km |
NW |
308° |
1 min |
| Maggieville to Karumba Dev Rd & Karumba Point Rd |
34.5 km |
W |
269° |
22 min |
| Karumba Dev Rd & Karumba Point Rd to Karumba |
4.62 km |
SW |
213° |
8 min |
| Karumba to Karumba Dev Rd & Karumba Point Rd |
4.62 km |
NE |
33° |
8 min |
| Karumba Dev Rd & Karumba Point Rd to Maggieville |
34.5 km |
E |
89° |
22 min |
| Maggieville to Burke Dev Road & Karumba Dev Rd |
1.72 km |
SE |
128° |
1 min |
| Burke Dev Road & Karumba Dev Rd to Gilbert River, Burke Dev Road |
72.48 km |
NE |
62° |
52 min |
| Gilbert River, Burke Dev Road to Wyaaba Creek, Burke Dev Road |
63.96 km |
N |
20° |
47 min |
| Wyaaba Creek, Burke Dev Road to Staaten River, Burke Dev Road |
22.72 km |
NE |
33° |
15 min |
| Staaten River, Burke Dev Road to Burke Dev Road & Kowanyama Rd |
71.18 km |
NE |
32° |
49 min |
| Burke Dev Road & Kowanyama Rd to Burkes Lagoon |
6.27 km |
NW |
307° |
4 min |
| Burkes Lagoon to Kowanyama |
94.73 km |
NW |
312° |
1 hr 27 min |
| Kowanyama to Mitchell River, Kowanyama Pormpuraaw Tk |
68.01 km |
NE |
63° |
1 hr 28 min |
| Mitchell River, Kowanyama Pormpuraaw Tk to Alice River & Kowanyama Pormpuraaw Tk |
16.65 km |
E |
102° |
37 min |
| Alice River & Kowanyama Pormpuraaw Tk to Musgrave Strathgordon Rd & Kowanyama Pormpuraaw Tk |
73.63 km |
NW |
327° |
1 hr 31 min |
| Musgrave Strathgordon Rd & Kowanyama Pormpuraaw Tk to Opera Hill |
169.85 km |
E |
89° |
2 hr 3 min |
| Opera Hill to Glen Garland |
12.34 km |
E |
85° |
10 min |
| Glen Garland to Musgrave Roadhouse |
28.61 km |
E |
73° |
38 min |
| Musgrave Roadhouse to Coen |
102.66 km |
N |
340° |
8 hr 46 min |
| Normanton to Coen |
914.94 km |
|
|
13 hr 52 min |
Distance is GPS recorded driving distance (not straight line), Direction is straight line from start to end, Time is calculated from actual GPS driving data.
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