Cape Melville and the Stracke Track

Once again it depends on what sort of wet season we get up here. If its a late wet then the tracks could be rugged and too boggy to travel. I,d be asking this question closer to when you do the trip. Many of the tracks are easily travelled in June onwards as most are drying out. Just depends on the weather. Get a cyclone go through and who knows what damage it will cause to waterways and vegetation.

If the wet has been reasonable I,d do the Starke. Its different and would add to the diversity of the drive. Considering doing the same track next August...just depends on my other fellow travellers.

cheers

Hi WBS, in late August we left Kalpower Crossing heading to Melville and developed a crack in the exhaust while towing our 14 foot Goldstream pop top off roader. Ended up cracked clean through. Had to turn around at the turnoff to Bathurst Bay and return to Cooktown for a $330 repair. Ouch. Kalpower to Bathurst turnoff was 45 km of very good 2WD standard road.
A young bloke at Kalpower in a Hilux was towing a 10 foot tinnie on a 2WD trailer. He had been to Cape Melville with the same rig and said it was no problem. The road from Kalpwer to Wakooka is good and only the last 35 or so from Wakooka is slowish but he made it and was expecting no problems going again. Gave us some nice Barra which he had caught at Kalpower.LOL
We had talked to NPWS in Cooktown who confirmed horror story of Starcke track which is on their website. I always like to check with a live person as websites are prone to exaggerating how bad a walk or track is. Later on at Mareeba we met an early 90's Landcruiser owner towing a trailer who had just returned from Melville via Starcke. He spoke of rock steps 500 to 600 mm high and very slow going on a genuine 4WD track. Sounds like fun IF you have the rig to do it.
Musgrave across to Kalpower is an absolute doddle. A beautiful graded and rolled 2WD road compared to when we did it in 2008. You will be pleasantly surprised at the amount of tar on the PDR too......... W

Lakefield is not open until late June with the gate closed at Saltwater Creek and the Kalpowar crossing may be gated.The Cape Melville gates will be locked at the old Wakoola Station until then.

As note: 2016 even though it was a dry wet, Lakefield and Cape Melville didn't open until August.

Camping permits have stopped from Dec 1st this year until those dates.
The Rinnyirru Rangers Station telephone number is 07 4060 3271 if you want to verify closures. They may not be there as they are in shutdown mode.

Have a look onQueensland Parks booking site it will show no bookings available a decission on opening date will be made in June.

Bathurst Head may be accessible from the Starcke end but I would check with the indigenous owners to see if its accessible

Hi there WBS,

We drove that road back in late August this year. We were in our Cruiser single cab (VDJ79) with our Kimberly camper behind us. Road was a doddle as far as Wakooka Ruins which is where it gets a bit tougher. I would call that section through to Starke river a real 4wd track but still quite do-able if you take your time and drive to conditions. It was fairly dry when we went so no real problems but could be different after a decent wet season. I remember going that way through there was one fairly steep decent for about 3/4 of a km and I thought at the time this would be interesting going the other way up it but no real problem for us going down steady in low range 1st. Beautiful country though and well worth the effort in my opinion.

Cheers

Mate been along Starkes a couple of times last time 2015 I like the track slow but interesting with a trailer. Prior to going to Bathurst I would get hold of Eddie or his brother as he is the traditional landowner a darn nice bloke who welcomes visitors a whole lot better than some places in mainstream Australia.