Gascoyne River near Landor

Option 2

We ran in to a bit of wetness this year at the beginning of May trying to access Mt Augustus from the Pilbara. We travelled west from Paraburdoo to the Ashburton Downs Road and then south west along it, taking the Pingandy Station Road to Mt Augustus. We camped a night on Pingandy Creek(off Ashburton Downs Road) and then another at Dooly Downs Outstation(with permission). The Pingandy Road is a public access road. But the rain stopped us 15km from Mt Augustus. We had to backtrack to the Ashburton Downs Road and access the Great Northern Highway via Mulgul Station. Here the Gascoigne River is a wide expanse with no bridges or culverts and no river bed as such.

This does not really address your question but hopefully you can gain some insight. The Pingandy Road has twistrs and turns which can be driven rally style !!!There is some fascinating flora in the area.

The Gassy River crossing at Gascyne Junction is concrete across the river bed. Depth of the water depends on the rain up North a few days before you cross it.

Best just to call the local copper about the depth before you leave Perth.

You'll have the same issues if you come in from Landor. The crossings are concrete but are of a much shortet distance.

For instance the Crossing as Gassy Junction is about 200meters across from memory where as the others are about 30 - 40 meters across.

For info on the road conditions at the time around Landor...you could always call the owners at Landor station itself.

Good luck

It's always been very dry when we have been through that area or in the vicinty (always around May) - i think Willem brought them some very rare rain, which i am sure they appreciated. The roads to the south of Mt Augustus are stoney and the sides are littered with dead tyres (we got a flat on the camper van on the stretch heading West from Landor towards the turn off to Murchison) so take a few spares. Haven't been on the road south of Landor to Meekatharra but it seems to be well travelled. You can also go up to Mt A via Mullewa and Murchison - not a bad drive if you don't mind dirt roads.

There have been threads here in the past about going North East from Mt Augustus through Dooley Downs - not a very direct route by my map. Try an archive search on "Dooley Downs".

Hi

We headed from Carnarvon across through Landor last August but then turned south towards Meekarthara. Good roads all of the way, no real problems at all Interesting country and very few cars so good. There had been rain around so quite a bit a water lying around but nothing flowing in the rivers. We found it hard to find a spot to camp for the night but eventually found a really nice spot on a river between Dalgety Downs Homestead and Landor Homestead on the Dalgety Downs Landor road. Several branches of the Gasgoyne cross the road and there are reasonable camping spots alongside. A good map to get hold of is Streetsmart Touring map 'The Mid West'. Has lots of info, think it is put out by WA CALM. Mt Gould police lockup is interesting, don't miss Cue and all of the old gold towns in that area, Big Bell, Day Dawn. Walga Rock excellent spot, like Ayres Rock without the people

The people in the shire office at Gasgoyne Junction where very helpful and I suggest that you give them a call (08 9943 0988) closer to the time. They also have mud maps of the region. Also, call into the pub at GJ as well worth a look I am old, we missed it!

Dunc
I had the good fortune to be over that way in Nov 98. I was as crook as Rookwood and my brother and I were travelling from Maroochydore to Carnarvon, as part of a big trip. We headed west from Alice out through Haasts Bluff, joined the Mereenie Rd then Kings Canyon, Uluru, Docker River, Warburton, GBH, Wiluna, Meekatharra, Landor, Gascoyne Junction,and finally Carnarvon. I have a photo of me wading into the Indian Ocean after what seemed like an epic drive (it was).
I don't specifically recall any tricky river crossings, but I remember a really good camping spot beside the Murchison River.
West of Landor we found quite a bit of gear on the road that had obviously fallen out of a vehicle. It included tool kit, RM Williams boots and various other things. Luckily there was a name on it. We asked the driver of a truck loading cattle if he new the name. Of course he did so the gear eventually ended up with the owner.
It was bloody hot in November, about 45 at Gascoyne Jn.
Have a great trip

Hi Dunc

You will find the trip from Mt Augustus to the Pilbara via Dooley Downs/Ashburton Downs a great drive. You should allow 3 hours to get from Mt Augustus to the Ashburton Downs/Meekatharra Rd. It is stoney in the break away country but if you take it easy especially in the dips and wash aways you will be fine. I carried one good spare and a tubeless repair kit but never had any tyre trouble. Once you hit the Ashburton downs road and turn left heading North, the road is reasonable. I did this run in the reverse direstion in September this year.

All the above advise is based on dry conditions. Heavy rain would make many of the dips and floodways through this area "interesting" to say the least.

Cheers

Mark

Hey Duncan

Try to squeese in Kenedy Range its north of gascoyne junction and well worth a look

Cheers
Get out and Get dirty!

Gero Boof

Hi Dunc,

I am currently publishing a trek note for this region - Paraburdoo - Mt Augustus - Murchison. I travelled up there in July this year - the trek was fine, but it was dry. In the trek notes, I have noted the worst 'creek crossings' - dry but rough!

I will try to have the trek up this week. Don't forget to also have a look at our Karijini trek note.

Enjoy your trip,
Regards,
Juliana.

Hi Dunc,

A couple of weeks ago in late September we travelled from Meeka to Mt A via the Mt Clere - Meeka track, then onto the Landor - Mt Clere Rd and then Waldburgh Rd and the Mt A road. Whilst no sign of rain, the creeks were dry and the crossings were mostly concrete / engineered hence easy going. From talking to other travellers, the alternative route via the Carnarvon-Meeka Rd to Landor and Mt A had more traffic, more corrugations and less comfortable. We had 2 spares but luckily no problems. Finding campsites along the way was challenging due to the surrounding pastoral leases, bulls / cows and fences. Police at Meeka were helpful and so too was the GJ Shire who posted out some useful material. Highly recommend Kennedy Ranges, a dawn climb of Mt A and a casual swim / stopover at Cattle Pool and Edithana Pool.

We travelled alone, no towing, and for safety we carried we sat phone, spare hoses/belts/filters/tools/recovery gear, 60l water and a rum provision.

We never went north of Mt A so can't help with routes to Karajini.

cheers, pj