Karinjini National Park, WA road conditions

hello people,

i am traveling to Karinjini National Park in a week and was wondering if anyone knows about the road conditions? Has anyone got any comments on the road conditions at the moment? And how is the camping areas? Would it be washed out at this time of year?

Thank you all for reading my questions. I really appreciate any help on this National Park. :)
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Reply By: Motherhen - Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 20:42

Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 20:42
The ExplorOz road conditions shows it as open but with caution due to washouts, rough patches and creek crossings. The Roebourne Wittenoom road is closed.

Motherhen

Unbelievable the amount of water through the Pilbara

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Reply By: Member - Fred B (NT) - Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 20:54

Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 20:54
Hi ant_o,
when you get back, would love to see a trip report. We are in the process of planning a Rudall River NP and Karinjini NP trip at the moment. Suss out all the good camping spots etc and have fun and relax.
Fred B
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Reply By: Member - lyndon K (SA) - Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 21:43

Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 21:43
Hi
Been 17 years since i have been there, FANTASTIC PLACE. Hamesly ranges we called it back then.
Narrow but deep gorges, cold in the water :)
Enjoy.
Cheers Lyndon
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Reply By: Member - Bentaxle - Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 22:04

Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 22:04
As Motherhen had said there has been a lot of rain through that area as of late. I can recall seeing an article in the West Australian newspaper regarding the amount of water that is in the area at the moment.
BOTH Karajini and Millstram Chichester NP were CLOSED. Would recommend contacting Dept Environment and Conservation at Newman for an update.
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Reply By: stumbly - Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 22:05

Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 22:05
g'day Ant,
we just had ALOT of rain last week up there (fortesque flooded) if your coming from the coast the HI rail access road is closed to public traffic due to flood damage, so you will have to take the long way.
I will be back up there wednesday and will give you an update then if you like?
As for the camp sites, you could contact the ranger at Karajini, or the Tom Price visitors center
The water should be dropping by now...

cheers, Keith
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Reply By: equinox - Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 22:12

Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 22:12
Hopefully I'll be up that way in about 3-4 weeks for a week of hiking and relaxing.

Might stay at Eco-lodge.. Exploroz members 20% off..

Cheers
Alan


Looking for adventure.
In whatever comes our way.



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Reply By: henpecked - Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 22:48

Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 22:48
Visited Karinjini around October 2008. Very easy to wreck tyres on the unsealed roads. I did in 2 tyres. One needs to be very careful when locating jack as the stone road surface is very unstable..chock wheels. The road between the various gorges is unsealed, as is the road from the north to Tom Price.
We stayed at Dales Gorge. Long drop toilets, quite well cared for. Free gas BBQ's provided. No power supplied and those with generators are restricted to certain areas. Drinking water available about 10Km(?) from camping ground. Dingoes like to take anything left lying around.
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 23:19

Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 23:19
And the dingoes will wake you up at night! We enjoyed our stay at Dales - but there were no barbecues then. Perhaps they are following the NT's lead (which i think was phased in to reduce fire hazards). The first night there was a rowdy group in the tour coach area near us which was a bit hard to take. Next night after walking the gorges, they were quiet as mice VERY early.

Motherhen
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 23:23

Monday, Feb 23, 2009 at 23:23
We got the only flat tyre of the trip when we pulled up to look at the view over the four gorges before parking. We parked and found a tyre going down, located a nail so patched the tyre and pumped, and pumped and pumped - what's that hissing? We had two punctures in the same tyre - both must have been from much the same place. After the security locks failed to unlock on the spares and we had to break them off (some security they were) to resort to using a spare. Darned hot in the sun by the middle of the day after all this, so the cold cold water in the gorge was most welcome.

Mh
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Reply By: Wayne's 60 - Tuesday, Feb 24, 2009 at 13:48

Tuesday, Feb 24, 2009 at 13:48
Hi ant,
This is the latest information from DEC as posted on Monday.

Cheers,
Wayne.

Update on Severe Flood Warning Pilbara Region

The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) wishes to provide an update on the following closures in the Pilbara region due to heavy rainfall in the region.

Millstream - Chichester National Park

All roads in Millstream-Chichester National park are currently closed to all traffic. Heavy rain over the last few days has resulted in severe flooding of all rivers and creeks which has resulted in damage to some roads in the area.

Some gravel access roads to Karijini are either closed or 4wd only. For further information please contact the Shire of Ashburton (08) 9188 4444 or the State wide Road condition Report from the Main Roads WA, 138 138.

Karijini National Park

All gravel roads in Karijini National Park are open to all traffic. Visitors are reminded that some roads may have received water damage and extreme caution should be taken on approach to floodway's, creeks and rivers.

All gorges in the Weano recreation area (Weano and Hancock Gorge) remain closed due to the threat of flash flooding or landslides. This situation is under review. Operators will be informed when it reopens.

All other gorges in Karijini National Park are open; however visitors should not enter muddy or discoloured water due to unforseen hazards.

Isolated showers and thunderstorms are forecast for the remainder of the week.

For further information on Millstream-Chichester and Karijini National Parks please contact the DEC office in Karratha on (08) 9182 2000
AnswerID: 350767

Reply By: MAVERICK(WA) - Tuesday, Feb 24, 2009 at 19:57

Tuesday, Feb 24, 2009 at 19:57
Low pressure system to move west from kimberley over the next 48hrs and commence topping up the east and west pilbara, east gascoyne and east murchison. karajini might be ok in a week but maybe make other plans just in case. if the rain is as good as a few weeks ago then getting into the gorges and playing is out anyway. rgds
Slow down and relax......

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Reply By: ant_o_1984 - Friday, Feb 27, 2009 at 17:57

Friday, Feb 27, 2009 at 17:57
Thanks everyone for the help and advice. nice to see that everyone wants to help out. will let everyone know how it was..... if we end up being able to go. thanks again everyone
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Follow Up By: ant_o_1984 - Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 23:00

Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 23:00
Just an update on karijini NP. It was beautiful. except the 4 inches of rain we recieved at milstream. we were almost flooded in but took our chance to continue on and it was well worth it.
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