Just completed the trek through Rudall River from North to South, the road conditions are as follows; Telfer rd - very good condition approx top speed +80kph, the Rudall track is corrugated with occasional wash outs marked by pink surveyors tape in an adjacent bush/tree, there is a particularly bad section of corrugations south of Mosses chair, top speed approx 60kph. The road into Desert Queen Baths is rough in sections with numerous gullies to cross, top speed approx 30kph at best. The main track south is still corrugated but generally not as bad as the northern section, there are stretches at the southern
boundary of the
park that are worse, top speed approx 60kph. The track to
Graphite Valley is a lot of fun in that there are plenty of 4wd 'challenges', small
creek crossings and
hill climbs, wash outs etc.
The only
water in the
park is at
the Desert Queen Baths the rest of the
park is dry, the
camping area has again been burnt out recently and is particularly bare, however, there are a couple of small gums to
camp under. The walk up
the gorge is spectacular most of the pools have
water in them, the walk will take approx 40 mins each way, and it finishes at a beautiful pool nestled between sheer rock faces. The
cave in
the ridge on the other side of the valley makes for an interesting walk; you can also climb around to the crest of
the ridge to see the next valley (turn right when looking at the
cave).
There appears to be a substantial
camping area on the southern bank of the Coolbro
Creek, didn’t stop to check it out but it looks popular given the tracks in to the site.
Watrara
camp site is again dry, it can be accessed by vehicle on the eastern side of the
creek, the over hanging gums make for a
nice camp in the
creek bed.
The
water pump on the southern
boundary of the
park has numerous small gums providing shelter and hence would make a good
camping area.
The Talawana Rd is in good condition with the occasional corrugation, top speed approx +80kph. The string of roads joining it to the
Newman –
Nullagine Rd are in reasonable condition as
well but are station roads and are not as substantial.
Signage through these roads is poor so take care as there are a few
cross roads that could be confusing.
The travel times posted on this web page for the
park are slightly optimistic as the roads have no doubt deteriorated since, allow a little more time maybe 10% more.