Is it closed if it says Closed

Hi JB

It was closed when we came past in November last year. At the time i thought it may have been due to recent rains, as we also found the Lake King - Norseman road closed. However several people passing since have also seen it closed so it is certainly more than just a wet day.

Hi Rip64

For all WA road conditions and closures ring 1800013314.

If you have asked locally and been given good reason, don't take the road. It appeared to be well barricaded when we went past. Annoying though when it upsets your plans.

When we got to the Lake King Road (heading home and planning to camp at Peak Charles not far along the road) we rang the above number and got someone even though it was near 5 pm on a Saturday, however being a weekend he didn't have an update but knew there had been rain. We had to return to Norseman and take the Hyden road.

I understand that going on a closed road due to rain can result in big fines due to potential road damage. We have previously (2006) been on the Lake King road during a deluge when it was very muddy - it was not closed but had the standard "at your own risk" signage.

Motherhen

Yes, the road is more likely to be closed due to water issues. Parmango road is usually not bad, but the Old Balladonia Road can be a doozy, esp at the southern end, and the Mt Ragged-Israelite track can also get very stick at the southern end.
Otherwise, it's always a rough track, with the usual risks of sharp limestone and stakes.
As said earlier, give the Ranger at Cape Arid NP (Thomas River) a ring, or failing that, DEC/CALM in Esperance.
Gerry

Hi Gerry - Not for 6 months! I know it has rained at Norseman and/or Balladonia almost every time we have been through, but a closure of over six months is something more permanent than a wet week.

Mh

Hi MH,
Yeh, I know problem - is the sign an oversight, or do they really mean it?
I had the same trouble a few years back in Vic, going from Licola over thru Mt Skene, and there was a Road Closed sign not far out from Licola. Had to drive around a while to get a sgnal on my phone, then phoned the responsible shire council to ask what was going on. They didn't even know the sign was there, so after a bit of negotiation, they allowed me to go thru. They were probably wondering where one of their signs had disappeared to!

Gerry

The figure I've heard over the years is $1000 per wheel - including spares.

Hi,
I can shed light on this.
We usually receive updates from the DEC or Rangers - ONLY when conditions change. However in this case we have received no status report declaring this road closed.

We can only rely on Local Authorities, Visitors or interested local residents (or obvious severe weather conditions) to inform us of an outback road closure.

This particular track has escaped detection by us.

From your observations I have updated its status to closed and thank you for bringing this to our attention.

This is what ExplorOz is all about, we rely on your help to keep us informed of the conditions of these more remote roads and tracks.

As you can imagine it is an enormous task to keep an eye on the status of every outback road in Australia without a lot of help from people on the ground.

Keep this info coming, please feel free to email me re any road closures or changes you discover while you are out there.

I will give the ranger there a call, when I get a chance, to see what the reason for the closure is.

Hope this helps.

Kerry W
Road conditions Co-Ordinator
kerry@exploroz.com

Thanks Kerry, and I would certainly appreciate knowing why when you find out.

When we passed the closure, i intended to ask here about it, but then we found the Lake King Road closed due to weather so thought that was it. However since then various reports have trickled through about people finding it closed.

Mh

Thanks for following up Kerry.