Summerland Way Northern NSW

The border ranges are a great part of the country. (Brindle creek is one of my favourite places)There is an entrance fee and a long uphill not appropriate for towing a van. If you really want to see it, dump the van at Wiangaree and then do the loop up through the park and back down to pick up your van. Or drag the van up to Sheep Station Creek and leave the van there. I would leave it back at Wiangaree for safety.

The Lion's road through to Qld is bitumen, very scenic but again has some steep and very long hills with a windy road in the rainforest with limited visibility through the corners. Not really a towing route for anything bigger than a trailer.

The road from Kyogle up towards Woodenbong and down through the Lindsay border gate also has some long hills but is wider and used by trucks and vans.

Suggest go Lindsay hwy or straight up the coast from Grafton. Once past Ballina it is now a great run up the hwy.

Alan

G'day Heather G,
We drove 2 vans south along Summerland Way (Grevillia, Casino & Kyogle), few a months ago towing a 2.5t and 2.0 tonne vans. Its a bit hilly and narrow but a terrific drive. I would expect your tow vehicle is up to it, as you are towing a 2.5t van, we had Landcruisers. There were some long climbs so your cooling system would want to be in good nick. Ther are sections where there is nowhere to pass, but don't rush enjoy the scenery.

Cheers,
Bill

Heather G,

We prefer using the Summerland Way instead of the Pacific Highway. We tow our BT that way and then up through Woodenbong and onto Warwick. Very scenic and without all the extra traffic.

Regards
Ross

Hi Heather.
Over Easter we towed the van to Killarney via Kyogle & Woodenbong.
From Woodenbong there were some steep climbs & the condition of the road really sorted out the caravan suspension.The only big problem we encounted were the number of motor bikes using the road as a test track.
Just take your time & enjoy the scenery.
The road from Killarney to Warwick was a breeze.
Cheers.
Vince

To all of you helpful people who replied to my original thread,

Thought you would like to know that we survived the drive through to Queensland after taking the road from Kyogle to Woodenbong through Urbenville and Tooloom National Park to get to Killarney and then Warwick on Monday. My brother in law who worked with NSW Forestry iand is familiar with this area suggested this route from Woodenbong and said the other road is worse. I guess we don't know whether he is right or not but if so, the other option must be very ordinary. It looked a bit longer on the map.

The road was bitumen, very narrow (3.5 metres)in width and had one of the roughest surfaces we have come across on sealed roads. Luckily there was almost no oncoming traffic as there were few opportunities to pull over on the steep, winding climb up through the National Park and then back down the other side.

We had no problems towing the van and just took it slowly but was a bit stressful at the time. Now just another story to relate around the campfire!

We stayed in the little caravan park in Kyogle and drove out through the Border Ranges, had a look at the Station Creek campground. It was full so we decided not to bring the van out the following day as we would have had difficulty parking it in most of the sites there and would have to hope one of the few suitable was vacant when we arrived. Instead we took the scenic loop drive through the park and stopped to look off the Lookouts and take photos.

The walking opportunities will have to wait till somewhere further along the trip!

Regards,

Heather