If you are meaning from Toowoomba to the coast, head towards Warwick then a left turn to Heifer Creek which comes down the range gradually to Gatton. Not a busy road but an occasional truck to watch out for on corners. We always go that way instead of up the Toowoomba range.
Another way is north from Toowoomba to Hampton then go down to Esk. Heifer Creek is in the Camps book, as is Hampton.
I usually go via The Newell but this last time I came down through St George, Lightening Ridge to Gilgandra.Stayed on the Newell from GGilgandra to Tocumwal on the border. After that its a straight run into Melbourne. No hilly areas anywhere along the way.
I had no problems finding good camps along the way. South of St George is a little town, can't remember its name, just out of that town is a great camp on the river.
Also 5 ks south of Lightening Ridge is a huge camp right opp Stanley the giant emu.
Best investment for you guys would be a copy of Camps Australia Wide no. 7 - heaps of great camps along the way to Melbourne, and all around this beautiful country.
If you are leaving from Roma, where would you want to cross the range? Do you need to go via Toowoomba? Go inland all the way, plenty of good roads.
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jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
From Roma down to St George cross the border at Hebal down to Walget then turn right and head across to Brewannia , Bourke , Cobar , Hillston , Griffith , join the Newal just out of Jerildere then over the border into Mexico at Tocumwal then down to Melbourne .
There are plenty of areas large enough to get your bus off the road for the night .
Best investment for you guys would be a copy of Camps Australia Wide no. 7 - heaps of great camps along the way to Melbourne, and all around this beautiful country.
If you are leaving from Roma, where would you want to cross the range? Do you need to go via Toowoomba? Go inland all the way, plenty of good roads.
Thanks for the tip, don't really have to go Toowoomba as such, just chasing the best route with as few steep sections as possible.
Bill and Lesley - welcome to the site, by the way - follow Tim the Truckie's route - easy as - no huge mountains to cross, and great scenery all the way. Have a pie at the shop at Hebel - delicious!!! Enjoy life!
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jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
Bill and Lesley - welcome to the site, by the way - follow Tim the Truckie's route - easy as - no huge mountains to cross, and great scenery all the way. Have a pie at the shop at Hebel - delicious!!! Enjoy life!
Hi all,
Just to follow up, has anyone done Roma, St. George, Goondiwindi, Moree, Narrabri, Coonabarabran, Gilgandra, Dubbo, Parkes, Forbes, West Wyalong, Narrandera, Denilquin, Echuca, Bendigo route (or reverse....)??
Bill and Lesley - welcome to the site, by the way - follow Tim the Truckie's route - easy as - no huge mountains to cross, and great scenery all the way. Have a pie at the shop at Hebel - delicious!!! Enjoy life!
Hi all,
Just to follow up, has anyone done Roma, St. George, Goondiwindi, Moree, Narrabri, Coonabarabran, Gilgandra, Dubbo, Parkes, Forbes, West Wyalong, Narrandera, Denilquin, Echuca, Bendigo route (or reverse....)??
A lot of people would have done that trip Bill and Lesley - are you using caravan parks or free camping? There are a heap of caravan parks on that route, and also a lot of free camps - go to the "budget/free camping" subforum on this site and check out some of the places you mention.
Enjoy your trip.
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jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
In my opinion, THE only way to cross the range here in SEQ is by Gatton-Clifton Road as Oma suggested. I always use it, it's a nice peaceful drive with not a lot of traffic, except for those occasional trucks. And as someone else said, there's the free camp at Heifer Creek.
There is one section that's been down to one lane since the floods in 2011, but it's not a problem really. They have done a lot of work on the western approach where there had been a lot of erosion.
The Hampton-Esk Road is reasonably good too. Depends whether you want to come over south of Toowoomba or north of Toowoomba.
