Was there last week - Road from Camooweal to Gregory downs atrocious corrugations although a Grader is working on some sections today - suggest going to Gregory via Cloncurry (bitumen). Road from Gregory downs to Adel Grove 45Klms suppression coated (like wet tar) then 45 Klms from mine turn off, very severe corrugations
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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
I have a Toyota Sahara and a Supreme 23' van with Cruisemaster air bag suspension and heavy duty chassis. How will this tackle the road into Adele's Grove or the campground at the Gorge? We plan on going in July next year.
July next year will be after next "Wet Season", so current road condition advice next to useless. I was advised that the mining operations out of Gregory will cease towards the end of this year which would mean that they would no longer grading and suppression coating roads - suggest you get info in June 2016.
Generally the Sahara and Supreme van should stand the corrugations if driven carefully - ensure you're wearing off road tyres on both and they are fully inflated. (Do not reduce tyre pressures to handle these conditions - it may make the ride a little smoother but you are risking putting a rock through sidewalls)
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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
We were at Adels grove in July and towed a 21ft caravan out there with no trouble you just adjust to road conditions the road between Adel grove and the gorge was not good but once again if you. Drive sensibly you shouldn't have any problems. I wouldn't take the van down the Riversleigh track to Cammonweal as this was terrible with three river crossings. As the previous report suggest don't deflate your tyres as we saw several vans with holes in the tyre walls. One car did two tyres in an hour
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BETTER TO HAVE SEEN SOMETHING ONCE, THAN HEAR ABOUT IT A THOUSAND TIMES
We have driven into Adels several times, over both the road from Gregory Downs and the Riversleigh road. We worked there for parts of several tourist seasons, so know the roads and conditions.
It is not unusual for Mt Isa residents to come up for long weekends etc - with conventional cars - via Cloncurry, B&W, and Gregory. Plenty of non-offroad vans go there too.
July next year will be at the height of the tourist season up there, so the roads should have been graded at least once by then.
If you stay at Adels Grove, then you will only have to take your vehicle to the National Park. The 9 or 10kms between Adels and the Park is often a little rough - there is a lot of traffic on it each day.
As others say, the key is to drive to conditions. That means going slowly enough that you can slow down gently for the shallow dips that are wet season channels. If you go too fast into such, you bottom the suspension, spread the tread on your tyres and drive stones up into them. Adels gets a lot of tyre repair business from people with heavily overloaded vehicles who drive too fast! As Dreamcatcher says, do not deflate tyres.
The condition of the road south, via Riversleigh, varies from year to year. Locals use it as a shorter route to Mt Isa, turning down past Thorntonia (bitumen) to the highway. The section from the Thorntonia turnoff, to Camooweal (dirt road) is usually pretty bad. The concreted fords at the Gregory River, near Riversleigh, always have water running over them. By July this is usually pretty shallow, maybe 10cm. max. We have taken the van (offroad) through there in a March, after big wet, with no worries. South of the Gregory fords, the O'Shaughnessy is usually dry by July.
You will need to book ahead for Adels Grove at that time of the year. There is quite a bit to do there, especially if you like walking, so allow enough time.
I've only just checked the site and found all your replies. Thank you for the valuable info. Maybe we should stay at Adele's Grove rather than the Gorge campground. I know the gorge is cheaper but is it worth a tyre or 2?
Adels has, for the most part, larger sites, with better separation between many of them. The camp area is not as dusty as at the NP - at Adels the internal roads are often watered to keep dust down. Adels has an area where you can run generators, if you need this. There are hot showers - NP ones used to be cold only, but I am not sure about their current status. Adels sites have a firepit and tap - and you can have campfires, which can't at NP. Adels has shop for basics like ice, frozen bread, long life milk, icecreams, cold drinks etc. It has a deck and licensed bar - you can sit and enjoy a drink overlooking Lawn Hill Creek. There is a campers laundry. Can get meals there too. Can swim in Lawn Hill Creek, just as you can at the NP.
If you drive carefully, should not damage tyres on the 9kms between Adels and NP. In the various times we worked there, used to often go to NP on days off - and never did any tyre damage on our Landrover. The guys who were rostered on canoe hire at the NP drove the road every day in an Adels vehicle - I don't recollect any of them getting flats on way to or from work.
I used to regularly get customers coming to the shop at Adels, for ice, drinks etc, and saying they were staying at the NP but wished they'd stopped and looked at Adels before hand, because it was so much nicer.
Have a look at the Adels Grove website.
