Gwydir Hwy

REBA · Member

Gwydir Hwy

Phillipn · Guru

REBA wrote:
Hi - We are looking at making the trip from Lightning Ridge down to Walgett then through Collarenebri to Inverell to Glen Innes to Grafton then on to Yamba along the Gwydir Hwy. We will be driving a 26' Winnebago Motorhome and wondering what the roads were like as noticed a lot of tight bends on some sections. Any 'Grey Nomad' feedback would be much appreciated

The Gwydir Highway is the best roads from the New England to the coast.

Radar · Guru

REBA wrote:
Hi - We are looking at making the trip from Lightning Ridge down to Walgett then through Collarenebri to Inverell to Glen Innes to Grafton then on to Yamba along the Gwydir Hwy. We will be driving a 26' Winnebago Motorhome and wondering what the roads were like as noticed a lot of tight bends on some sections. Any 'Grey Nomad' feedback would be much appreciated

There really is no real problems on this route you have planned.

Glen Innes to Grafton has one descent that requires a bit of attention, select a low gear and save your brakes. There is warning signs for "transports to select low gear", so do like wise.

Enjoy the journey.

PeterD · Guru

Radar wrote:
There really is no real problems on this route you have planned.
Glen Innes to Grafton has one descent that requires a bit of attention, select a low gear and save your brakes. There is warning signs for "transports to select low gear", so do like wise.
Enjoy the journey.

Peter, there is nothing wrong with having quick/tight bends on the road. You just slow down for then and then "all's right with the world." It just means that when you are driving that type of country you observe the road a lot more than you do the surrounding countryside. As Radar said, slow down on the big hill, select a low gear. You should select a low enough gear so that you do not have to doo much braking to hold your speed on the descent. If you are doing that you will be slow enough to take most of the bends without having to reduce your speed even further than you have been travelling.

A couple of notes on that area - Halfway down the big descent is a pull off that will accommodate your vehicle. Have a break there and enjoy the view. Before you get to the descent there are three national parks campgrounds including - Mulligans Hut Campground. It has showers, the others only have dunnies. The comment about it being closed is three months old, things have changed since then, check with the NPrangers link on the page I linked to see if it has opened.

REBA · Member

Cheers-thanks for the feedback-very helpful

Bicyclecamper · Guru

Can verify all the above as I live in the region of the Gwydir hwy.

skinsy11 · Member

We are considering travelling Grafton to Glen Innes in the opposite direction, East to west. We have a Landcruiser 200 pulling 3200kgs. My concern I think is more about narrow roads and excessive bends, hairpins etc. Also are there a lot of logging trucks and other semi trailers? Planning this in about 10 days from now. Is there road works or other issues? Thanks

PeterD · Guru

The road is a full two lane bitumen road. I wish people would stop freaking out about the road. The big climb up the range is not particularly steep, it is mainly the slow bends that limit your speed up the hill. Most of the semitrailers you will encounter on the road are not logging trucks, they are general freight.

Regarding the roadworks, there is very little at present, the advice is to allow an extra five minutes. This site - Live traffic NEW, current - shows the current situation. This site changes frequently so I do not know how long the link will last. When things change, use this link - Live Traffic NSW.

skinsy11 · Member

Thanks PeterD for the clear view about the road and your forbearance....
The co-pilot gets a bit anxious, particularly with steep drop-offs. Also, after the tug motor almost 'conked out' won the last steep part of the Clyde Mountain some time ago, her anxiety levels are raised. I have since had a 'catch-can' installed in the turbo return and bier it catches most of the carbon particulate that was clogging up the return manifold to the turbo (or whatever).
Thanks again.