Craigs Hut and Mansfield state forest - 4WD Trip

21 Feb 2016

We arrived at Sheepyard Flat just after 4pm on Friday afternoon and decided to check out Frys Hut 3 km away while we waited for the others to arrive. We returned to Sheepyard Flat and started setting up camp. It wasn't long before Mark arrived, followed shortly by Kevin and Chris. We went for a drive and collected firewood and soon had a cracking fire blazing away. Micheal arrived and we settled in for the night. It was a great campsite, nice open spaces, plenty of room and drop toilets.

Next morning Stuart and Ralph arrived about 8.30 so we aired down and set off on Brocks Road for about 36kms before turning off to look at Jamiesons Hut. Heading back along Brocks Road we then turned on to Cairns Creek Track. The track was easy to drive, just a bit narrow and rocky in some places. We then turned left on to Bluff Track, not realising that we actually had to turn right to see Lovick Hut. We decided to just keep travelling along Bluff Track and stop on top of Mt Lovick to admire the view. We reached Bluff Link Road, took a right and headed on to 16 Mile Jeep Track which was a slightly challenging drive for novices like myself. We stopped off at Pike Flat for lunch then continued on to Bindaree Hut. From there we travelled to Monument Track which was steep, rocky and challenging!

We soon arrived at Craig's Hut, then continued on to King Hut along King Basin Road. Blacklanding Road took us into Pineapple Flat, our campground for the night. The site wasn't as good as I had been told and there was discussion over whether to stay or drive back to King Hut but we decided to stay. I had a refreshing dip in the river, the fire was cranking once again and we settled in for the night. Sunday morning we took off about 10am along Blacklanding Road to Circuit Road then on to Mt Stirling Road and aired up at Mirimbah.

We ran out of time so we unfortunately didn't get to travel to Mt Cobbler and do the staircase but I really enjoyed my first trip as leader. The best tracks were 16 Mile Jeep and Monument, the views along the whole trip were to die for! If anybody would like any more information regarding the tracks, feel free to ask.

I can't work out how to upload photos in this report so I will put them on the the trip in the trip section (Craigs hut Bindaree falls explore)

Andrew & Jo

Dennis (bigden)

21 Feb 2016

Sound like a great trip, I will check out your pics in the other section. I would of liked to join this one but there is just so much going on and so little time

Kevin (riordak_ranger)

22 Feb 2016

Thanks Andrew & Jo Christopher and I had a great time. Woke up sore this morning I think Monument took it out of me ...lol Nice pics Jo, hope to catch you both on the tracks again soon. Was good to catch up with Mark and Michael again will look through my video footage for some good video.

Big Kev

()

22 Feb 2016

Well done Andrew on running your first trip! So many worry way too much about being trip leader, but it really wasn't that hard after all. The tracks had a good mix of scenery and rocky stuff. We all had a great time. Great to catch up with everyone.

()

22 Feb 2016

Thanks for the trip report,sounds like you all had a great trip.cheers garry

Kevin (riordak_ranger)

22 Feb 2016

https://youtu.be/kmngU5xkEO4

()

22 Feb 2016

Kevin (riordak_ranger) wrote:

https://youtu.be/kmngU5xkEO4

It shows video is private.

()

22 Feb 2016

Retarded Artillery trait, c'mon string puller fix it up!

Andrew (whipit)

22 Feb 2016

Dennis (bigden) wrote:

Sound like a great trip, I will check out your pics in the other section. I would of liked to join this one but there is just so much going on and so little time

could spend a week up there... work gets in the way of fun

Andrew (whipit)

22 Feb 2016

Kevin (riordak_ranger) wrote:

your welcome Big Kev thank you guys for making it enjoyable

Andrew (whipit)

22 Feb 2016

() wrote:

Thanks for the trip report,sounds like you all had a great trip.cheers garry

Was a great trip Gary, we ran out of time a didn't get to do all the planed tracks but the ones we did were fun

()

22 Feb 2016

Andrew (whipit) wrote:

Was a great trip Gary, we ran out of time a didn't get to do all the planed tracks but the ones we did were fun

Yeah lots to see and do,sorry you didn't like pineapple flat. looked like you had a beaut day for photos at Craig's hut. Cheers garry

Andrew (whipit)

22 Feb 2016

() wrote:

Yeah lots to see and do,sorry you didn't like pineapple flat. looked like you had a beaut day for photos at Craig's hut. Cheers garry

All the good spots were taken but we squeezed in, I have a mate who loves the place and they take the kids there allot when we drove past King hut there was only one lot camped there and lot more open space in hindsight we would have had more space camping camping there but if you got a good spot and have kids Pineapple flat properly better I did like the swimming hole tho

()

22 Feb 2016

() wrote:

Yeah lots to see and do,sorry you didn't like pineapple flat. looked like you had a beaut day for photos at Craig's hut. Cheers garry

Hey gary, I think the main opposition to pinapple flat came from me, we couldn't find a site which didn't have gum trees hanging above us.

If the DSE thinned the trees out a bit above the camp sites it would be fine, it was quite busy when we got there also, hence the idea to go back to king hut which was quiet, but we still had a great night regardless, and no gum tree fell on my tent.

Allan (allanmac)

22 Feb 2016

Great report Andrew and congrats on running your 1st trip..... Great area you visited and like you, dont think too much of Pineapple Flat. How busy was Craigs Hut when you got there?