Leichhardt Creek
Discover Leichhardt Creek near Charters Towers, a rugged 1978 bushwalk through gorges, rock bars, and boulders after heavy rain. With cattle pads, flowing water, and scenic rock formations, this hidden North Queensland adventure promises rewarding hiking and potential for a two-day trek.
Sunday 2 Apr 78
Very heavy rain on the previous day and the still heavy overcast sky on the Sunday reduced the no of walkers to 6. Don Mermier, Will Thurston, Bob Ingerson, Mark Richardson, Wolfgang - myself. Permission had been granted by Col Clements, the owner of "Charlesford" Station and the vehicle was left at the house. Refer to plan.
We commenced walking at 0915 and crossed onto the northern side of Leichhardt Ck only a few hundred metres upstream of the house. This side provided easier walking on cattle pads which were often obscured by very high grass (+ grass seeds). no broken country was encountered and the pads lead right into the creek as the hills close in, about half an hours walking from the house.
We travelled up the gorge for approx 1 mile over rock with some solid rock bars & large boulders. The side ridges contain many interesting rock faces and large boulders. The water at this point was flowing over a solid rock bar with large boulders barring the way. Here we boiled up at 1130 and decided to leave our packs here & push on & return for lunch. We climbed over the spur constricting the creek line and found returning to the creek a little awkward and time consuming, especially for Don with one arm in plaster.
Therefore only Mark and Will pushed on & returned to the lunch site at 1545, to tell of continuing holes carved out of solid rock and the creek still going on through small gorge sections. We then returned without incident. no rain had fallen during the day.
With an early start, a hot day & low flow this would be a very interesting walk indeed, and could even be worthy of a two day walk.
Allan Watson
