Bushwalk Australia

We first descended into the Mann River valley by this route in the early 90s and over the years since then have explored all the valleys and ridges between Raspberry Lookout and Jackadgery, and south to the Old Grafton Road. The entire area is classed wilderness, although the land has been mined and was once cattle country. There are several disused mine shafts, most are filled in, some are not, so care should taken. Other than that, it is easy country to tramp. Open Eucalyptus forests, plenty of water,a variety of campsite, alas at times a stray cow may be spotted, as well as brumbies, bless them they keep the tracks open through pockets of invasive weeds.

If this finds interest, I will be encouraged to put up other routes in this area, including a long walk to a old gold mine that is peppered with equipment from the early 1900s. Parts of a stamper, rails, a brick smelter.

http://www.jackandjude.com/binder/walks/03_mann/walk03.htm

Definitely interested. I grew up in Glen Innes and did a bit of fishing & camping on the Mann as a kid, though always accessed it via the old Grafton Rd. Would love to explore the area on foot now that I'm "mature" & into hiking.

Very interested.

K.

Have you ever followed up Pine Ck? Or there is another just can't think of it? Chalmers? Not sure?

K

Sorry for the late reply, have been sail around Aus since I first posted, and as you'd expect, completely different mindset.

I see we detailed the access from the Hwy from Raspberry lookout.
http://jackandjude.com/log/four-days-dhyana/
Years ago we had a campsite there to leave vechicles, nowadays, Boundary Creek down the road will do, although we leave our old clinker at the lookout for up to a week, with a note. http://jackandjude.com/log/four-days-dhyana/

I see we did a 4 night 5 day walk in the same valley, which will take you to the Mann River.
http://jackandjude.com/log/tranquility/

There is a forestry road, Narala Road probably best with 4WD, high clearance essential, that takes you within a few hours of the River. Just do not go down the narrow last bit to the locked gate, no way to turn around.

Not shown in the above webpage, we've walked the Raspberry down the Corradoral to the Mann, then to the Nymbodia and out to Jackadgery in about a week. The gold mine is at Cherry Tree Creek. Easy walking just lots of it. Lovely place.

Over the hill into the Wellington is worth another outing. Up heartbreak hill, (forestry track) and off at the top to descend into Wellington. There's a 4WD track along the ridgetop making it faster coming back. I'm back at homebase for the Tassie winter, so if you need more info, just email. BTW Winter is best for these walks. No ticks, no snakes. No other people ever.

Wow this just jumped to the top of my to-do list! Gibraltar Range has always been one of my favourite areas but I'd never really thought about dropping down from Raspberry lookout like that. Thank you for the inspiration.

Yeah there's lots of great walking in the Mann basin. Another would be down Narala road to near locked gate then 3 hours to Mann River, turn upstream, on south bank was a small holding years back, fair bit of fencing, old foundations. on the north hill side are a few old diggings, there's a camp of sorts at the confluence with the Barool, and we have either exited via the ridge forming at the the confluence, or we've also walked upstream of the Barool for a day then climbed out to Narala road. I remember once we walked from raspberry down the Corradoral to the Mann, to the Barool then up and down back into the Corradoral. Lovely week. Hope that helps. Clear and sunny here, and cold

Jack, what ever you are doing; Thank you. I think you just solved one week of what to do on the school holidays. This looks ideal for the family, and a nice way to spend the xmas break.

newhue wrote:Jack, what ever you are doing; Thank you. I think you just solved one week of what to do on the school holidays. This looks ideal for the family, and a nice way to spend the xmas break.

Wonder how that went? And tell us the condition of Narala Road, it had a fair bit of rain before the holidays. Thanks.
We took three of our gkids camping at the beach. Made them walk from our backdoor over a forested sand hill to the beach, 4 km one way carrying little packs with their clothes and small sleeping bag.
A month ago we tramped the high country of the Gibralter Ranges inlandof Grafton. Totally different walk than the river valleys.
A full photo presentation here
https://plus.google.com/photos/+CapnJac ... 9-v50NLyXw

How nice.
I camped up Gibraltar/Washpool over one summer to try and avoid the heat once. Kind of worked but the creek was pretty small and when it's hot, its hot. Still it's a nice place but have not done much there.
I'd imagine the same would be for the Mann River, but we can spend the day following the creek and enjoying the water holes. Bush fires may be something I need to keep a sniff out for, but think the kids can easily knock over a stroll down a ridge.

Hi cap_jack, reading your post with interest. I'm planning a walk from Raspberry lookout, down to the Mann river and then follow it to Jackadgery. I live in Jackadgery myself and have always wanted to try this. I'd appreciate as much info on the route as possible. Unfortunately I cannot PM you as I just joined this group after reading your post. Cheers Michael

I'd be thinking of starting in Jackagerry, leave the car at the caravan park and walk the west bank keeping off the farmers property best you can. You can reach the confluence with the Mann in a day, or camp at the falls if you want to take it slow. There's a track of sorts from the falls to the Mann, the old post route. Good camp at the confluence. leave via the north bank, i recall taking the higher ground at the beginning, there's a track there too. Used to be a formed track to Cherry Tree Ck. Of course there will be tree fall. Camp either side at Cherry tree. If the river is down cross and camp next to Cherry Tree and wander up it to see the old gold mine equip and chimney. From there to the Raspberry, either bank on the Mann, we usually cross several times to gain the easiest shore to walk. There are good camps everywhere. one is at the confluence with Corraldooral, where there's an abandoned homestead, wild lemons in the field. Up the Corraldooral there's a camp just past where it joins the Boulder. you can exit from there, straight up the ridge, big day. Or you can toddle further up to where in meets the Raspberry. There are a couple of ridges to take out from there. this map shows ways out.
http://www.jackandjude.com/binder/walks ... annmap.htm

I hitchike a ride down the hill to the caravan park. Hope that helps - tell us how it went. The farmer isn't too happy with tourist leaving his gates open so be an idea to respect his land.

Thanks for the reply, I know the farmers there and the caravan park owner as well. Getting permission won't be a problem. Unfortunately my fitness is not exactly as it should, so I think the downhill trek would be a good place to start. I'm interested in exploring the gold diggings along the mann and just enjoying the solitude.

To each their own, I find going up hill easier than down which is harder on my knees. Going down from Raspberry, plot a GPS position for the ridge into Raspberry, it's a bugger to find the right ridge as it's very steep at the start so I plot a point a little ways down to head for. There's a beaut camp on the SW hillside near the confluence. If you go all the way down the ridge to Boulder, get an early start as it's a fair way. But as you say all down hill, you just have to find the right way and of course there's no track.

Sorry, posted this in incorrect thread

We did a bit of web work over the weekend and created a few pages on walks we've completed in and around the Mann River area. Some have videos, all have photos. So if you wish to whet your lust for the great outdoors in an easy, pleasant area, drop in on our web page for the links.
https://jackandjude.com/trekking/

Be pleased to hear your thoughts.

PS: we'll be adding a few more walks in Tasmanian.

Trip reports always appreciated...Thanks for sharing, Jack&Jude.