Capertee to Sunny Corner

[Snowmann Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Snowmann]

Hi All
I was reading the 4WD treks Close to Sydney book and like to look of the Capertee to Sunny Corner trail. Either via the Turon National Park (rated moderate) or via Turon Gates and Windburndale Nature Reserve (rated easy). Has anyone travelled either of these routes lately? If yes, what is the condition of the trail and how deep are the creek crossings? Can a standard 150 Prado make the trek? (no lift, no lockers, no winch, no snorkle). Planning to go next Saturday 23rd June.
Regards
Mark

[Wazza2 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Wazza2]

We stayed on a property near there over new year's. Some beautiful country and great driving.

Still had my stock 120 then - including tyres. Plenty of sharp rocks in the area and we only lasted about 100m into a known gnarly section of track and then this happened



Glad we had assistance to secure the car via winch whilst we changed the tyre.

Turon River NP was an easy part of the drive but I was warned that a few of the mud holes along the river trail are pretty good at having cars stuck due to deep ruts.

We made some minor dents in the underside of the car but only minor. Well worth the trip.

I'll see if I can get you some up to date info re current conditions.
W

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Hey Snowman,

I went down to Turon NP via Capertee a couple months back and found that the tracks on the Capertee side are easy, you have nothing to worry about there.

However, due to heavy rain the night before, all the Turon river crossings were definitely impassible for a stock 4x4. I didn't even risk it with mine due to the current and the churned up river bed. The river does drop reasonablly quick though, so if there have been no major downfalls in recent days (weather forecast is good this week), the crossing heights should be okay, but definitely check/walk them if you have a stock vehicle. Without a snorkel, I'd be inclined to bring a tarp or wter bra to prevent water entering the front of your vehicle.

Unfortunately I didn't get to see the tracks south of the Turon which lead to Sunny Corner, but from what I've read they are easy/medium, with only one exception, an optional hill climb which is difficult (I think this is it: https://maps.google.com.au/?ll=-33.2...14795&t=h&z=17).

[Snowmann Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Snowmann]

Thanks for some feedback guys. Better to go and be careful than sit at home and watch TV. I think we can come from Capertee and can always get out via Portland if things look like getting a bit tough.
regards
Mark

[GH4wd Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close GH4wd]

Hi Mark,

it's a nice area through there; we've done a few trips in the past:

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...unny-Corner-SF

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...-Turon-NP-Area

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...-National-Park

The western side of Turon National Park was closed off some time ago due to the track following the river being washed away in the floods but I don't know if it's been repaired. Should be some info on the NP website or give them a ring.

On 2 trips we came in from Sunny Corner State Forest & headed north up to Turon NP, the other time we came in from Caperteee & headed south to Turon. Enjoy your trip

[Snowmann Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Snowmann]

hi everyone
Thanks for those who offered advice. We did our run yesterday, had fun and returned with little more than the occassional touch on sidesteps or underside. I note that I am pretty much obliged to write a brief report.

Two cars set off from the Capertee end, aired down at the entrance to the park.


First challenge was the steep, wet and muddy approaches and departures. Wet, steep mud being the natural predator of grandtreks.


Second challenge was the depth of the Turon River. No option than to put the waders on and walk accross. 4 different crossings and the depth was just under the 700mm safe wading depth for the cars. River gravel on the bed so we proceeded.

On the forth river crossing we met a group of motor cyclists - one of them had dropped their bike in the middle of the river and, for some reason the bike didn't want to start again. We offered to take a trip back to the start and pick up their bike trailer. Luck that I had forgetten to take the towball and tongue off.


Part 2 after lunch to follow.
Mark

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

http://myswag.org/forum/index.php?topic=23204

[GH4wd Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close GH4wd]

yes it's a nice area up there Mark; looks like the river is up a bit! Any more pics??

[Snowmann Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Snowmann]

Hi everyone
Part 2 of our day follows.
After lunch we headed up the Pinnacle fire trail, some rocky bits but nothing too serious



Some ruts, but the view from the top was cool.





We then descended via the Dark Corner fire trail then Blackbutt Mountain fire trail and out to Sunny Corner via the Daylight Creek road.
A few campers were going to brave the cold Saturday night. at least one of them had their fire stacked over 6 feet high ready for the cold night.

We pumped our tyres up once we hit the blacktop, bright sunshine but only 2 degrees.
Thanks once again to Glen and the others that offered some advice.
Glenn ... yes the river was flowing quite quickly. I am not sure how high it normally is.

Regards
Mark

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Thanks for the report!
The water levels were definitely lower compared to when I was there. I'll have to get back out there one day and see those big views.

[RnJ100 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close RnJ100]

Hi snowman, I am wondering did you use a gps to assist with your navigation on the different tracks. I have recently mounted my iPad into my landcruiser and wish to have a decent app with good topo detail. Perhaps someone else has some thoughts as to what is good.
And yes it's a beautiful area out there. We have been there a couple of times and travelled downstream from where you came onto the river from Capertee. There is a locked gate several km,s downstream and some awesome 4wdriving to get to it. Numerous river crossings, mostly with a gravel base, good trout fishing too. I haven,t done the tracks you did but they are on the bucket list.
Cheers Richard

[Snowmann Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Snowmann]

Hi Richard
Yes, we had a pair of Navman MY85XLTs. I have purchased the HEMA 4WD tracks maps from Navman, but the odd thing is that they didn't help here. Even the standard one showed the Pinnacle Fire Trail, Dark forest trail, blackbutt trail and Daylight creek trail. None of them showed the trail leading to the Diggings campsite or the trail from Diggings to the Woolshed flat campsite. Where they did help was when we missed a left turn that the "4WD tracks close to Sydney" book wanted us to take - we travelled much further along the Pinnacle fire trail. We stopped at an intersection and took GPS co-ordinates then looked at our Portland Topographical map and found our position. We plan to go back for a weekend once the weather gets warmer. Do some fishing and camp overnight. 4 degrees was all we got in the middle of the day.
Cheers
Mark