Rivers , Roads and Views - Old Glen Innes Road

Hi there , todays venture was a round trip up into the mountains , from Grafton to Bald Knob ( near Glen Innes ) and back - with some spectacular side tracks !!
 We had read stories about the Old Glen Innes Road before , and today turned out to be the day we would experience it , and what a day it was - about 250 klm round trip . Starting in South Grafton , we headed out on the Gwydir Highway , turning left into Old Glen Innes Rd - it was a bitumen road for some of the way - 100klm / hr speed limit - we didn't feel comfortable doing 80klm / hr on a road with no signs and the width of one & a half cars - didn't seem to bother the locals , who just blasted their way down the middle of the road . Eventually the bitumen turned into gravel as we had expected, and the traffic disappeared , except for the odd car . We travelled along the road , slowing to avoid  covering a cyclist in dust , but he decided to speed up after we had passed - he would have inhaled a far bit of dust . We came to our 2nd river crossing for the day , ( 1st was the Clarence at Grafton ) , next was the Nymboida River . The remains of an old bridge were still to be seen - 2 steel pylons that were the only parts left of the original bridge that was washed away in a flood - the water was 4 feet over the hand rail .

 There was still quite a bit of water flowing today . Continuing on over the hill and round a few corners , the next river was The Boyd or Little River . The countryside was lush and green , even in amongst the gum trees .

   We followed the Boyd River for quite a while , there were calm patches and sets of rapids , also many places where people can camp - there were quite a few caravans & tents already there . The road took us to Dalmorton - and old gold mining town with a few old buildings still standing and various ruins around . The town was surveyed and streets and building lots all mapped out in the hope that the gold would continue to be found and the town would prosper . Apparently the gold was found in a quartz rock reef and was extremely hard to extract . There were roads going off to Guy Faulks National Park and another camping area or two .
 Not too far up the track was a road tunnel hacked out of the huge rock on the side of the river . It matched the road - one lane and not a lot of clearance on the sides or roof .

 After some more travelling at 40 kms / hr we started to leave the Boyd River and begin climbing out of that valley and into the next . There seemed to be more open space and a few scattered houses on farms - cattle grazing , and very healthy cattle they were too ! The next locality was Newton Boyd , again with only a few older houses - one that was obviously the old school house .

  Continuing on , winding our way through the hills & valleys we came across a sign to Tommy's Hill Lookout , so we decided to take it - it was only 4klm away , so shouldn't take long . We turn off the main road and start heading upwards , spoon drain after spoon drain , onwards and upwards - 600m higher in fact !! We engaged 4wd and shifted to low range , as the decomposed granite was a little slippery , the drops either side of the track were steep and didn't bear thinking about . We got to one section and had to have 3 goes to get up and over the spoon drain - it was a bit rutted out and rocky , but we made it over and kept going , the landcruiser was showing us just how good it could be , handling all that we through at it with consumate ease - it really was a delight to be driving up this track . We must of gone up & over at least 60 spoon drains to get to the top , with some steep rocky sections  as well . The landcruiser was so excited , it lifted the back wheels up and waved every time we went over a drain .

 We arrived at the top and walked to what we thought was the lookout - no guard rails and probably a 200m straight drop off the edge of the rocks - it made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up !!!!!

  

 Then we found the proper lookout about 10m below us and about 30m behind , that had fencing and guard rails , so we had lunch there . On our way back to the ute we came across a lizard that wasn't bothered by us at all , and stayed where it was until we had long gone .

 Back to the ute and back down the fire trail to the main road - Lyn had decided that it wasn't time for a driver change just yet , at least not until we had found some flatter roads . After about 30mins driving back down the 4klms , we met up with the original road - that would be one of the best tracks I have driven up and down - you couldn't get the smile off my face - what a day this was turning out to be !!!!!

  Before much longer we found ourselves climbing out of the valley up to higher ground , the road had been tarred to assist getting in & out in bad weather . There were creek crossings , tree ferns , bracken ferns and more beautiful gum trees .

 Next locality was Bald Knob , where we met the Gwydir Hwy again . We found one of the locals just wandering around looking for a feed .

 Heading back toward Grafton , there was a turn off for Boundary Falls picnic & camping area in another National Park - we have been past or in several today !! The walk down to the falls was all steps and and rails and was worth every one of them - you be the judge !

 Back to the road and onwards back to Grafton . We passed several B double cattle trailers - must have been sale day today - so we figured the road back down the mountain must be okay . We were over 1100m above sea level at the top of the mountain , but the temperature was only 17 degrees and quite pleasant . About half a kilometre down the road was Raspberry Lookout , so away we went again - all good this time , bitumen road and Lyn driving . The lookout was facing to the south and east and straight over the areas we had driven over & through today .

 We made our way down the mountain - it was 18klms of downhill and much easier than Macquarie Pass - with only 2 large hairpin turns . Further down , we met back up with the Mann River ( I forgot to mention that one earlier ) , and found it had grown substantially .

 We have seen several rivers today , and have seen them all flowing different directions as we drove past & alongside of them . We left at 9am and returned at 5:30 pm for a full days entertainment - and we are still smiling !!!

 Todays map link :-https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z3uwp0IUF5HE.kOGCE70nEq64