Condamine Gorge

Feb 21st 2016

The round trip to drive through Condamine Gorge from Kalbar was an easy 120km round trip; you are slowed just as much by the narrow winding roads of The Falls Drive, as they call it, as by the gravel road through the Gorge itself.  In fact the first part of The Head Road is quite quick on gravel except for the patches of potholes from recent rain.

Passing Lake Moogerah and climbing to Teviot Lookout we later discovered is a route we took when taking a long weekend break in the Scenic Rim in 2008, in fact we found some almost identical photos in our archives!  We remembered visting St Mary’s Falls but not the route we took.

The Condamine Gorge itself, or Coombara Gorge as it is correctly called, is only visible as a Gorge between cliffs as you approach, once inside the tree canopy you are unaware of the cliffs completely.  The fourteen crossings of the river were all running water except the last which has a culvert to keep the road open for local properties.  The crossings vary in roughness and depth but nothing more than about 30cm during our traverse.

Some of the highlights include the views approaching the Gorge as, once you are inside the tree canopy you are not aware of the cliff sides at all.

The views from the 14 crossings of the Condamine River are very different, as are the crossings themselves.

On the way back (via”the Falls Road”) the view from Carrs lookout allows an overview of the area known as “The Head”.

In Killarney a small park next to the bridge commemorates Australia’s longest river system.