TEAR-OUT MAP #11

KALGOORLIE BLASTING MINING IS NOT THE ONLY THING TO DO IN THIS TOWN

This ride in the outback of WA will give you a good taste of rich red dirt. Base yourself in Kalgoorlie and enjoy this route and the little bit wilder outback nature, towns in this region have to offer.

KALGOORLIE

Kalgoorlie, now known as Kalgoorlie– Boulder after Kalgoorlie and Boulder joined, is a city in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. The town was founded in 1893 during the Yilgarn-Goldfields gold rush, and is located close to the so-called “Golden Mile”.

30,000 odd (occasionally very odd, ha ha) people live there, making it the largest outback city in the country. Anything and everything is available here. So stock up and enjoy.

ADELONG

Adelong or Adelong Station is a pastoral lease and sheep station located about 21 kilometres west of Menzies and 86 kilometres south west of Leonora.

The station adjoins Goongarrie National Park, which was also once a station that was taken up in 1924 but was never developed as it was too difficult to establish watering points. Adelong is currently owned and managed by the Menzies Aboriginal Corporation. Fuel is available in the nearby town of Menzies.

LEONORA

Leonora is the service centre for the mining, exploration and well established pastoral industry. Gwalia is a must see for the visitor as it has been restored to its original condition (as it was in the early 1900s) and boasts one of Australia’s finest museums.

Basic services are available here, including fuel.

LAVERTON

Named in 1900 after Dr Charles Laver, a keen prospector who rode his bicycle (!) from Coolgardie to the area, Laverton was a booming gold mining town with the reputation of being the wildest town in the west. These days, the town is home to Australia’s largest nickel mine at Murrin Murrin as well as the second largest gold producing mine at Sunrise Dam. It is also where the Great Western Road across to the NT starts.

This area is quite arid, with a mean annual rainfall of just 230 millimetres.

It is also quite warm, with daily max temperatures ranging from 17 °C to 36 °C. Again, basic services are available including fuel.

LAKE CAREY, RAESIDE, REBECCA

You will get to see a number of inland lakes throughout this trip. Probably the best one is Lake Rebecca, which when full, covers an area of around 98,000 hectares.

DISTANCE – 850KM OPTIONAL ROUTE – 575KM TOTAL – 1425KM

Road conditions – Visit www.ckb.wa.gov.au/Your-Council,-Your-City/ News-and-events/Road-conditions. aspx for the latest conditions. Note that this is not an easy ride, and you should be quite confident of your riding ability in the bush before you tackle it. But on the other hand it is very beautiful.

MAIN ROUTE

You are going to need good navigational skills to complete this route. Few, or just about none, of the roads are signposted, but if you take a GPS and detailed hard copy maps with you, you should be fine.

Head southwest out of Kalgoorie, around Coolgardie North Road head north up through Carbine and Credo towards Adelong.

Ride up around Lake Ballard to Mount Ida, past Lake Raeside and over to Leonora. From here go through Malcolm, Minara, Mount Margaret and into Laverton. Depending on how you’re going for time, I recommend staying overnight at Laverton. The caravan park’s number is 08 9031 1072, and there’s also a pub.

Out of Laverton head south past Lake Carey through Mt Celia, around the southern part of Lake Raeside and the northern part of Lake Rebecca and down to Gindalbie and back into Kalgoorlie.

OPTIONAL ROUTE

If you want to make this a much longer ride you can take the optional route.

Fill up in Menzies, near Adelong and head west past Lake Giles and Lake Barlee, turning north to Youanmi Downs and up towards Sandstone.

You can get fuel in Sandstone, and I highly recommend that you do.

Head south east out of Sandstone through Bulga Downs, Perrinvale Outcamp and Walling Rock to join back up to the main route. You might like to consider camping overnight in Menzies, the caravan park number is 08 2024 2702 and the pub is not especially recommended, before continuing on with the main route.

Series Navigation

<< HISTORYLONG TERMERS >>