A disappointment free zone
Disappointment for me, at least in an off-roading sense, is something that is seldom felt. Each adventure great or small has provided some level of enjoyment. Sometimes for no other reason than the opportunity to be out on the trails with a mate or two. Having said this, every so often an exploratory trip will underwhelm. It’s not that excitement is directly proportional to the amount of times the winch is called upon or the frequency of wheel lifts over the course of a day but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t at least a slither of expectation of a challenge or two on any given trip.
Every so often the short lever stays locked firmly in the 2H position no matter how hard one wills the track to be something other than flat and firm. Opinion on 4×4 parks can be galvanising but say what you will, if you long for challenging four wheel drive tracks and have neither the time nor inclination to find them for yourself, these venues are the place to head. One such place right on Brisbane’s doorstep is Swan Gully 4×4, Camping and Adventure Park.
Getting amongst it
”Doorstep” is absolutely the operative word here. A short 80km hop sees you there in just over an hour – ideal if you are looking to kill time on any given Saturday or Sunday.
The boys were keen to make a weekend of it to maximise time on the tracks and for the obligatory whiskey around the campfire, something very hard to argue against! If the park map and directions look familiar to you it is because Swan Gully Park existed (partly) in a previous form as City View 4×4 Park. There is some overlapping of property boundaries and a couple of the tracks are common but by and large Swan Gully is a new adventure.
The park itself is not overly large but large enough to require a solid few days to explore each and every track. An overnight stay will set you back $60 which covers your camping and driving fees. There are amenities located in the formal camp zone at the front of the property and the usual rule of take out what you take in applies at Swan Gully as with most other venues whether public or private. You will want to take your own water with you but wood for camp fires can be scavenged from around the park.
There is the usual array of easy, medium and difficult rated tracks and whether by accident or design it is possible to follow the boundary fence in its’ entirety, “touring style”, without hitting anything more than a medium graded track. Being tucked in the famous Granite Belt area of south-east Queensland, the topography at Swan Gully Park is a highlight with many panoramic views both east and west providing a feature. Armed with a particularly good map of the park (complete with gradients!) we set about a general circumnavigation with no real expectation of being anywhere at any particular time.
There is a main camping zone towards the front of the Swan Gully Park, while the opportunity to camp anywhere of your choosing took the pressure out of having to be back in time to make camp.
The terrain is generally loose over hard with rockier sections more prevalent towards the top of the climbs and bottom of the descents. The easy to medium grade tracks throw up enough technical challenges to require spotters outside of the vehicles and some careful selection of lines but without any real or perceived risk of damaging your truck. I might be on my own with this opinion though as a couple of the boys managed to put their trucks on some pretty good angles over the course of the day.
We spent the morning working our way up to the top of a ridgeline with a beaut north-westerly aspect that served as a perfect spot for lunch before making our way down into the corresponding valley (complete with dry creek bed) in the afternoon. “Touring style” only cuts it for so long with Wrangler drivers before the yearn for something a little more serious becomes too great to ignore!
We happened upon an interesting little area where a couple of lads had just finished “practising” with their comp spec truck and pointed Wrangler Pete in the direction of a couple of heavily eroded tracks criss-crossing the dry creek bed. Being a Rubicon spec it was amazing to watch the ease at which this thing takes on obstacles that would stop most other reputable rigs in their tracks.
Sure it lifts wheels here and there as the live axles find their limits but forward momentum is never in dispute with front and rear diff locks combining perfectly. It is the type of display that has one wondering whether they could afford a 2nd rig in the garage for just such an occasion!
Possibly even more commendable was the effort of Ed in the Prado. Having recently completed a trip to the High Country with Ed I thought I had a fair understanding of the capability of his truck beyond that of his heated leather seats and multitude of cup holders! While not quite as effortless as the Wrangler, Ed piloted the Prado successfully through each of the same creek bed obstacles as Pete had done moments before…if only they built soccer club driveways like this he says!
These days there seems to be a stigma attached to 4×4 parks that they attract a certain type of patron and that damage to one’s daily driver is a matter of when and not if but I don’t necessarily subscribe to these theories. This particular weekend at Swan Gully Parkwe didn’t happen upon another vehicle until well into Saturday afternoon and by sunset, a safe and satisfying day was had working with familiar faces to successfully conquer some unfamiliar tracks.
Our evening was spent nestled on the side of an isolated east facing ridgeline in the park proper. In the quiet of night, and under a starry sky it might well have been one of the most isolated places I have camped…adventure is what you make it.
