Mt Donaldson Circuit
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 14.77 mi
- Elevation gain
- 2,392 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Difficult
- Elevation loss
- 2,392 ft
- Max elevation
- 3,424 ft
- TrailRank
-
53
3.7
- Min elevation
- 3,424 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Time
- one day 2 hours 46 minutes
- Coordinates
- 2463
- Uploaded
- June 9, 2013
- Recorded
- April 2013
near Mingoola, Queensland (Australia)
Viewed 3192 times, downloaded 95 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
I class this as difficult due to the duration and the scrambling down or around waterfalls.
We headed up the Severn River from the campsite & crossed the river a number of times to avoid scrambling steeper sections of the bank. After leaving the Severn for Mt Donaldson Ck, we encountered a number of relatively easily assailed waterfalls. At the top one of the waterfalls, we beared off South following a small creek rather than continuing East (see “other option” track). Once discovering our wrong turn, it was a fair bit of pushing through scrub to get back onto our planned route. The drop from Mt Donaldson to McAllister is a steady descent escape for a number of small waterfalls to slide down. Once on the McAllister, there are a number of good spots to stop but we kept trudging on to reach a site I had camped at previously.
The second day was quiet short due to the Km we had travelled the day before. There are two waterfalls which you need to pass. Both times we chose to scale the left bank (southern side) to bypass the waterfalls.
A great rugged countryside.
We headed up the Severn River from the campsite & crossed the river a number of times to avoid scrambling steeper sections of the bank. After leaving the Severn for Mt Donaldson Ck, we encountered a number of relatively easily assailed waterfalls. At the top one of the waterfalls, we beared off South following a small creek rather than continuing East (see “other option” track). Once discovering our wrong turn, it was a fair bit of pushing through scrub to get back onto our planned route. The drop from Mt Donaldson to McAllister is a steady descent escape for a number of small waterfalls to slide down. Once on the McAllister, there are a number of good spots to stop but we kept trudging on to reach a site I had camped at previously.
The second day was quiet short due to the Km we had travelled the day before. There are two waterfalls which you need to pass. Both times we chose to scale the left bank (southern side) to bypass the waterfalls.
A great rugged countryside.
Waypoints
Waypoint
1,370 ft
Broadwater campground
Broadwater campground
Waypoint
2,136 ft
Gr8 Campsite
Gr8 Campsite
Waypoint
3,333 ft
Mt Donaldson
Mt Donaldson
Comments (9)
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"other option' didn't get uploaded with the submitted .gpb
PM me for more details
Well this was AWESOME! Followed the circuit with Gaby, Mikey, Nick and Karen. Awesome water crossings. Beautiful Creek rock hopping. Stayed at the campsite before the one on the gpx which was magic.
I have followed this trail View more
Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Very difficult
Sorry, but this trail is not 'Difficult'. We were underprepared as you failed to mention the entire trail was bush bashing and unsigned. It took us 8 hours of walking to reach the summit and by that time we could not begin the descent.
Icing on the cake was that I severely broke my ankle while descending the third waterfall we passed and had to be airlifted out after a night on the mountain. By the definition of the emergency services 'if would have been more dangerous to trek in to get me with a stretcher'.
This trail is 'Very difficult' in it's current state or at least deserves some more explanation of what's required of the hiker as well as an adequate description of the risky navigation around the waterfalls and the looseness of the rocks.
I must commend you on your trail though. The GPS trail you provided was enough of a trail that I was never lost.
I'm sorry to hear about your accident Ceerig :(
I have followed this trail View more
Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Very difficult
Just a heads up for anyone else looking at doing this: the scrambles are no joke - if you slip and don't stop you'll go over the edge of a cliff. There are only three of these, but they're at the edge of what I would do without a rope. I would not do this if it was raining or had been raining, too risky imo. The worst is about halfway back heading towards the severn river, I have no idea where Shawn went here to me it looked like going down a vertical cliff, I ended up scoping it out with a drone and stuck to the left cliff, and it was ok. There are heaps of stinging trees in the valley at that part as well btw.
The GPX is good, there's a few places where you can take easier/shorter routes, but it's way way easier to have this loaded than not to have it.
We found water all the way up to the fork of mcalisters creek, so don't worry about bringing heaps for the start. You'll need 4-5L to get to mt donaldson and then down to the Severn.
Total time for us was 13 hours, there's heaps of dead wood around so don't bother bringing a stove. Don't do this with anyone who's not capable, would be a nightmare negotiating the scrambles with someone not confident with heights.
Hey Shawn. Looking forward to navigating this trail on the weekend. We are pretty experienced with overnight hikes and sketchy/scrambling terrain.
Quick question: what was your approximate pack weight for this? We are just considering the waterfall scrambles and efficiency. Cheers in advance!
Was awhile ago...but I mostly hiked with about 12-14kg
Shawn
Thanks Shawn. Good to have an -ish.
No worries. I won’t hold a several year old report against the good intentioned author 😉
Hey Shawn - I'm considering doing this one in reverse to get the longer leg done on day 1 - forsee any issues with this?