Mount Remarkable National Park — Attraction in Melrose

Great Park, did a multi-day loop around here in September 2023. First time in this park. Have visited before and always love it. It was a bit of an unconventional route due to the closure of Mambray Creek for renovations; we started at Alligator Gorge carpark, hiked west and up to Battery Ridge and camped at Stringers. The next day we hiked south and through Hidden Gorge, around to Kingfisher Flat, then back to the car park on the third day. We had a lovely time, but we chose to carry enough water for three days. This made our packs almost unbearable for the first day, and we actually couldn't make it to Stringers before dark hit and camped under the shade structure at the top of Frick's Track. Luckily, though, as the next tank with water was at Kingfisher Flat, confirmed by a chat with some rangers on our first morning camping. They weren't happy about us camping there, even though we had a booking, reasonable explanation, camped in an area that is already disturbed and left no trace. In fact, it was an incredibly uncomfortable and hostile experience. They wore body cams, for whatever reason, which matched their misplaced demeanor and attitude resembling police officers, I suppose. One didn't even speak. It was, frankly, a little unprofessional, but I can sympathise as i'm sure many people do abuse the park and make the role frustrating.

Anyway, it would be nice if the tanks were kept full, given this was not long after winter it would seem they don't fill up sufficiently naturally - at least the one at the top of Frick's Track didn't. If we hadn't carried water we would've been up a different kind of creek (of course, you should also call ahead and ask, which we forgot to do, hence carrying water to be safe), but probably would've made it to Stringers at least! Otherwise though it was great and I will likely do the standard longer...

The campground at Mambray Creek is being constantly upgraded and improved by the National Parks staff. In peak periods, the campgrounds are monitored by a volunteer camp-host. We stayed over the Easter weekend and on the Saturday afternoon, the staff organised an Easter basket making activity for the children. All in all, a great time can be had by everyone, whether you are an avid bush Walker, or just want to kick back and put your feet up. Facilities include solar hot water showers and toilet blocks, barbeque areas, open fire pits for cooking and comfort. The walking trails are well marked and monitored. There are geocache locations throughout the site, but digital network connection is very sparse. Best to head back to the highway to get phone coverage. As usual, if you're not connected to Telstra, then you can forget about coverage, till you get to Pt Augusta...

I stayed at the Mambray Creek Campground on the south-east corner of Mt Remarkable National Park. From here I hiked the Hidden Gorge Loop Walk within My Remarkable National Park.

There were some great natural sights on this walk, such as views from the highest point of the hike towards the ocean and cliff faces within the gorge. The highlight was the animals seen on the hike though, which included multiple kangaroos, emus, a wallaby, and a snake.

I am not sure whether this is representative of the National Park as a whole, but the trail was very well marked with signs and clear visible track. For most of this hike there were no other people to be seen, but then closer to the campground it was quite active. I really look forward to exploring other parts of Mt Remarkable National Park...