Staggs/Sales Lake Track

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Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Tasallan » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 3:13 pm

It has been two years since I drove up Bessells Road to the start of Staggs/Sales Lake track - the road then was pretty bad but my Forester coped OK. Has anyone driven up there recently and can advise me of the road/condition. It is a lovely walk and one of my favourite plateau's on the GWT.
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby billshep » Thu 05 Feb, 2015 10:19 pm

When I went up there last year - in a Forester!- there was one bridge/culvert which was dodgy. The upper part of Bessell's Road was in good order. We did some taping of the tracks. Yes its a lovely spot.
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Lones » Thu 19 Feb, 2015 9:39 pm

Evening - I'm interested in doing this walk - how easy or otherwise is it to find the start of the track? And am I right in thinking it takes about an hour to the plateau?? Is it possible to camp at the top? Thankyou! :)
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Tasallan » Fri 20 Feb, 2015 6:43 pm

Great walk and I want to return but had doubts about Bessells Road but Bill's post above has cleared that up. I have been up via Staggs Track, wandered around the beautiful plateau and back down tha same way - 5.8KM return and about 4 hours. The next time we went up Staggs Track and down Johnson's Track - this was about 6.26KM and once again 4 hours. The start of the track is at the end of Bessells Road, 41:44.45'6S 146"36.03"2E. You would find a suitable spot to camp, plenty of crystal clear water to drink. If you want GPX tracks email me.
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Lones » Sun 05 Apr, 2015 7:43 pm

So we finally tried do Staggs Track this afternoon - drove along Meander Falls Road, veered left to continue on that road... no bridge over the river :( Couldn't get across at all :( Now that we've looked at PWS it appears there's an alternative route been opened but stuffed if we can find it, despite all our googling!!!! :(
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Tasallan » Fri 10 Apr, 2015 1:17 pm

If you input these co-ordinates into you car GPS it will take you to the start of Staggs Track at the end of Bessells Road< 41'44'12.4S
146'35'21.6E. Also GPS of Staggs Track in GPX format. The Sales Lake plateau is just magnificent and my favourite plateau. If you get there please advise of the condition of Bessells Road - I would be taking a Forester up there again.
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Lones » Fri 10 Apr, 2015 2:05 pm

Thanks Tasallan but I don't have a GPS :/ Will definitely let you know if we get there though :)
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Tortoise » Sat 24 Sep, 2016 5:02 pm

An update on the Bessels Rd access to Sales Lake: this picture was taken 3 weeks ago - early Sept 2016.

While the 2 main bridges have been repaired for Meander Falls etc, unfortunately The Hole in Bessels Rd is now impassable by normal people in vehicles. Will update if it changes, but I'm not holding my breath. :(
See http://natureloverswalks.blogspot.com.au for location of the hole.
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Tasallan » Mon 26 Sep, 2016 9:27 am

Thanks for the update - this is the spot that concerned me, sadly the wonderful Sales Lake area is now off the walks list.
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby pazzar » Thu 27 Oct, 2016 9:44 am

How far from the start of the track is this hole? I was hoping to use this one for access for some fieldwork this summer. I might have to use Dixon's or Warners Track instead.
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Tortoise » Thu 27 Oct, 2016 10:44 am

Hey Pazzar,

Check out http://natureloverswalks.blogspot.com.au/search?q=wild+dog+tier
with the spot marked on
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3ynJR8SCYEY/VwzOEn1yCyI/AAAAAAAAF6Y/OaF2XFjVI40oPol-DEF1xJN7gkPLseEIg/s1600/IMG_4053.jpg

While there were 2 spots with holes (mentioned in the above blog), i'm pretty sure it's the big one that's marked that is now impassable.
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Tortoise » Sat 30 Dec, 2017 3:42 pm

There is now a locked gate on Bessells Rd, down the bottom, just after Sales Rivulet. "Private Property No Access". Doesn't say whose it is, which makes getting a key difficult, even if it were possible. It may be something to do with not having to deal with the impassable hole further up.
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Crawfinator » Mon 15 Jan, 2018 1:40 pm

Some friends and i were looking at heading up Bessells rd in a couple of weeks. Any ideas if the lock was on bessells rd only or was it before the junction to dunning rd? looking at the map, it looks like you may be able to detour around the first bit of bessells rd near sales rivulet (via dunning rd)?

Likely to be forestry activity - it looks to be very freshly logged in there at the moment?

Hoping so and that it gets reopened...??
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Tortoise » Mon 15 Jan, 2018 3:05 pm

Crawfinator wrote:Some friends and i were looking at heading up Bessells rd in a couple of weeks. Any ideas if the lock was on bessells rd only or was it before the junction to dunning rd? looking at the map, it looks like you may be able to detour around the first bit of bessells rd near sales rivulet (via dunning rd)?

Likely to be forestry activity - it looks to be very freshly logged in there at the moment?

Hoping so and that it gets reopened...??

99.9% sure the locked gate on Bessells Rd was immediately after the bridge over Sales Rivulet, before the junction with Dunning rd. Shoulda taken a photo, given my forgetory. :roll: We stopped just before the bridge, and I went to check it out to make sure the locks were actually locked. (Actually, there may have been a sign earlier as well to suggest we may not be able to get through...)
Yep, I'm sure you're right about the logging.
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Tasallan » Mon 15 Jan, 2018 6:06 pm

Very disappointed, Sales Lake/Rivulet is one of my favourite plateau's and in my humble opinion one of the most beautiful. Guess I can take comfort in the facy that I have been to the area four times and remember it's beauty which others will now not be able to experience.
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Tortoise » Mon 15 Jan, 2018 7:50 pm

Tasallan wrote:Very disappointed, Sales Lake/Rivulet is one of my favourite plateau's and in my humble opinion one of the most beautiful. Guess I can take comfort in the facy that I have been to the area four times and remember it's beauty which others will now not be able to experience.

I agree - the rivulet up on the plateau was a place I planned to take some kids on their first overnighter. Beautiful spot. You can still get there - we ended up going up Dixons Track to Wild Dog Tier instead - but in practice I didn't bother going across to the Rivulet when there were so many other good options for camping. But it wouldn't work for the kids I have in mind. Maybe one day when they finish logging... But I don't think the hole in the road will ever get fixed, so there'd still be a road bash that would probably exclude it as an option anyway. Glad a couple of 'my' kids got to see it on a day walk.
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Crawfinator » Tue 16 Jan, 2018 8:28 am

We were planning wild dog tier too, how long did it take you on Dixon's track? Looks just over 9 km's? Maybe not the right forum for requesting this info?
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Tortoise » Tue 16 Jan, 2018 9:01 am

Crawfinator wrote:We were planning wild dog tier too, how long did it take you on Dixon's track? Looks just over 9 km's? Maybe not the right forum for requesting this info?

Bit hard to answer that one, because we decided we wanted a leisurely time and a night away, despite the fact that it's a day walk. Dixon's track is in good nick, except for the short section from the Meander Falls track to an old road that forms part of the track. (Just note the junction, as it would be easy to miss on the way back if you weren't thinking about it.) A lot of tree fall and overgrowth means you may need to look around a bit for the track. But the rest is easy to follow to the plateau. I remember being surprised how quickly we got there. A fisherman's cairned pad continues on towards a lake that's out of the way, so just leave that whenever you want to head over to Wild Dog Tier. It's easy off-track walking - plenty of options to avoid patches of scoparia etc, then low vegetation/rock. But I'd definitely want a GPS if the mist came in.
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby teak » Tue 16 Jan, 2018 10:53 am

I went for a drive today to check on access to Bessells road, the locked gate is still there on the bridge over Sales Rivulet. Listmap shows a large block of freehold land that starts before Sales Rivulet so I dont think you could get to the State Forest further up Bessells road without crossing the private land.
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Re: Staggs/Sales Lake Track

Postby Mowser » Tue 16 Jan, 2018 2:32 pm

teak wrote:I went for a drive today to check on access to Bessells road, the locked gate is still there on the bridge over Sales Rivulet. Listmap shows a large block of freehold land that starts before Sales Rivulet so I dont think you could get to the State Forest further up Bessells road without crossing the private land.

Thanks Teak! I was going to drive out there tomorrow for a look. You saved me the trip.
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