Hattah ~ Kulkyne Drive, Hattah ~ Kulkyne National Park - September 2018

Late afternoon on the Murray River at Jinkers Bend.

This post is one of those rare Goin’ Feral posts that actually doesn’t feature any real walking, so if walking is your thing then maybe this post won’t be for you. For me however I like a little variety, I don’t necessarily just want to put out a bushwalking blog, sure there is a predominance of walks on my blog, but I think of it as a travel blog that occasionally veers a bit erratically into social commentary really. So anyway enough waffling on, this is my attempt to write up a road trip that Sam and I took through and around Hattah-Kulkyne National Park.

We started this drive in the thriving metropolis of Hattah.

Our days drive started off at the tiny town of Hattah, there is really nothing here but a servo that also doubles as a general store, but it’s as big as you get for kilometres around here. Juggling a luke warm pie I reset the GPS and set off towards the Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. Rowing through the gears with the country flashing by while I sat in a comfortable seat slowly covering myself in pastry crumbs, I was thinking that this touring stuff was pretty flash compared to walking. Entering the park off Hattah - Robinvale Road we first up headed towards the visitor centre before turning right onto the great little Hattah Nature Drive.

Juggling a pie in one hand while the scenery flashed by, this 4wd touring is a hard caper!

Starting the loop section of the Hattah Nature Drive.

The Hattah Nature Drive is only pretty short, but it’s a nice little drive to potter around, with Hattah Lake shimmering in the afternoon sunlight and plenty of Kangaroos and Emus around it feels like you are very remote out here, actually remoteness is a feeling that you get in most spots in this park. While the Hattah Nature Drive is a dirt road it is fine for 2wd cars I always find it more relaxing touring these dirt roads in a 4wd though. After stopping to check out Lake Hattah we continued around as the drive passed close by Lake Bulla and then Lake Arawak, once again both lakes had water in them on this visit. After stopping to check out the old Canoe Tree (the Jarijari Aboriginal People lived here before European settlement forced them out) we headed back to the visitor centre and headed off along Mournpall Track.

Hattah Nature Drive.

Lake Bulla

There is no shortage of native wildlife up here, although sometimes photographing them from a moving vehicle can be a bit of a challenge.

Hattah Nature Drive.

The Canoe Tree beside Lake Hattah.

Lake Hattah

Mournpall Track roughly dissects the park in a north south direction and allows relatively easy access to most of the popular spots. After rescuing a Shingle Back Lizard and moving it off the track, we continued along the Mournpall Track towards Lake Mournpall on it’s roller coaster journey, the gravel track crossing quite a few dunes along the way. After a quick stop at lake Mournpall we continued making our way generally northwards, passing through the Kangaroo Fence we stopped to check out our last lake, Lake Woterap.

Old mate Mr Shingleback was kicking back in the middle of Mournpall Track.

Crikey....

I'm still picking the bindis out of my feet!

I'm a bit soft at heart really.....just don't tell anyone.

Mournpall Track dissects the park in a roughly north-south direction.

Mournpall Track crosses a few dunes.

Lake Mournpall

Passing through the Kangaroo Fence on Mournpall Track.

Lake Woterap

After leaving Lake Woterap we continued up Mournpall Track for a few kilometres before turning east along the lesser Raak Track. This track is a little rougher than Mournpall Track had been but it’s a nice drive, after a couple of kilometres it drops onto the dry bed of Chalka Creek and follows it along, at the same time a big red dune crowds in from the west. Chalka Creek is the creek that floods the Hattah Lake system when the Murray River has a big enough flood, kind of like an anabranch of the Murray River. With the Murray not having flooded naturally for years due to excessive water extraction and the climate drying out, Chalka Creek now has water pumped into it artificially to keep the lakes alive. What that means through is that water doesn’t get to this northern outlet end of Chalka Creek very often, if ever..

Raak Track is a little more adventurous than Mournpall Track....but it's all pretty cruisey really, well so long as it's dry.

Raak Track

Heading onto the dry bed of Chalka Creek.

The short drive along Chalka Creek is excellent.

We were now heading for the River Track, this is a track that I know pretty well, although a multitude of formal and informal tracks branching of it towards the Murray River it’s always a little bit exploratory along here. River Track can be rough as guts too, depending on recent rain as well as when the grader last came through, in my experience the worst section for corrugation is normally the short section between Chalka Creek Track and the Hattah-Robinvale Road. After heading along River Track for around 15 kilometres, stopping occasionally to check out the meandering Murray River where River Track touched it, we headed to the left along lesser tracks to check out Jinkers Bend.

River Track

Where River Track touches the banks of the Murray River it's always worth stopping to check things out. 

The banks of the Murray River a littered with these shells which I'm thinking might be old indigenous middens (that is a Feral fact though!).

Firemans Bend and Jinkers Bend are both within the boundary of the national park so there are a few more restrictions camping here, especially when it comes to animals, guns and generators and perhaps consequently they are the best spots to bush camp on this section of the Murray River I reckon. If you need less restrictions then there are also many great spots up and down the river in the adjoining Murray-Kulkyne State Park. It’s a little hard to describe the route around Firemans and Jinkers Bends as there are so many tracks weaving in and out of the scrub, I generally stay on what look like they are the more major tracks and stay fairly close to the river, if I do that them inevitably I’ll eventually pop back out onto River Track at some stage.

Firemans Bend, it was around now that I was thinking that we should of stayed out here rather than in our flash accommodation in Mildura.

The tracks around Firemans and Jinkers Bends are a little rougher and more informal.

Heading back out onto the River Track from Jinkers Bend.

After checking out Firemans Bend we headed south for a short stretch and then headed bush again to explore Jinkers Bend, I’m looking at dropping a water stash out here soon for a three day walk, so I was keen to check out any likely looking spots. With the Murray River languidly flowing by and some nice beaches, all lit up in a golden late afternoon light, I was thinking that maybe we should of stayed out here tonight instead of heading to our accommodation in Mildura.

Jinkers Bend

After exploring the tracks around Jinkers Bend we popped back out onto River Track again and headed to a spot called Messangers, this is the spot where Chalka Creek leaves the Murray River (the inlet of the lakes, if you know what I mean). Last time I was out here was around 10 years ago and water was being pumped from the Murray River over sand bags that were creating a dam in Chalka Creek. Things are a little different now though with some massive pumps bedside the Murray River and Chalka Creek with it’s own regulator in it to stop the water flowing back into the Murray River.

The new (well, it was new for me anyway) pumping station at Messangers.

Chalka Creek now has a substantial bridge with a regulator. The Murray water is pumped into Chalka Creek to flow into the lakes, the regulator stops it flowing back into the Murray.

Leaving Messangers we once again headed along River Track, like I said early this can be the roughest section of River track and today was no exception. River Track heads through some red sand dunes that run almost down to the Murray River and the corrugations are fairly teeth rattling, although thankfully it’s all over pretty quickly. Reaching the small cairn that is a memorial to the old Gayfield State School we turned onto the sealed Hattah - Robinvale Road and cruised back to the servo in Hattah.

Between Messangers and the Hattah - Robinvale Road the River Track can get a little rough and corrugated.

The Dirt.
We drove around 86 kilometres on today’s drive. I use Meridian Map’s Hattah - Kulkyne Map when up here normally although today I made do with a Hema Road Atlas along with my Sat Nav. This little drive possibly could be done in a conventional car if the tracks are bone dry but you’ll be more comfortable in 4wd, even if it’s only a soft roader. The camping around the Hattah Lakes area has to be pre booked but along the Murray River things are a lot more relaxed and is free. Hattah - Kulkyne National Park is a great spot to explore a bit, it all feels fairly remote but really you are never too far from civilisation, the tracks are all fairly easy if they are dry but are still fun to drive and navigation is all pretty straightforward, only the informal tracks along the Murray River can get a bit vague but with the Murray River on one side and River Track on the other side your not going to get lost along this section.

Relevant Posts.
Hattah Lakes Circuit, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, 2018.
Lake Mournpall Circuit, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, 2017.
Warepil Lookout Circuit, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, 2017.

Late afternoon in the Mallee, heading back to Hattah along the Hattah - Robinvale Road.

Our little drive finished up back at Hattah.