Off road camper to Mitchell Falls?

by Tahni
(Denmark WA)

I have read a few things about the track to Mitchell Falls being unsuitable/a bit tough if towing, and was just wondering if any one had towed a camper up there? And thought it was worth it??

I have a good CUB offroad camper with leaf springs and shocks being towed by an 80 series cruiser with an extra lift and I have plenty of 4x4 experience and most importantly plenty of patience for a slow and rough trip!!

What do you think? Is it worth it? I will be traveling late May/early June this year 2010. Can't wait, we have two weeks just for the Gibb!! Great guide and web site.
Thanks for any tips!

Cheers
Tahni

Comments for Off road camper to Mitchell Falls?

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Feb 16, 2010
 Mitchell Falls worth it? It's a must!
by: Birgit

Hi Tahni,
Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it.

The Mitchell Falls are a must, especially that time of the year. But they certainly aren't a must for your trailer.

I am not a camper specialist, but from what I've read it seems the CUBs are not exactly the toughest campers out there.

The track to the Mitchell Falls can be average to shocking. Especially if it's bad to shocking it would be a very good idea to do what most people do: leave your trailer at the King Edward camp, not only to spare your trailer the trip but also out of consideration for other travellers. (It is the nicer camp anyway.)

You'll find out about current conditions (impossible to predict exactly) when you get closer, by talking to other travellers or from Drysdale.
Feb 16, 2010
 thanks
by: Tahni

Hi Birgit,

Thanks for your tips! by the sounds of things i think we will take the camper as far as King edward and camp there and explore from there also.

Awesome website and guides, heaps of info and very helpful. i cant wait for the day in May when we start driving north!

thanks again for tips.
cheers
Tahni
Feb 16, 2010
 King Edward River
by: Lance

Hi Tahni,

We were up there in July '09, we prefered to stay at King Edward River for 3 nights. The river is a great place to relax and swim. The next morning we headed off to Mitchell Falls which we left very early and got back by around 5pm. The road wasn't too bad as it just only got graded, but still took us about 2 or so hours. We were glad we didn't camp there as KE was a better place to camp.

Have a great trip, its fantastic country,

Lance
Feb 17, 2010
 Camper trailer
by: Parry

Hi Tahni,
I am pleased that i didn't tow our camper trailer up to the Mitchell Falls the road was rough, narrow in places and hard on tyres. Even if you are a careful driver the risk of some sort of failure was high.
There was a ranger camped on site at the King Edward camp (July 2005) and he suggested we leave our Camper trailer set up at the King Edward camp.
In hind sight it was definately much better to leave the Camper trailer set up and made Secure, well as best we could. It was a long day as well as drive up to the Falls i walked up and back from the falls while others took the chopper ride, which i'm told by our group, was great.

Start out early and you will enjoy the experience. The falls are beautiful, we had a swim and a bite to eat up at the top of the falls followed by a casual walk around to the other side of the falls to take advantage of spectacular views and lots of photographs.

We did tow our off road camper trailer up to Kalumburu, and to my suprise it snapped a lower shocker mount somewhere between the King Edward camp and Kalumburu. The road at that time was what i would consider medium > rough.
Feb 22, 2010
 cheers
by: Tahni

Thanks Lance and Parry for your info! much appreciated, I did plan for 3 nights up at the falls so i will stay at king edward river and check things out from there.
Do you think a day trip to port warrender is possible, i would really like to check out the area north of Kulumbaru. Is it worth it do you think?

cheers
Tahni

Mar 06, 2010
 Mitchell Falls - camper trailer
by: Lyn

Hi Tahni,

So good to see your post and the answers.

My hubby and I are off in May also, we leave at the end of the first week in May.

Very excited and plan to go from Perth via Kalgoorlie up to Alice Springs along the Great Central Road. We have 4 months and will spend as much time as possible in all these wonderful places we have read about in this fabulous guide and website! We will end up coming home down the coast of WA, but plann to spend most of our time exploring the Top End and the Kimberley.

We are planning to tow our Kimberley off road camper up to the Mitchell Falls also, so I am very pleased to find out more about it and listen to good advice. Sounds like leaving it and going up on 4WD only is the way to go!!!

Your excitement is fantastic and mirrors ours, perhaps we will meet up somewhere - maybe the Gibb River Road?

Hope your holiday is fantastic.

Thank you so much Birgit, we use your books and your website as our main guide. What a fab job you do.

Cheers
Lyn (Ross too)
Mar 06, 2010
by: Birgit

Thanks, Lyn :-)
Mar 08, 2010
 thanks
by: Tahni

Sounds great lynn, 4 months!! you will get see heaps!
We are leaving Mid May from the south coast of WA, and aiming to get to broome pretty quick, and then head to cape leveque for a week, then take the highway to Kununurra for the kimberly moon concert, before spending a few weeks on the Gibb. so keep an eye out for the 80 series and cub camper! will be on CH40.

enjoy your trip!

Cheers
Mar 08, 2010
 Great conversation
by: james and amber

We're taking the family through there in the last couple of weeks of May and really appreciate the advice. We got a black and silver Navara and towing a camper trailer. See you there.
Mar 08, 2010
 Mitchell Falls Rd
by: Craig

Hi Tahni,
Last dry season I completed the Gibb River rd and Mitchell falls journey. I also have an 80 series towing a trackabout camper. I would seriously recommend leaving your camper at the King Edward river camp ground as there is so much too see and do in this area.The Mitchell falls is a good trip to do in a day but be prepared as this rd is not maintained at all.My suggestion is too have a thorough look over your vehicle especially trailing arm bolts and nuts,battery security and have plenty of spare genuine toyota exh mounts if that is what you are running.Some fencing wire and cable ties are also essential.I also ran my tyres at 22psi for the whole Gibb river rd trip.I have never seen so many suspension,tyre,battery failures in all my trips around W.A mainly due to poor maintenance and neglect.
Good luck and most of all enjoy the trip.
Craig
Mar 11, 2010
 Wish I was going too!!!
by: Melissa

Hi all,

You are all right the book is fabulous, I traveled up to Mitchell Falls in June 2008, we left our camper at King Edward as there is so much to see and do there as well. The roads were pretty rough after the King Edward so its a good idea to leave it there. My only wish is that you would all see me in my car.... oh well, maybe another time.

Have a great trip to everyone.
Mar 18, 2010
 You say tomato I say Tomato!
by: Steve and Paula

We travelled to Mitchell falls in 2006 with a Nissan Patrol and Kimberley Camper. We were with tow other couples one with a KK and another with a camper trailer on an off road trailer. We all towed our vehicles to Mitchell Falls with no problems at all. Yes the road was rough, but we were well prepared and our equipment was built for the conditions. Like people here say ....drive to the conditions and you will reduce the risk of misfortune.
Apr 21, 2016
 Tyres
by: Fred

My question is to all those that have travelled the Gibb Road, especially up to the Mitchell River camping area: do you need more than one spare tyre for this trip? Any answers would be greatly appreciated.
Jun 21, 2016
 King Edward Campsite
by: Ray

Did the Gibb in a camper trailer last year 2015 and definitely recommend you leave the camper at King Edward Campsite. Great spot, excellent water hole for swimming and plenty of campsites. We passed two camper trailers and Nissan Navara with broken axles between King Edward and Mitchell Falls, so very happy with our decision.
Mar 06, 2017
 camper
by: Ron Beaver

Towed a camper to the Mitchell Falls in July 2015
This camper was NOT a off road camper. It was a Wandering star camper 1989 model with leaf springs.
It took 5 and a half hours in and 5 and a quarter out.
The trick is GO SLOW AND NOT try to skip over the bumps like a rally car does.
We also did the entire Gibb River Road then went to the Zebra Rock mine in the N.T. Then down to Shark Bay to do the Peron Peninsula. We DID NOT get a single flat and did NOT have any break downs.
This was because we had a well maintained ute and camper. AND I REPEAT WE WENT SLOW ON ALL DIRT ROADS.

Ron Beaver

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