July 25-26, 2023
From Bindi Rock in the National Park we travelled a brief 60km to Karalee Rocks; a formation of rocks with another historical water collection system and dam; this was constructed in the 1890s as a water supply for the steam trains passing to and from the goldfields; the railway that existed then is no longer visible and the “new” main line passes some distance to the north.
This is a National Trust site https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/karalee-rocks/ and sadly obviously lacking funding to maintain the toilets and picnic facilities, It is signed from the highway and is part of the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail. A large camping area os provided with tables and fire rings; a Dump Point is still operational.
A Walking trail is marked to and along the rocks in a loop back to the campground; there are two outlets from the rocks feeding water back to the dam, constructed much the same as at Bindi Rock; quite an engineering feat in the late 19th century with only hand tools and horses. This is the trail we took, expanding further up the rock to a higher vantage point, as recorded on my Garmin watch. The rectangle top right is the dam and the area to the left and bottom is the rocks part. The loop as we walked it was 3.71km.
Below is a gallery of the whole walk going anti-clockwise, finishing around the dam.
