What is the fountain falls route

[deerndingo]

Hi,
I was reading another topic and a guy mentioned the fountain falls route on the Border track in Lamington. What is the fountain falls route. Any maps. Where's it leave and then rejoin teh Border Track?
I've done both the Albert and Coomera River circuts. So i'm intrigued about teh fountain falls route.
Thanks

[Pteropus]

Fountain falls is approximately halfway between O'Reilly's and Binnaburra on the Middle Ridge Traverse. It is roughly NE of O'Reilly's, or SW of Binna Burra and apparently part of the old formal track system, but not much of a track to be seen these days. This is strictly off track, in dense rainforest and rugged terrain. The Daly's Take A Walk book has a good description, but the forest is thick and so you want to be fairly confident with your off track, rainforest nav. Start at O'Reilly's is best, then walk the track, or Bullant Spur down to the Blue Pool, then cross the creek, and climb up and over the middle ridge in a dog leg north easterly route. Incidentally, just for some trivia, it is only approximately 5 - 6 km between O'Reilly's and Binna Burra by the way the bat flies. However, despite the short distances, the route to Fountain Falls is rugged and could take 6 - 8 hours, return from O'Reilly's. Fountain falls in April last year -> download/file.php?id=11779&mode=view

[deerndingo]

Any maps out there for the rout to fountain falls?

[tomh]

Depending on vegetation growth you may find a path in places but it is definitely an off-track route requiring navigation skills.
Greg Long has documented it:
http://en.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=536622

[Pteropus]

Any maps out there for the rout to fountain falls?

The modern topos do not have the middle ridge traverse marked on them. Some older topos often have tracks marked "approximate position", but I do not think they even have the middle ridge traverse. Much of the old formal track system has been discarded and so the older routes are not marked. However, tas-man previously posted this map, which shows the approximate position of the Middle Ridge Traverse and Bull Ant Spur. There are enough features that you could determine the location on a modern topo. There is a cairn on top of the ridge, and I recall we had some difficulty navigating from the cairn through the lawyer vine thickets down to the falls.

[Picaro]

Thanks for posting that link, tomh, wikiloc is the kind of resource I've been hoping to find.

[ofuros]

Middle ridge traverse + Border track circuit......i like the sound of that.

.....via tapatalk.

[under10kg]

There are gps tracks for this walk on a couple of GPS sites and the link above.
WIthout GPS the navigation is a bit tricky at one point so you do need off track experince and navigation skills.
When I did the track solo at one point I was a bit stumped for 10 mintues but I did not have gps then.
My bushwalking club got a bit lost a few years ago on this track and had a night out.
Great walk.