King Hut 2WD access

[Drew]

I'm hoping to do a Mt Cobbler, Koonika, Speculation circuit over Australia Day long weekend. Start and finish would be from King Hut. Circuit Road and then Speculation Road to King Hut looks like the route in - will my Golf be happy doing this?

Thanks.

[stry]

Providing you are coming from the Mansfield end and not over Cobbler Plateau, that route should be fine except possibly for the last little bit from the Circuit Road in to King Hut itself.

That last bit doesn't really matter, as you should be able to find somewhere to leave your car on the "main" road if necessary.

[Drew]

Thanks stry. Yes, I was planning to come in the Mansfield way, anti-clockwise on Circuit Rd from Telephone Box Junction.

According to my map it's about 6km on Speculation Rd to the bottom of King and Muesli Spurs - not too much to add on to the walk if need be. Although if anybody has driven that Speculation Rd section recently it would be great to know.

Cheers

[stry]

That road is usually fine until the climb up to Cobbler Plateau. Should be OK to the bottom of King Spur, but I cant confirm.

[stansi]

I was in there the week after Melb. Cup. road was recently graded to King Rv. bridge, then a bit bumpy to King Basin Rd. but drivable in 2wd. From there to Cobbler Plateau was low range 4wd.

[Drew]

Great, thanks for that stansi.

[jeza]

Hi Drew,
Just wondering if you made it out there and how it went?
I'm looking to go out there in early-mid April with a softroader 4wd. Is it a route that would be less accessible after a little rain?
I've hiked along a track (closed to vehicles) called Speculation Rd on the other side of Mt Spec, which I'm assuming was built for log trucks. I figured that if the scrub was cleared and it were nicely graded, even a 2wd could get out there, if that's anything to go by for the other section. If we had to hike the last kilometre I think we could manage, as long as we can park clear of the 'road'.
Thanks,
Jeremy

[Drew]

Hi Jeremy,

Yep, I ended up doing that walk on Labour Day weekend. We drove in to the bottom of Muesli Spur in a friend's Subaru (rather than my Golf). Circuit Road was in excellent condition, and the short section of Speculation Road that we drove was pretty good. There were some bumpy bits that I would have taken very slowly in my car but they still would have been fine. Definitely no worries for anything with a bit more clearance. I think it would need to be a lot of rain to make a big difference.

[jeza]

Thanks for the info. The road was closed for my trip in April (though had no issues getting down to Upper Howqua instead). After confirming road access with Parks Vic, I drove all the way down to King Hut with a Suburu Outback earlier this week, via Circuit Rd, Spec Rd and King Basin Rd. The last bit was pretty much dirt, with a few exposed rocks, etc. Weather wasn't so great but nice to get out there anyway. I was a little worried about getting out after all the rain, by which time a puddle had consumed the entire road at one location on King Basin Rd but had no issues with the AWD. Definitely better to have an AWD below King River bridge though a 2wd would be okay in dry conditions and for the bit down to King Hut you'd probably want some extra clearance.