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North of Kyogle, Lions Road
provides a very direct and interesting route over the McPherson Range
into Queensland. It branches off Summerland Way a few kilometres north
of Wiangaree and runs alongside the Sydney-Brisbane railway line and
Gradys Creek to cross the Range at Richmond Gap.
Until the 1970s, the road stopped at the village of Cougal leaving an
11km broken link to Queensland. In 1971, the Kyogle Lions Club
resolved to build the missing link from Cougal to the Gap and started
its daunting community project. The land rises sharply to 366m over
very rugged country. In addition, the early 1970s were some of the
wettest years in the 20th Century. Heavy rain, landslips, washouts and
floods added to an already difficult task. Using donated equipment,
fuel, materials and time, and raising a good deal of money itself, the
Club completed an unsealed road by 1973. It became a public road in
1978 and was completely sealed by 2002. There was support from the
Beaudesert Lions Club and the Army built a section of the road along
Running Creek in 1987 as an engineering exercise. In 1971 only 280
hardy travellers crossed at the border gate, but this had increased to
over 95,000 vehicles in 2001. |
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The full story
of the construction of the road is told by Jack Hurley O.A.M. in his
book "The Lions Road: the story of a dream and the way it became a
reality." Published by Jack Hurley, Kyogle, 2002. Out of print (some
copies at Cawongla Store) but should be in Kyogle Library.
Lions Road runs between the
eroded remains of two huge shield volcanoes that were active around 24
million years ago. To the west was the Focal Peak Shield Volcano and
Mt. Barney marks the site of its magma chamber. Mt. Lindesay is a
remnant of the volcanic surface. To the east, the ranges rising to the
horizon are the flank of the Mt. Warning Shield Volcano. 20 million
years ago it was 2000m high at the summit and would have been clearly
visible. Now its centre has been eroded into a large caldera (the
Tweed Valley) with Mt. Warning standing in the middle marking the
position of the magma chamber. Along Lions Road, Mt. Lion, Razorback
and Mt. Gipps are the eroded ends of the western flanks.
For those interested in geology, Richmond Gap has no less than five
layers of volcanic material. On the bottom are Albert Basalts, then
Mt. Gillies Rhyolites and a thin layer of sandstones and conglomerates
of the Chinghee Conglomerates. These came from the west. On top of
these are the Beechmont and Hobwee Basalt lava flows from the Mt.
Warning centre to the east.
Gradys Creek and Running Creek start within metres of each other on
the caldera rim above 1000m and run down through World Heritage
Rainforest on either side of the McPherson Range. Their headwaters are
in beautiful country, with dense forest, gorges, cascades and
waterfalls. |
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A dry weather
gravel road runs from Wiangaree into the Border Ranges National Park
to the headwaters of Gradys and Brindle Creeks. Kyogle NPWS Office has
brochures.
When the Creeks reach the low area between the volcanoes,
they turn to follow the easiest channels. Gradys Creek turns a right
angle near Cougal to flow south to join the Richmond River. Running
Creek turns sharp north near Mt. Chinghee to run north and join the
Logan River.
Cougal is a "ghost village". In the 1930s it had a timber mill,
butchery and over 100 people living in it and nearby. Most of the land
that is now the World Heritage listed Border Ranges National Park was
then State Forest and a good deal of hoop pine and hardwoods were
taken out. Farmers used to herd cattle and pigs across Richmond Gap
for sale in Brisbane. In the 1930s the Sydney-Brisbane railway line
was completed. It has a 1.16km tunnel through the McPherson Range just
west of Richmond Gap. An unusual feature is a spiral rail loop that
gives the trains up an extra 20m elevation to enter the tunnel. This
can be seen from Spiral Loop (Border) Lookout just off the road not
far from the top. As well as getting a toy-train look at the spiral
loop, it gives a magnificent view south down Gradys Creek valley
towards Kyogle.
Over the Gap, the road drops sharply down to Running Creek near Mt.
Chinghee and views of the McPherson Range can be seen.
A round trip back to Kyogle through Rathdowney can take in the Mt.
Barney area. A deviation off the Mt. Lindesay Highway along the Boonah
Road, then along Upper Logan Road and Barney View Road gives
magnificent views of the cluster of mountains, particularly Mt. Barney
and Mt. Lindesay. The Highway is joined further down to return to
Kyogle by Summerland Way. |
