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jatbula trail in katherine

jaebo

3-Jul-2011
2:55:58 PM

anyone here done it before?

it says it requires booking, but would there be a problem just showing up?

ClimbingNT

3-Jul-2011
3:42:23 PM

You need to make a booking to ensure all the rest spots along the way are relatively free and also so rangers can keep tabs on numbers.

citationx

4-Jul-2011
8:53:37 AM

great attitude. "the official site TELLS me to book, but i can just wing it, right?"

Wendy

4-Jul-2011
9:41:58 AM

It's a bloody great walk. I did it over 10 years ago, well before booking was necessary, and it was still busy at one campsite. Book it for a week outside of school holidays! Or go off track somewhere else- you still need permits pretty much everywhere in the top end, either from Parks or traditional owners, but you won't have crowd problems. Actually, the Lychfield one didn't need permits only 6 years ago, but it's not nearly as spectacular as Jatbula or any of the walks I did in kakadu. You do need to give quite a bit of notice for Kakadu, with proposed dates, route, party members etc.

gtempest

4-Jul-2011
2:39:59 PM

The Jatbula Trail is one of the Australia's most scenic short walks (its only 58km and takes 5 days). Walkers are only allowed to camp at the official campsites (which also happen to be the most beautiful spots). Bookings are essential as only 10 walkers are allowed to start the walk each day (all walkers must start from Katherine Gorge). We booked 6 months in advance and got the last two places in the week we wanted to start (and it wasn't the school holidays either). It is a very popular walk so I would book as early as possible. I'd advse you to call the ranger station at Katherine and see if there are any openings left this season. The rangers are very much on the ball with permits and will check them on the trail. The boat company (which gets you across the Katherine River) also know there is a limit of ten walkers per day and if the numbers didn't add up I would suspect they would pull you up. You may be lucky if you just fronted up for a permit (maybe somebody will cancel at the last minute) but I wouldn't rely on it. Good luck, it's a great trail.

ClimbingNT

4-Jul-2011
3:44:22 PM

I dont like your chances of just rocking up and making a booking for the same day.
The walking track is great, however sometimes the Sweetwater Pool site that is close to Eidth is populated with people sneaking in from the other end (Eidth side). The rangers usually sort them out though....

There are 6 messages in this topic.