New Road Mill

Tuesday 20th November 2018

Old Boiler at the New Road Mill Site

I had been to the site of the old sawmill off New Road near Franklin probably 5 or 6 years ago and thought it was worth another visit. I decided to combine it with a walk around some of the forestry roads in the area. This would entail a bit of a scrub bash which I could have done without.
I parked a little down New Road from where the forestry land starts and walked up to where I thought the road branched off to the mill. All this area had been recently logged and I turned off too early, but eventually found the track leading to the mill.

Recently logged area (not pretty)

Castle Forbes Rivulet

Track to the Mill

It was only a short distance to the old mill site and the same relics where still there, although more overgrown than before. The chimney stack used to be visible from the track but not anymore. I poked around and took a few photos.

There used to be an old tramway track here also but that is really non existent now. I wandered around a few tracks before beginning the scrub bash south westwards towards the forestry roads. It was okay at first but became thicker with scrub and cutting grass. There was evidence of logging in the distant past and it was a relief to finally break out onto the road.

Old Logging Technique

Open Bush before the Cutting Grass

Almost as soon as I reached the road I was supposed to take a short cut which I figured was on an old track but it proved to be a scrubby creek and not a track. Having had enough of scrub bashing for the day, I back tracked to the road and walked a bit of a circuit to get where I wanted to be. It was then an easy amble back to the car. There were plenty of spring flowers around.

Some really tall Eucalypts

This is a walk I would not recommend due to the scrub and cutting grass but a visit to the mill site is worth it even though it would be only a short walk. It is possible to drive to about 1.0 kms. from the site
Distance: 17.6 kms.
Time; 5'56"
Ascent: 400 metres
GPX file is here.