Mary Kathleen; great camping at an abandoned mine
Australia has a pretty long, interesting and different history, and you can dive as deep into it as you’d like. However, being able to physically walk amongst it takes it to a whole new level, and when you can camp at an old, abandoned mine and drive the old streets, and see where the cafeteria, swimming pool and golf course (and much more) were, its absolutely worth swinging in for a look.
We spent a night here, and whilst you don’t need any more than this, it’s a really fascinating place, and its unique in the fact that the remnants are still there, you can camp for free, and there is more room than you could poke a stick at.
I’m serious; you could have 300 caravans here, and you’d still probably average 100 metres away from your nearest neighbour. It’s absolutely massive, and you can have your own concrete slab to camp on too.
Where is Mary Kathleen?
You’ll find this place about 20 minutes away from the beautiful Corella Dam, and 45 minutes out of Cloncurry. It’s right off the main highway, and easy to get to, with decent signage.
Mary Kathleen mine history
This mine was started in 1952, and closed in 1982. It was put in place to mine uranium, and had about 1200 residents at its peak.
When the mine closed, everything was auctioned off, and the houses and everything that wasn’t literally part of the ground were sold and removed.
What does it cost?
Camping at Mary Kathleen is completely free, and once again (like Corella Dam), I have no idea why they don’t put a donation box in. People would happily pay for the history, and mine, let alone the free camping.
What is still there?
There’s a heap of the old roads still in place, a few signs around the traps and then just the concrete pads from the different houses and stores. You’ll find a map in the centre which shows you the swimming pool, oval, golf course and so on, and you can walk or drive to each location and see it for yourself (obviously in a much worse state now!).
Driving to the mine
From the camp site, there’s a few signs that point towards the mine. This is about a 20 – 30 minute drive, along an old bitumen road with more pot holes in it than the worst roads in Australia. That’s ok though, because its no longer a road, and if you take it slowly and carefully, its no drama.
At the end of the bitumen, you cross a small, dry creek, before heading to the right to the mine. Stick to the most well worn track (and have a decent 4WD mapping app as backup), and you’ll get to a car park easily, where it’s a short 5 minute walk to see a spectacular open cut mine with water that is stunning.
Can you swim?
You could get down into the water pretty easily, but its absolutely not recommended. This was a uranium mine, and there’s a pretty good chance that the water would be contaminated with all sorts of things that won’t do you any good. Don’t swim at Mary Kathleen, despite how inviting the water looks!
Fires and dogs
You can have fires and dogs here, but don’t leave either unattended, and put your fires out when you leave. We saw a fair few cattle, some little ponies and wild horses, and you want to be respectful of what lives here. I suspect that someone lives in the house just down the road too, so do the right thing.
Is it caravan and 2WD friendly?
When you first turn off into Mary Kathleen, the bitumen road is pretty badly eaten away, and rough. It’s only like this for about 30 metres though, before it flattens out and becomes fine. Most 2WD vehicles will get through with no issues, unless they have very limited clearance. We even saw a Toyota Camry more than half the way down the track to the mine, which shows you its possible.
In terms of caravans, motorhomes and big buses, you’ll get them in easily enough, and if you are concerned about going any further there is camping very close to the main road.
Do not drive over the little rocks that guide you to the right though, or you’ll end up getting to a massive wash out, which is only driveable to the side with a 4WD and very high clearance trailer that isn’t too big. We sneaked our way through here in our Dmax and Reconn R2 on the way out because we took the wrong way, but it was tight!
