elantra wrote:
At no stage do you ride on the "new" highway between Dalveen and Stanthorpe.
the old road is what some people refer to as the "fruit run"
it goes through townships called "thulimbah" and then "the Summit", Because of highway and rail crossings you have to be a bit clued up on the route otherwise a wrong turn is a possibility !
You bypass Applethorpe to the east on a road beside the railway lline and then crossover the rail line near the International club from which point it is DOWNHILL
into Stanthorpe CBD.
Care on the roundabouts and maake sure you know where to turn left to get to the railway station
P.S. (1) the google map detail is insufficient to rely on near "the summit"
(2) there is a cattle grid a few km south of Dalveen. Not a bad one, but best taken at speed.
Cheers for the info, I had a good look on google maps today and now have a better idea of where things go up there. I navigated the entire length of Old Stanthorpe Rd from Warwick to Dalveen on Street View and will be doing the same for the route from Dalveen to Stanthorpe.
From 'streetviewing' Old Stanthorpe Rd, it is bitumen and gently rolling/flat from Warwick until the dirt starts approx. 1km past O'Deas Road. By that point the country has started to get hillier and more heavily treed. The dirt only goes for about 2k, then the road is sealed what appears to be the first significant climb (I know from painful experience that street view can be deceptive in that regard), roughly 4-500m at a pretty solid looking grade.
At the top of that hill it returns to dirt and the next climb comes 1km later, looks similar to the first climb but not as steep. A few km later at Cherry Gully the dirt finishes just before the road goes under the railway line. From there until Dalveen the road looks to be just rolling with no steep climbs.
I'm very pleased to find such a minimal amount of gravel to negotiate, although some of the sealed sections consist of a very narrow ribbon of bitumen.
Can't wait to get out there!
EDIT: should clarify, from about 7 k out of Dalveen the road is called Mountain Park Road, not Old Stanthorpe Rd.