Janowen Hills 4WD Park Weekend

I have been wanting to go here for many years, even more so after I found out there was a brown sign for Janowen Hills 4WD Park. Every time an opportunity arose, there was a family event or other reason why I couldn't go. This time, I set the date to lead the trip so it would clash with my calendar. It clashed with President's night instead, so after my suggestion to hold President's night at Janowen Hills was rejected, it was rescheduled to the end of August.

We had 16 members attend in seven vehicles.

• Jeep Wrangler JKU Rubicon - Brent Brian and Daniel Brian
• Nissan Patrol GQ - Justin Ford and Elisha Ford
• Landcruiser 80 Series Sahara - Stuart McGee and Sheryl McGee
• Nissan Patrol GU - Craig Humphreys and Alison Humphreys
• Landcruiser 80 Series - Thomas Raymond, Jasmine Raymond, and Willow Raymond
• Ford Ranger - Teena Loxton, Trent Toxton, and Josh Loxton
• Nissan Navara D22 - Callam Humphreys

My son Daniel and I arrived late on Friday, with barely enough light to set up our camper. Our meal plan was basic for the weekend and Daniel prepared our hotdog dinner (heated frankfurts in rolls with sauce). The camp fire was already going to sit around and catch up with the others who arrived earlier in the day. The minimum temperatures were expected to reach -2º, but luckily only reached 4º with a feels-like temperature of -2º. During a cold winter, we chose the weekend that was enduring a cold snap.

Arriving Friday let us wake up ready to start exploring the tracks, after a warm cuppa and a cold cereal breakfast (I forgot to bring the eggs). It also gave me time to remove the roof and doors off my Jeep with the help of club members. I have always wanted to try it on the tracks without doors so I persisted but many were questioning my sanity with the 35-kilometre winds with an expected maximum of 15 degrees.

Craig and Alison are familiar with the tracks from several previous visits, and had already taken Stuart and Sheryl on a few tracks on the Friday. He guided us through the park, starting with a shallow creek crossing. There is an optional long water-filled track but with disclaimers provided by Craig that it could be over the sills. With no doors to stop cold water flooding our feet, we opted not to drive through that part. The height of the river water proved to be shallow enough, so we later drove through it as well, without cold wet feet.

We pulled up at the first difficult challenge at a play area. Craig lined up to attempt a short climb up a large rockface. There were wheel holes perfectly spaced for a Nissan Patrol wheelbase at the bottom and top of the rock, which made the challenge more difficult. I spotted Craig and put him on a line to keep the tyres out of the holes, and take advantage of a smaller rock at the base, getting the GU up the rock. Justin then lined up and ended up in the same Patrol-spaced holes. Lining up again to ensure the front tyres were on a higher part of the rock instead of the worn out wheel hole, the GQ also made it to the top.

I was concerned that my Jeep wouldn't clear the rock, with a lower ramp-over angle than the lifted Patrols. Part of my concern was confidence, as it had been a while since driving this sort of terrain. I lined up for a similar approach and climbed up without any issue, and no belly scrape along the way either. With some confidence returning, I looked at several track options only a few metres away in the play area and chose a long wombat hole track that had several axle-crossing humps and holes to negotiate.

One of the great features of Janowen Hills 4WD Park is that the hard tracks are interspersed with the easy tracks. For the most part, we drove together regardless of the ability and appetites of the vehicles and drivers. Those who wanted to try the more challenging tracks did so while the others watched or drove on easier challenges at the same spot.

The next challenge was a rocky hill climb with a couple of small but slippery rock ledges to get over. Craig was the first to attempt it, with Alison opting to hop out of the vehicle. When Craig reached a slippery rock ledge part way up, it took the momentum out of the vehicle. An attempt to pop up the ledge resulted in what looked like all four wheels bouncing off the track at the same time. A comp truck then came down the other way, down a steep rock step that was hidden from our vantage point but it looked like it was going to nose dive as it came off of it. It was an optional extreme section with an easier but still steep choice to the left.

Like Alison before, Elisha hopped out for Justin to attempt to climb the hill. Able to maintain steady momentum up the slippery step-up, Justin reached the top and looped back on another track to return to the group. With my turn to head up, I engaged diff locks and started the stead crawl. The tyres slipped a little on the rock ledge but other than a slight change in driving line, we continued up the hill to top as well.

Alison then jumped in and drove the GQ. Having opted not to be a passenger earlier, she successfully became another to drive to the top, before we headed back to camp for lunch.

After lunch we headed to two lookouts in the park. The track was rated as medium but was easy, other than being a little steep in sections. It is only permitted in dry weather and requires calling on UHF radio to ensure the track is clear because there isn't a lot of room for passing.

The first view looks back down to campground 1 near the office, and campground 4 in the background where there are cabins to stay in. The track continues on to the second lookout, a little higher than the first looking over the eastern part of the property.

After the lookouts, we headed over towards the eastern side of the property. This side is generally tamer, but there are still some challenges along the way. We drove along some rocky trails with large holes, rocks, and tight corners to negotiate. An easy track ran beside all of these tracks, so all vehicles and drivers were able to travel together.

The convoy split up for a while in the afternoon with a couple of vehicles spotting some hills to play on, a couple headed back to camp to settle in for the evening, and the rest of us headed to another play area with wombat holes and large tyres.

Trent drove the wombat holes tracks to try out the performance of his new Ranger, crossing up the rear axle and still moving forward. With no embankments on the sides, there was no concerns of any scratches. Trent then parked the Ranger on top of the largest tyres for a photo opportunity. Josh then had a drive on the wombat holes too.

I drove the wombat holes as well, and tried a different way to climb up the tyres. The first couple of attacks ended up with the wheels losing traction. A change of line, staggering the left and right wheels climbing the verticle parts of the tyres, and I made it up.

At camp, we had a great campfire to keep warm next to. The fire didn't keep the camper warm though, and with several layers of clothing and blankets the crisp below 0º temperatures gave a final punch for the of winter, with the feels-like temperature closer to -7º. We woke up with the winds gone but still very cool morning. The campfire was welcomely reignited to warm up next to while working out how to get canister gas stoves to work in the cold. Ice was everywhere around camp, including a kettle with water in it frozen solid. Cups of hot drinks were achieved before some started packing to go home and others prepared to hit the trails for a few hours.

Sunday started at the Quarry, only a few minutes from the campground with an optional short but fun hill to climb up. We had played a little in the quarry the day before but we played more today. The quarry has several hill climbs of varying length, some with crossed up wheel holes, others with steep rock bump-ups. Daniel had a play up some more difficult hills than he had a go of the day before.

We parked to take some photos of one of the vehicles attempting one of the more challenging hills when we heard the tyres rubbing against the wheel arch. At first, we thought it was against the plastic trim that had dislodged but on closer inspection, the trailing arm had a serious bend pulling the axle closer to the body. For safety, the vehicle was taken back to camp and organised for towing home.

The difficulty of the tracks range from easy, medium, difficult, and extreme. The difficulty rating seems to vary a little, with some medium tracks quite easy and some extreme to be closer to difficult, although one difficult track attempted by a couple of vehicles on the first day ended up being extreme. It was here that we suspect the trailing arm had been damaged, in addition to another vehicle that broke a CV. For the most part the ratings are decent and checking the track to assess the obstacles and challenges it presented, including the exit options at the end of the track, addressed any possible issues beforehand.

Leaving the quarry, still close to camp, we found another hill with large and alternating holes and mounds that twisted up the hill. We walked the track to assess it and found the lines we wanted to drive up. The Jeep crawled up steadily and surely with the axles flexing back and forth on the way. A drone was used to capture the drive but unfortunately it crashed into a tree when it tried to return itself back to the bottom of the hill.

The Nissan Patrol did the same track as well, heading up to the top and then turning around to come back down it. These tracks are a great challenge to learn and test your skills. It isn't particularly steep and there is little risk of damaging your vehicle. Yet, it is difficult enough to be a challenge for the more capable vehicles and requires picking your lines.

Looking for more challenges, we headed back to the first play area from the day before, as it had several short and long tracks to try out. The first track we tried was simple and easy. We looped back to the bottom and checked out a track similar to the earlier one, but with a more solid rock base instead of dirt and deeper holes at the centre.

The first part was straight forward but the later parts needed a good drive line, with the tyres gripping the rock with only the edge of tread. Driving with the wheels in the holes would have created some rather uncomfortable angles.

Afterwards, we drove back to camp to finish packing up to head home. With everything packed up, and roof back on while we had others to help us lift it on, Daniel and I headed back out for some more play with him behind the wheel for some extra hours on his learners. Places like Janowen Hills 4WD Park is great for a learner, as it focuses on clutch control, vehicle positioning, and steering control, in a way that isn't possible on normal roads.

This may have been my first visit to Janowen Hills but it certainly won't be my last. We had a great time exploring and driving the various challenges with a great group of people at Moreton Districts Off Road Club to help support and spot us during the drives.