Kalpowar to Builyan

We decided an exploratory trip of the Dawes Range section of the BBIRT was in order. It also offered a good opportunity to gauge horse/rider fitness progress and packing skills for saddlebags and support vehicle. I always recommend doing a couple “fun runs” with all your gear before you go on a longer adventure, just to work out any kinks in advance and refine your packing list.

Starting at Barrimoon, within Kalpowar State Forest we rode to Builyan and then got a lift to Ubobo to camp at the Discovery Centre grounds, with a return trip the following day. A couple hundred metres from the entry, there is a State Forest camp area with toilets, picnic tables and an undercover entertaining area. However this camp area only has cattle grid entry and exit with no gates from what we could see. We drove right up to the Barrimoon entry instead of riding from Kalpowar along the forest roads, because of these cattle grids. Except for a cattle trough near some portable cattle yards not far from the camp grounds, there is no water available at this end. But this end is the closest to the tunnels and you’re going downhill to Builyan.