Maytown Ruins

A great 4WD adventure to ‘the Cape’ follows the Burke Developmental Road through Palmer River Goldfields, or journey from the Mulligan Highway to Maytown.

Maytown was the main settlement on the Palmer River Goldfields and the discovery of gold on the Palmer in the 1870s resulted in a gold rush of about 30,000 people.

Maytown is in the middle of very rugged country with great conglomerate ranges, and on almost every one you can find evidence of the hard work the early miners had to endure to try to make their fortune. Today there are several old relics and mining equipment from the gold rush and the area is proclaimed as a Historic Reserve.

The journey is about 155km from the Mulligan Highway to Laura. Maytown is accessed from the Mulligan Highway on the White’s Creek Road turn-off, approximately 65km north of Mount Carbine

The unsealed road out to Maytown is much improved but 4WD is advised and the challenging Old Coach Road from Maytown to Laura is Adventure 4WD and should only be tried if you have previous 4WD experience  and preferably with at least 2 vehicles in convoy. The rugged, interesting 4WD track ends near Jowalbinna, 45km north west of Laura.

Camping is prohibited in Maytown itself but there is a designated camping site on the north bank of the Palmer River.

Do not enter fenced-off areas as all mine shafts are dangerous