Clayton to Boundary Creek Loop South Australia
Starting from Clayton Bay Boat ramp, this loop trail takes paddlers along the Murray River to Boundary Creek, and then on to the Tauwitchery Barrage, before returning to launch point.
Paddle overview : Clayton to Boundary Creek Loop
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Murray River, Lakes and Coorong |
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Clayton (86 km from Adelaide) – View in google map |
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20km return (approx) |
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6 hrs (full day paddle) |
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Easy/moderate |
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Toilets, other facilities and town shops are nearby. |
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Visit BOM for weather conditions |
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River and reedy river backwaters. |
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Available at launch site |
Caution
The weather forecast should be checked prior to departure as winds can pick up quickly in this area.
Trail Notes
Launch Site:
Clayton Bay Waterfront Reserve (boat ramp) GPS: 35.4970 S; 138.9235 E
Trail Points:
The trail starts at the Clayton Bay Waterfront Reserve and heads in a south easterly direction to the entrance of Boundary Creek.
Follow the numbered beacons and Rat Island will appear about 4.3 k from the launch point. The entrance to Boundary Creek is behind the island at Point A about one kilometre further on (GPS: 35.5298 S; 138.9669 E).
The entrance may be obscured by reeds but it is marked by an unlit navigation beacon near the entrance. Be aware that there is an abundance of reeds in Boundary Creek itself and the water can be quite shallow in places.
From the entrance to Boundary creek it is only 3.5k to the Ewe Island barrage, a suitable spot for a lunch break before returning to your launch site back at Clayton Bay.
Note: the islands on either side of the creek are privately owned. The other creeks in the area are not navigable due to reeds.
Facilities
Camping available at the Clayton Bay Holiday Park
Toilets, other facilities, and town shops are nearby
Points of interest
Clayton
history (see Murray River Pilot for more details. This publication covers the Murray River from Goolwa to the SA/NSW Border, plus Lower Murray Lake and Coorong)
Clayton was named for Captain Sturt’s carpenter, apparently a generously built and amiable gentleman with simple pleasures.
Clayton is the staging post for the Mundoo and Boundary Creeks, principal channels in a maze of reeds and waterways leading once to the Coorong in the lee of Hindmarsh Island, but closed today by the Murray Mouth Barrages.
Islands near the Murray Mouth
Rat Island of the eastern tip of Hindmarsh Island was once called Ram Island because this is where the rams were set aside. This is also a clue to the naming of Ewe and Lucerne Islands and Boundary Creek!
Islands in this region were paddocks and the creeks and channels were fences. The fun came in shifting stock from ‘paddock to paddock’. Rankine’s Ferry, today a cluster of old stone buildings on the slope of Hindmarsh Island was a crossing in days gone by with the farmers swimming stock to the mainland. In dry seasons stock perished here without fresh water, but local farmers persevered through the seasons. Indeed members of the Rankine family, who once rented the land, went on to purchase Hindmarsh Island to establish it as a separate run.
