
Yes, I have climbed Split Rock. I left Lakeland at 7am so it was not hot when I arrived at Split Rock. I parked the van in my usual shady spot and wearing a hat, yes, I forgot to take a bottle of water, I started the climb. Its 300m to Split Rock and then 50m from gallery to gallery. The steep climb to Split rock was not easy. It would have been harder in the midday sun. There are rocks placed as stepping stones… 100 steps in the first section, and another 100 in the second part and then an almost vertical path to Split Rock. It is spectacular and a beautiful place to be in.









The indigenous paintings were very faint, and said to have been here for 14,000 years. You had to really concentrate to see them. This video shows the paintings https://images.app.goo.gl/G8J29LVwhPs5kgUi9









In 1972 the Qld government declared 97,500 hectares of land on Gresley Holding (or Crocodile Station as it is locally known) as an ‘Aboriginal site’ under the ARPA 1967. Visitor access to rock art sites around Laura was regulated by Honorary Wardens and,
from 1973, an Aboriginal Ranger stationed in Laura.
While public visitation to Quinkan lands has been contained by the region’s remoteness, rugged terrain and regulated access to the DLA, there is ample evidence to indicate that roads and tracks pose risks to Quinkan cultural heritage. For example, the Split Rock sites, which are located adjacent to the Peninsula Developmental Road, have already been impacted by road dust and graffiti, as has a story place at the road crossing on the Laura River. At the latter site sections of the engraved pavement were destroyed by explosives during road works in the 1960s , and nearby, at the Old Reserve, Aboriginal burials and birth places were destroyed by the expansion of the Laura rubbish dump
An Army expedition which twice walked the Hell’s Gate track
(west of the Laura River) reported defacement of rock art and removal of historic remains by track users












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