Mt Emerald and Torpedo Bay

This weekend I thought I'd go for a walk closer to home (since we're not supposed to travel more than 50 km from our place of residence). I'd come across a description of a track up Mt Emerald, a hill behind the airport where a wind farm has been built in the last couple of years. However there was a question mark over whether the track is still publicly accessible, since most of the information I found online is more than 5 years old.

The Tablelands walking trail brochure that I picked up gave GPS co-ordinates for the start of the track. This is what I found when I got there:

GPS co-ordinates

No public access :(

Still determined to go for a walk, I pondered my options. Lake Tinaroo is just under 50 km from Mareeba, and I had read about the Torpedo Bay walk that supposedly has good views over the lake. Even better, it was described as a loop which could be done in about 2 hrs.

The site above says there are signs at each entrance to the walk. Apart from the visitor information about the Danbulla Road (about 1 km from the dam), which didn't have any info about the Torpedo Bay walk, I didn't see any.

Oh and the 'loop' walk has you walking along the road for about 1.2 km any way you slice it. Thankfully it's not a busy road, but still... not ideal.

So I can tick this walk off my list, but it's not one I'd rave about. For a 2 hr lake walk I'd prefer Lake Barrine, or for a hill climb the Baldy/Yabi circuit. My favourite walk on the Tablelands so far is still Kahlpahlim Rock (5-6 hrs).

View of the lake from the boulders

The track was relatively easy to follow but markings were few and far between

Another view of the lake, the town and the dam.
Not quite what I was expecting in terms of a view of the lake...