The Old Jardine River Ford
The
old river ford used to be the place to cross the mighty Jardine.
Yes, it used to be the only place before the ferry came along :-)
Nowadays it's done for fun - and I have seen people getting through, but I have also seen people fail.
The river ford crossing is mostly shallow but quite long, and very soft in the middle. It's the soft sandy bottom of the river that gets people bogged.
The other thing is that in the northern end of the crossing the river is deeper, so even if you make it through the soft middle part of the river, you still risk to drown your vehicle in the northern, deeper end. And this is also the part where the crocs live, and where the water is murky so you cannot see them.
All I can say, even if you really know your own abilities and those of your vehicle, it is still a bit crazy to do it, and as always, some people do.
Back in the early years, I run into these guys on the Old Telegraph Track and we did the rest togehter (great people - four Victorians and two Tasmanians - they helped me through the hardest crossings that time, I was on my own). The two Tasmanians decided to give the Jardine a go, and luckily they had plenty of people to pull them out. A snatch strap was attached before the first vehicle even went in.
So, in he goes, from the southern end of the ford, right through the soft part, and towards the deep part, and he made it!
So the second guy goes in without a snatch strap behind him, and gets stuck in the soft part. Pulling him out from the northern side didn't work, so he was finally pulled back to the the southern bank by an OKA.
It is actually quite crazy to walk in this river, even in the shallow parts. It may seem like a safe thing that the water is clear and you can see that there are no crocodiles approaching you, but if there was one, it would not matter that you could see it - you would not outrun a crocodile in the water.
Living North of the Old River Ford
By 2015, and with my local vehicle recovery partner, I had grown enough to drive this crossing (the video of him guiding me is in the Destination Cape York Travel Guide). Living in Bamaga, we now approach the Old Ford from the north,
... and sometimes it means clearing trees,
... chain sawing at the crossing,
... still crazy enough to walk across the river if we need!
Did You Do the Old Jardine Ford?
Tell us! Send in a photo, send in a video! (The video cannot be attached here - please let me know so i can send you my email address, or put it on You Tube and send me the link - i can embed it from there right into your page).
What Other Visitors Have Said
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
Crossing Jardine River October 1988 
In Sept to Nov 1988 our family and other went to Cape York. We visited lots of other places on the way, Brisbane Expo 1988, Fraser Is, Great Barrier Reef …
Crossing on dusk, walked across 4 times
1991, ferry was there but we were younger and hadn't seen a croc for the whole trip.
Got there late afternoon, about croc teatime, 4 motorbikes, so …
Safer alternative Not rated yet
Jardine River Ferry
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