Barron River Challenge 50/12

06/06/2026

Thanks for a wonderful weekend Adventure Sport NQ. Tinaroo canoe club really appreciated the effort that went into running the first Paddlegaine since 2010 to be held in the Barrine arm of Lake Tinaroo. Mr Matt Marsh- top show.

16/05/2026

The Tinaroo Canoe Club had 2 paddlers this year taking part in the Gregory River Marathon 51st edition. Johnny paddled the fastest overall time (3:24) whilst Terry Mac teamed up with Brad Butler to also post his fastest ever race time (3:38) in his 11th race.

09/05/2026

BRC50 followers, Jason Richardson. This is an informative article with some good links.

The surprisingly useful stroke canoeists love to hate

02/05/2026

Brad Butler seen about to do a reccy from checkpoint 4 in preparation for tomorrow’s 51st Gregory River Marathon. A regular at our BRC50 - the Tinaroo Canoe Club wishes Brad and his new paddling partner a fast and safe passage tomorrow (With the Gregory R at record flow)..

12/04/2026

With the Barron at 1.96m and Bilwon under 2.10m it was great to paddle from Mareeba to Koah this morning. I’m keen to paddle a TK1 at the Gregory River Marathon in 3 weeks time so this stretch of the Barron is ideal training- (JVR paddled a spirit ski- that way he gets a workout without having to double back for me), especially Koah reef at this height. The helmet was used a few times on branches. Mareeba to Biboohra and Bilwon to Koah was clear at this height. The 2km section starting 1km below Biboohra bridge is still quite challenging. We were able to sneak through the BRC50 portage section but had to portage once when forced to take the river left channel a little below.
With more rain forecast the next few training sessions may have to be on the Lake.

14/02/2026

Number two log jam took a variety of techniques.

14/02/2026

Tough second snag

14/02/2026

De logging Barron - tree number 3

14/02/2026

First snag

14/02/2026

De logging the BRC12 section of the Barron River between Mareeba and Biboohra is almost complete. This morning we removed 2 old and one new snag just below the 9km mark. One new log just above the high rocks rapid still has to be removed.
This 12 km section is very technical. Mareeba heights BOM between 1.50m and 1.85m are ideal for intermediate paddlers. Always check the Bilwon height also. If the Bilwon height is not 10cm below the Mareeba height then it means that there may be considerable input from either Granite, Emerald or Shanty creeks.
Great work Peter, Tracey and Johnny.