Newcastle Ridge
CO60
(Courtesy of K7MDL)
Last Update October 05, 2003
General. You need 4WD to get to this one. The weather is VERY nasty up there. This is a premier RF site but access is difficult. Newcastle has 2 microwave towers and the 146.700 repeater. You should plan on 2 hours from Sayward up the hill until the road is improved, and you should drive it in daytime only.
At the top it is possible to hide behind some rocks to prevent de-sense from a nearby repeater. There is a good look SE and this is a great location.
Driving Instructions. The site is marked on most local maps. Take the Island Highway from Campbell River and follow the signs to Sayward. Just before town turn left at the local Legion and follow Adam Main. It is about 10 km to the top.
The first 6 miles is overgrown and hazardous to rooftop antennas. My average speed was 3 mph through this section. There were several culvert washouts. The last 4 miles more open, but there are a few washouts, and the eroded loose large rock road requires ground clearance and 4WD, particularly in the last few hundred feet to the top. In 2003 new logging operations were being planned which might result in road improvements in 2004. The first steep section of road follows power lines and you must cross several deep cross ditches where culverts were removed when the logging roads were deactivated. Take the first major left away from the power lines to the repeater site part way up. If you have to cross close spaced really deep ditches, then you missed the turn. The turn around is on the other side of these ditches. Key GPS points (and turns) on the route to the top are N50' 21.759" W126' 08.555" (Start of road), N50' 22.146" W126' 08.261" (probably the turn off from the power lines) and N50' 22.238" W126' 02.747".