Townsville Boat Ramps - Morrissey's Creek
Back when I had my 475 Topender, Morrissey's Creek was one of my favorite creeks to fish in. And I have to admit that one of the main reasons for this was the quality of the ramp! By Townsville creek standards, the Morrissey's creek ramp is in pretty good order. Morrissey's is also a pretty deep creek, and is navigable all the way to the mouth even on a low tide. In fact, if there was a pontoon at the ramp, I would happily launch my Cruise Craft and head out of the mouth to Bowling Green Bay.The ramp is a 2 lane concrete ramp with one side newer and in slightly better condition than the other. But both are quite good. As a two lane ramp its a bit of a tight squeeze with two on the ramp at a time, but it's usually not that busy anyway.
When I was using the ramp consistently a few years ago, I found the ramp was quite usable on any tide above about 1m. Below that and its ok for smaller boats, but there is a sharp drop at the end of the ramp. I have seen quite a few people put the trailer off the end! But its just something you need to be aware of.Other amenities include a septic toilet and two nice large covered table areas. The area is also well light at night by several solar powered lights. In fact, it would be a lovely area to camp for the weekend. As far as I know there is no security for the parking here, but I have not had any bad reports.
Parking in simply on a gravel area at the top of the ramp. I have never seen parking and issue here. At most I think I may have seen a dozen or so boats in the system at a time. But things might have changed now. Considering the drive in takes you over a fair portion of gravel road, parking on the gravel will pose little problem for most people. But I have never seen the area after a good rain!
The ramp is not an easy one to find! There is no indication of the existence of a ramp from the Highway. And there are a couple of branches in the road along the track that also have no directions given. The turn off from the Highway is simply the first left after going over the Haughton River Bridge (assuming you are going South from Townsville). Follow the main branch of the road until you get to the railway line. Just over the railway the main section of road seems to go to the left, but you need to keep to the right. A couple more minutes down the road and you will see an open area appear with the toilet block.