The western shore of Upstart Bay has four beaches between the southern channel of the Burdekin River, Groper Creek and Molongle Creek. All four are accessible by vehicle and have some degree of fishing shack and holiday settlements. Big Hill Beach (898) is a 1.1 km long, narrow beach that skirts the base of 150 m high Big Hill. It also faces into the mouth of Yellow Gin Creek, which merges with the larger Groper Creek into a 1 km wide mouth. The Beach Mount Road ends at the base of the hill, where there is a fishing-holiday settlement of about 50 houses and shacks, but with no facilities or store. The beach faces north-east into the creek mouth and has a deep channel and strong tidal currents right off the northern half of the beach. The beach widens a little to the south, where it is fronted by tidal flats and has a small creek that drains across the beach, however the channel still lies just offshore. Beyond the 100 m wide, deep channel are another several hundred metres of river mouth shoals, all part of the Burdekin river sediments. The beach ends at some low bluffs, upon which many of the houses have been built. read more

Beach Length: 1.1km