Look up Live Traffic NSW before you drive down Rutland Street, then count on three minutes of river. Transport for NSW runs the Lawrence crossing around the clock and free of charge, but it is also the only vehicle ferry the state still lists on the Clarence, and when its main boat is away the spare is smaller.
Operating pattern read from the NSW Government vehicle ferries page (updated 23 September 2026) and the Transport for NSW Lawrence project page (reviewed 28 August 2026), both on 1 October 2026 NSW Government (Transport for NSW) – Vehicle ferries · 2026-10-01
Before setting off, open Live Traffic NSW, because that is where the state posts the ferry's status and this page cannot. Then plan on a short, free hop. Transport for NSW runs the Lawrence ferry from Rutland Street in the village to Woodford Island every hour of every day; its vehicle ferries page puts the trip at 3 minutes, and neither ramp has a ticket office, because the crossing costs nothing.
Next, find out which boat is on. On the main ferry there is room for 24 cars a trip, with a safe load of 135 tonnes. A second ferry of 18 cars and 90 tonnes is kept for the weeks when the main one is being serviced, and those weeks come round: from 11 to 14 September 2026 the big ferry was off while the approach ramps were repaired, and in September 2025 the state warned it would be away for up to 12 weeks of mandatory maintenance, towed outside the Clarence Valley because the work could not be done on site. On those days there are simply fewer places on each trip.
Finally, do not treat Lawrence as one crossing among several. Since the Ulmarra ferry made its last run in June 2024, it is the only vehicle ferry Transport for NSW still lists anywhere on the Clarence.
Nobody collects money at either ramp. Every New South Wales vehicle ferry is free to use, and Lawrence is no exception, whether you arrive in a sedan, a truck or on a pushbike.
| Car, ute or four-wheel drive | Free |
| Caravan or trailer combination | Free |
| Heavy vehicle within the safe load | Free |
| Cyclist or walker | Free |
No fare, as stated on the NSW Government vehicle ferries page read on 1 October 2026 NSW Government (Transport for NSW) – Vehicle ferries · 2026-10-01
Lawrence sits on Tourist Drive 22, and the ferry is the link in that drive between the village and Woodford Island, whose cane fields the council's visitor site describes as running as far as you can see. Clarence Valley Council's own visitor site calls it the famous Bluff Point Ferry, known locally as the Lawrence Ferry. The list of crossings that have gone is longer than the list that remain: Transport for NSW itself names former ferries at Southgate–Brushgrove, Harwood, Maclean–Ashby, Iluka, Goodwood Island, Seelands–Junction Hill and Sportsmans Creek, right here at Lawrence. Ulmarra, upstream, was the last to go. Transport for NSW runs the same kind of free, round-the-clock crossing at Wisemans Ferry on the Hawkesbury, where a second boat is added at weekends rather than kept in reserve; far to the south-west, the Speewa ferry on the Murray keeps much shorter hours.
The state says the ferry crosses at Rutland Street. On the ground the last few metres run down Merton Street from the Rutland Street corner, which is where the state's own mapping puts the northern end of the ferry line. This is the village side of the river.
The southern ramp lands you on Woodford Island, where the island roads, Woodford Dale Road and Lawrence Road, meet the landing. Transport for NSW warns that vehicles with a long overhang have trouble boarding at low tide, and it is on the ramps, not the deck, that the problem shows: a low-slung caravan or a car with a tow hitch set well back is the vehicle to watch.
The state's vehicle ferries page sends you there for up-to-date status. Planned work is also posted on the Transport for NSW Lawrence project page, which is where the September 2026 ramp closure first appeared.
The main ferry is rated for a safe load of 135 tonnes and 24 cars. The stand-in carries 18 cars with a safe load of 90 tonnes, so a heavy combination that fits one may not suit the other.
Vehicles with a long rear overhang have trouble boarding at low tide, according to Transport for NSW. Think of motorhomes and caravans with low tails.
When capacity has been cut in the past, the state's advice was to allow extra time or go round via Grafton. There is no other vehicle ferry on the Clarence to fall back on.
Ulmarra did not close because Lawrence could take its traffic. Transport for NSW's reasons, published in May 2024, were that the Ulmarra–Southgate ferry was 74 years old, that silt on the Southgate bank grounded it for hours each day, and that patronage had fallen by 46 per cent once the Balun Bindarray Bridge opened in Grafton in late 2019. By the end it averaged about one vehicle per trip at a cost to taxpayers of $22 per vehicle journey, and restoring it would have taken about 18 months and an estimated $5 million, more than building a new ferry. The state also explained why ferries vanish for months: every three years each one goes out of service for major maintenance that usually takes about three months. That cycle is exactly what the spare boat at Lawrence exists to cover.
Some of Ulmarra has come to Lawrence anyway. When Clarence Valley Council consulted on monuments to the old ferry, it noted that the Lawrence Museum had been reserved the ferry's fly wheel, also called the drive wheel. And in December 2021 Transport for NSW unveiled local Aboriginal artwork on the Bluff Point ferry.
This page cannot tell you. The published pattern is 24 hours, seven days a week, and the NSW Government directs everyone to Live Traffic NSW for current status. Planned work appears on the Transport for NSW Lawrence project page.
Transport for NSW titles the crossing Lawrence – Bluff Point Ferry, and Clarence Valley Council's visitor site uses the same name, adding that locals know it as the Lawrence Ferry. It is one crossing, between Rutland Street and Woodford Island.
24 on the main ferry. When it is away for servicing, an 18-car ferry takes over, so expect longer queues on those days.
No. The NSW Government describes its whole vehicle-ferry network as free of charge, and that includes Lawrence.
You can try, though Transport for NSW cautions that vehicles with a long overhang have problems boarding at low tide. If yours sits low at the back, time the trip away from the bottom of the tide.
Not by ferry: Lawrence is the only vehicle ferry the state still lists on the river. The fallback Transport for NSW has given when Lawrence capacity was cut is the road via Grafton.
The state says each vehicle ferry is taken out every three years for major maintenance that usually lasts about three months. At Lawrence, the second ferry keeps the crossing going while the main one is away.