General Information
Distance: 8.6 kilometers
Total climb: unknown
Time taken: 2 hours
Map: Hoskinstown 8727-2S, 1:25 000
Guide: link
Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO: 40 kilometers
Start point map grid reference: 55H GA 04782 67958
Destination map grid reference: London Bridge Homestead - 55H GA 04628 66638
London Bridge Arch - 55H GA 05175 67464
Queanbeyan River - 55H GA 05410 69120
End point: same as start
Route
http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/
Description
The starting point for this walk is the London Bridge carpark at the end of London Bridge Road, about 3.4 kilometers from Burra Road. This is near the old London Bridge woolshed.
From the carpark we headed down the fire trail towards the heritage-listed London Bridge Homestead, crossing Burra Creek via a convenient footbridge.
The Homestead was an impressive group of old buildings, but sadly the main buildings had been fenced off so we could not get close to them. An apple tree overhanging the fence was full of fruit but they still had some ripening to do.
Having had a good look around the Homestead, we headed back up the fire trail to London Bridge Arch, where we explored underneath the arch and the surrounding shallow caves.
Moving from there along Burra Creek towards where it meets the Queanbeyan River we encountered thick tea tree which eventually forced us to climb up the hill to the fire trail heading north. We diverted off the fire trail to the hill at map grid reference 55H GA 05558 68365 to see what views we could get, but any decent view was mostly obscured by trees.
We continued north until we came to the point where Burra Creek meets the Queanbeyan River, which is quite a picturesque spot.
We started our return journey by following the Queanbeyan River to Washpen Crossing and then following the fire trail back to the London Bridge Arch walking trail. This time we walked over the Arch and continued back to the carpark. Apart from getting unnecessarily tangled in a tea tree thicket, this was a very enjoyable walk with plenty to see.
From the carpark we headed down the fire trail towards the heritage-listed London Bridge Homestead, crossing Burra Creek via a convenient footbridge.
The Homestead was an impressive group of old buildings, but sadly the main buildings had been fenced off so we could not get close to them. An apple tree overhanging the fence was full of fruit but they still had some ripening to do.
Having had a good look around the Homestead, we headed back up the fire trail to London Bridge Arch, where we explored underneath the arch and the surrounding shallow caves.
Moving from there along Burra Creek towards where it meets the Queanbeyan River we encountered thick tea tree which eventually forced us to climb up the hill to the fire trail heading north. We diverted off the fire trail to the hill at map grid reference 55H GA 05558 68365 to see what views we could get, but any decent view was mostly obscured by trees.
We continued north until we came to the point where Burra Creek meets the Queanbeyan River, which is quite a picturesque spot.
We started our return journey by following the Queanbeyan River to Washpen Crossing and then following the fire trail back to the London Bridge Arch walking trail. This time we walked over the Arch and continued back to the carpark. Apart from getting unnecessarily tangled in a tea tree thicket, this was a very enjoyable walk with plenty to see.
