Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve: Lyrebird Trail and Cascades Trail

General Information

Distance: 2.9 kilometers
Total climb: 158 meters
Time taken: 1 hour
Map: Tidbinbilla 8627-2S 1:25 000
Guide:  link
Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:  49 kilometers
Start point map grid reference:  55H FA 71466 74628
Destination:  Loop walk
End Point:  Same as start

Description

The starting point for the Lyrebird Trail is the Mountain Creek carpark in the west of the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, at the end of Mountain Creek Road. The start of the trail is well signposted. The first part of the Lyrebird Trail passes through a wet and cool gully covered in ferns and mosses.



A moderate uphill climb eventually leads to the Cascades Trail on the right.



Continuing up the Cascades Trail you eventually come to its highest point, just over 1 kilometer into the walk, where there is a small cascade in the creek. It is best to leave the trail and get under the overhanging rock to see the cascade at its best.



From there I headed back down the Cascades Trail until it met the Lyrebird Trail near where I left it. Turning right I followed the Lyrebird trail back to the carpark. This is a very good short walk if you only have limited time at Tidbinbilla

Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve: Fishing Gap

General Information

Distance:  8 kilometers
Total climb:  320 meters
Time taken:  1 hour 50 minutes
Map:  Tidbinbilla 8627-2S 1:25 000
Guide:  link
Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:  50 kilometers
Start point map grid reference:  55H FA 72303 71966
Destination map grid reference:  55H FA 69893 71016
End Point:  Same as start

Route

http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/

Description

This walk starts at the Fishing Gap carpark on the Tidbinbilla Ring Road. It follows a pleasant enough management trail up to the southwestern corner of the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.





There are not too many views to be seen from the trail, but every now and then something can be glimpsed of surrounding peaks through the trees.



Almost exactly 4 kilometers into the walk you reach Fishing Gap, which is the end of the trail right at the border of Namadgi National Park. There is nothing much to see here, although there used to be a track through to Mount Domain in the north and another to the Cotter River in the west. Both of these were overgrown after the 2003 bushfires.



I had a thought of attempting to climb Mount Domain from here, and headed north into the scrub. After about 100 meters of bashing through dense overgrowth and going over or around many large fallen trees, however, I decided that Mount Domain was going to be too much work and headed back to Fishing Gap, from where I retraced my steps to the carpark. While pleasant enough, the track to Fishing Gap is not particularly spectacular and is only a relatively short walk. It would have been better if I could have continued on to either Mount Domain or Cotter River, but the scrub was to dense in both directions.

Update: In mid-2016 a new walking track was cut from Fishing Gap to Mount Domain.

Namadgi National Park: Yankee Hat Rock Art

General Information

Distance: 6.2 kilometers
Total climb: 146 meters
Time taken: 2 hours
Map: Yaouk 8626-2N 1:25 000
Guide:  link
Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:  67 kilometers
Start point map grid reference:  55H FA 78506 41194
Destination map grid reference:  55H FA 76721 41823 [approximate]
End Point:  Same as start

Route

http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/

Description

The Yankee Hat Track begins at the locked gate on the Old Boboyan Road, about 3.3 kilometers southwest of its intersection with Boboyan Road. The first part of the Track passes through a grassy valley surrounded by peaks that were still snow-capped when we walked through.







About 1 kilometer from the start we crossed Bogong Creek using a footbridge, which was handy since there was quite a bit of water in the creek and the banks were boggy.



The track finally brought us into the tree line and the granite boulder shelter that contains the rock art, about 3 kilometers from the start point.



Although climbing the nearby Yankee Hat peak (1558 meters) was an option, albeit a very tough one, we decided on this occasion to head back from the rock shelter the way we had come. This is a very rewarding walk, although its remote starting point (45 minutes drive south of Tharwa) is a drawback if time is limited.