Monga National Park: Corn Trail (part)

General Information

Distance: 11.4 kilometers
Total climb: 484 meters
Time taken: 3 hours
Map: Monga 8826-1N 1:25 000
Guide:  link
Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:  110 kilometers
Start point map grid reference:  55H GA 64832 60829
Destination:  None - hike was exploratory
End point:  same as start

Route

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

Description

The Corn Trail is usually a one-way walk, most commonly from north to south (downhill) although some walkers do it in reverse or as a return hike. As a one-way walk it is necessary to have transport at both ends, which can be quite a logistical hassle since the start and end points are over 32 kilometers distant by road - including 18.5 kilometers of the narrow, winding and gravel Misty Mountain Road and No Name Mountain Road. On this occasion we planned to only walk part of the Corn Trail from north to south and return. The map shows the Corn Trail starting to the south of the Kings Highway at Clyde Mountain, but this access has been closed by the National Parks. The actual northern start point of the walking track is the Dasyurus picnic area. To get to Dasyurus, turn off the Kings Highway into River Forest Road which is just to the west of Clyde Mountain. Approximately 2 kilometers along River Forest Road turn left down a side track to Dasyurus.



The Corn Trail is well marked at Dasyurus, but it is first necessary to cross the Mongarlowe River so waterproof boots are advised.



Just over the river we noticed a grassy area which had obviously been used as a camping area - perhaps useful for a later walk along the full length of the trail. The walking trail itself is well defined, passing first through forest and ferny undergrowth in an easterly direction.





Passing north of Murrenburg Mountain the trail then heads south, joining the map-marked trail around grid reference GA670604. There are occasional views through the forest as you walk along the ridge.





About 5.5 kilometers into the walk, the trail starts its 600 meter descent to its end at No Name Mountain Road. We descended about 100 meters of this before deciding to head back.

This is an excellent walk through a very nice area with an interesting history. After finishing the walk we decided to do its full length north to south a few months later, but we were rained out before we could start the actual walking. It's still on the list, but difficult to organise due to the car placement logistics.