Brindabella National Park: Swamp Creek

General information

Distance:  12.1 kilometers return
Total climb:  375 meters
Time taken:  3 hours 40 minutes
Maps:  Cotter Dam 8627-2N 1:25 000; Umburra 8627-1S 1:25 000
Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:  38 kilometers
Start point map grid reference:  56H FA 71303 97832 [Cotter Dam]
Destination map grid reference:  56H FA 69193 99331 [Umburra]
End point:  same as start

Route

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

Description

This hike actually started out as an attempt to climb Pig Hill, but with a cavalier approach to navigation, we ended up finding this gem of a walk along Swamp Creek instead. The starting point for this hike is a point off Two Sticks Road at map reference FA717975 (Cotter Dam). To get there we drove to Uriarra Crossing and turned right into Fairlight Road, which we followed until Mountain Creek Road and turned left. About 3.7 kilometers south of the Fairlight/Mountain Creek Road intersection there is an unsignposted gravel road on the right - Two Sticks Road. We followed Two Sticks Road for about 4 kilometers until we found our start point, a side track to the right with a steep descent. We parked a little further down Two Sticks Road and backtracked to the side track to start the hike. We walked down the steep track off Two Sticks Road for about 1 kilometer until it met a T-intersection, which we followed to the left. It was at this point that we inadvertently passed the Pig Hill Trail and continued to follow the track we were on. A point of interest we found was a burnt out tractor in the undergrowth on the side of the road, possibly a victim of the 2003 bushfires.

The track climbed for some time until we came to an un-gated fence on the other side of which another track crossed the one we were on. We continued straight ahead, however, and about 3 kilometers from the start of our hike we met another T-intersection. After some discussion, we decided to turn right at this intersection and after about 500 meters we struck Swamp Creek. At this point the track we had been following ended, but there was a cut and ribbon-marked narrow walking trail that we were able to continue on. Keeping to the walking trail we followed Swamp Creek upstream for about 3 kilometers, having to cross the Creek 17 times to keep on the trail. Most crossings were easy, others required some ingenuity.

Eventually the trail ended at a locked gate with a "No Trespassing" sign - presumably the western edge of Brindabella National Park. This would have been only a few hundred meters from the Firebreak Trail, which we had some idea by this stage of the hike of following back to Two Sticks Road and our parked car. With the unequivocal sign on the gate, however, we decided to go back the way that we had come.

While this walk was a navigational nightmare of my own making in that we never got anywhere near Pig Hill, it was actually a great discovery that we would not otherwise have made.