General Information
Distance: 15.5 kilometers
Total climb: 383 meters
Time taken: 4 hours 20 minutes
Map: Rendezvous Creek 8626-1S; 1:25 000
Guide: Graeme Barrow, Namadgi and Tidbinbilla Classics. Tough Bushwalks in Canberra's
High Country (Canberra, 2000), pp.54-58.
Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO: 66 kilometers
Start point map grid reference: 55H FA 80598 44229
Destination map grid reference: 55H FA 76252 46466 [approximate; rock art not found]
End point: same as start
Description
The starting point for this walk is the Rendezvous Creek carpark off Boboyan Road about 30 kilometers south of Tharwa. A well-marked walking track starts from the carpark and follows Rendezvous Creek for about 500 meters before an iron walking bridge allows hikers to cross the Creek without getting wet. The track then leads up to a lookout with a viewing bench and some information on dingos and wild dogs. Leaving the lookout, the walking track continues into the Rendezvous Creek valley, a wide, kangaroo-filled, grassy tract with high ridges on both sides.
Around 1.5 kilometers into the hike, the walking track meets a management trail that continues up the valley to the northwest. The trail is very distinct, but was waterlogged along much of its length following recent record-breaking rain.
It didn't take long for the boots and gaiters to get wet and muddy.
About 4.5 kilometers into the walk, we came across the remains of Rowleys Rendezvous Creek Hut, which was built in 1950. Many internet sources say that the hut was burnt down in the 2003 Canberra Bushfires. The Kosciuszko Huts Association, however, says that:
This hut was burnt down in 2003, by persons unknown. Circumstances indicate that it may have been done deliberately by pig shooters, however police investigations were inconclusive. Namadgi NP management have refused point-blank to allow KHA to rebuild the hut at our expense.
[https://khuts.org/index.php/the-huts/act-huts/29-rowleys-rendezvous-creek-hut]
There is very little left of the hut today - some bricks from the chimney and some burnt stubs of timber posts.
Having had morning tea at the site of Rowleys Hut, we continued along the trail in search of the rock art shelter nearby. Unfortunately the trail to the rock art site mentioned in Graeme Barrow's book no longer exists, or at least we could not find it. Based on the map in Barrow's book, however, we estimated a GPS location and made our way up into the trees.
As soon as we entered the tree line we were faced with thick and tangled scrub which limited visibility and made the search for the rock art all the more difficult. We spent about 40 minutes in this scrub investigating every rock formation we saw, but did not find the rock art. We bashed our way back to the management trail which we followed further to the northwest in the hope that the track to the rock art was further on. Again we investigated some promising rock formations without success, and eventually decided to head back to the car back through the valley.
Despite the disappointment of not locating the rock art, this was a particularly scenic hike with plenty to hold our interest. There is plenty of wildlife - we saw kangaroos, a lone falcon, and the odd rabbit, and found footprints of feral pigs and a dingo/wild dog in the mud. The track through the open valley is easy to follow and requires little climbing. Unfortunately it was very waterlogged at the time we did the hike, and it would probably be more comfortable in drier conditions. Still, there is some satisfaction in squelching through the water and mud.
Around 1.5 kilometers into the hike, the walking track meets a management trail that continues up the valley to the northwest. The trail is very distinct, but was waterlogged along much of its length following recent record-breaking rain.
It didn't take long for the boots and gaiters to get wet and muddy.
About 4.5 kilometers into the walk, we came across the remains of Rowleys Rendezvous Creek Hut, which was built in 1950. Many internet sources say that the hut was burnt down in the 2003 Canberra Bushfires. The Kosciuszko Huts Association, however, says that:
This hut was burnt down in 2003, by persons unknown. Circumstances indicate that it may have been done deliberately by pig shooters, however police investigations were inconclusive. Namadgi NP management have refused point-blank to allow KHA to rebuild the hut at our expense.
[https://khuts.org/index.php/the-huts/act-huts/29-rowleys-rendezvous-creek-hut]
There is very little left of the hut today - some bricks from the chimney and some burnt stubs of timber posts.
Having had morning tea at the site of Rowleys Hut, we continued along the trail in search of the rock art shelter nearby. Unfortunately the trail to the rock art site mentioned in Graeme Barrow's book no longer exists, or at least we could not find it. Based on the map in Barrow's book, however, we estimated a GPS location and made our way up into the trees.
As soon as we entered the tree line we were faced with thick and tangled scrub which limited visibility and made the search for the rock art all the more difficult. We spent about 40 minutes in this scrub investigating every rock formation we saw, but did not find the rock art. We bashed our way back to the management trail which we followed further to the northwest in the hope that the track to the rock art was further on. Again we investigated some promising rock formations without success, and eventually decided to head back to the car back through the valley.
Despite the disappointment of not locating the rock art, this was a particularly scenic hike with plenty to hold our interest. There is plenty of wildlife - we saw kangaroos, a lone falcon, and the odd rabbit, and found footprints of feral pigs and a dingo/wild dog in the mud. The track through the open valley is easy to follow and requires little climbing. Unfortunately it was very waterlogged at the time we did the hike, and it would probably be more comfortable in drier conditions. Still, there is some satisfaction in squelching through the water and mud.
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