Kosciuszko National Park: Thredbo River Trail

General Information

Grading: easy

Distance:    11.4 kilometers

Total climb:    303 meters

Time taken:   3 hours

Maps:   Chimneys Ridge 8524-1N 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   215 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  55H FV 16501 59115

Destination map grid reference:  55H FV 13124 57387

End point:  Same as start

Route

Description

This walk really starts at the western end of Thredbo Village, but we were obliged to park the car almost a kilometre away in one of the large parking areas at the eastern end of the village. With hindsight it would have been better to have driven to Dead Horse Gap, parked the car there and done the walk in reverse.

Initially the track is quite wide and follows the Thredbo River on the left and the golf course on the right. After about 1 kilometre the trail splits, with the right hand trail returning to Thredbo via the other side of the golf course, and the left hand trail continuing along the river to Dead Horse Gap. We followed the left trail which narrowed to a well-worn path through light bush.

At one point not too much further on we came to a viewing platform over the river near a pretty cascade.

Continuing on, about 3 kilometers into the walk we came to the first bridge on the walking trail crossing the Thredbo River. About 400 metres further on there is another footbridge which too us back to the north side of the river again. Some nice wildflowers were still in bloom and some other walkers coming from Dead Horse Gap told us they had sighted deer nearby.

We eventually reached Dead Horse Gap and the very pretty Bogong Creek.

We returned to Thredbo via the same route.

Kosciuszko National Park: Kosciuszko Main Range Trail

General Information

Grading:  hard

Distance:    21 kilometers

Total climb:    743 meters

Time taken:   5 hours 45 minutes

Maps:   Perisher Valley 8525-2S  1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   220 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  55H FV 19089 67358

Destination map grid reference:  none

End point:  same as start

Route

Description

We did this walk counter-clockwise starting from Charlotte Pass. We descended from Charlottes Pass down a paved walkway to the Snowy River and Club Lake Creek, both of which we were able to cross via stepping stones. Some people found these harder to negotiate than others.

From the Snowy River the climbing starts - the river is around 1715m above sea level and after walking a bit over 3 kilometres we were almost at 2000m elevation. At this point we had a good view of Blue Lake.

From here we turned left towards Carruthers Peak. Here we started to be exposed to very strong winds, but we paused long enough to take some photographs of nearby Sentinel Mountain which on a milder day we might have been tempted to climb.

Continuing along the track we came to a section of elevated steel walkway. The wind was so strong here that I was blown off the walkway a couple of times.

The track took us under the peak of Mt Lee and via Northcote Pass to Mt Northcote and Albina Lake.

The track had not been too steep since descending Carruthers Peak, but from Mt Northcote it started to climb again as we approached Mt Kosciuszko via Muellers Pass. When we reached the track to the Kosciuszko summit we saw dark clouds to the west, indicating the forecast afternoon rain was on its way. We decided not to do the 2 kilometre detour to the peak - we had both visited it several times before - and started down the track back towards Charlottes Pass, visiting Seamans Hut along the way.

By the time we hit the bridges over the Snowy River and Merritts Creek heavy rain had begun to fall and there was the sound of distant thunder. Fortunately the rain did not last too long and we were able to get back to Charlotte Pass without getting too wet.

Yass District: Mundoonen Nature Reserve South of the Hume Highway

General Information

Grading:  hard

Distance:    14 kilometers

Total climb:    567 meters

Time taken:   4 hours 45 minutes

Maps:   Jerrawa 8728-3N 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   65 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  55H FB 87265 44055

Destination map grid reference:  Margules Hill 55H FB 88361 43792

End point:  Same as start

Route

Description

The Mundoonen Nature Reserve straddles the Hume Highway between Yass and Gunning. Having done the smaller section of the Reserve north of the Hume Highway at the beginning of October (link) we decided to give the south side a go. Our starting point was Sheldricks Lane on the north side of the Hume Highway, about 3.4 kilometres along the Highway from its intersection with Yass Valley Way.

We began by walking under the Hume Highway via a culvert and then cutting through the bush to the highway trail. When we came to the Swamp Gully Trail we followed it for about 230 metres before turning left towards Margules Hill (791m). Passing by old charcoal pits...

...and making our way to the summit.

There were no great views from the summit due to the forest, so we walked back the way we had come back to the Swamp Gully Trail which we followed south for about 2.3 kilometres until we came to a power line clearing near a creek with some very nice Xanthorrhoeas.

From here we found the Old Gap Road, which in the 1830's was the equivalent of today's Hume Highway. 

We followed Old Gap Road until we reached the border of the Nature Reserve, and turning right we followed the border fence at first through light bush, then along the Dam Trail where we unsurprisingly found a nice dam by the side of which we could have some lunch.

Continuing along the Dam Trail until its end, we again headed bush along the boundary fence to a point  around map reference 55H FB 88939 41879. Here we decided to turn back, making our way through the bush by a direct route to the Swamp Gully Trail, retracing our steps back to tour starting point.

Canberra Nature Park: Molonglo Gorge Nature Reserve

General Information

Grading: easy

Distance: 8 kilometers 

Total climb: 300 metres 

Time taken: 2 hours 50 minutes 

Maps:  Canberra 8627-3N 1:25 000; Bungendore 8727-2N 1:25 000 

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:  19 kilometers 

Start point map grid reference:  Canberra 55H GA 04479 88164 

Destination map grid reference:  Bungendore 55H GA 06798 87761 

End point:  same as start

Route

Description

This walk started at the Molonglo Gorge picnic area, which is off the Sutton Road approximately 5 kilometers north of Queanbeyan. We followed the Molonglo Gorge track along the very swollen Molonglo River.

At one point we had to scramble over rocks where the track was flooded, as can be seen by the location of the steps in the photo below.

After about 3.5 kilometres we reached the Blue Tiles picnic area where we stopped for a break.

 From Blue Tiles we started to climb up the escarpment, following a rough but clear track which kept us away from the pine forest and through native trees. One spot along the trail where the native and plantation forests met was particularly nice.

We eventually found our way on to Quarry Road, which is a wide and well-maintained forestry road. On Quarry Road at about map reference 55H GA 04891 88419 we came to a rough vehicular track on the left. This track has a sign that says "No Through Track", but this seems to be largely for the benefit of motor vehicle drivers. We were able to follow it down to connect with the walking track above the river in Molonglo Gorge (not the riverside one we followed on the outward journey), and from there it was an easy walk back to our starting point.

Cuumbeun Nature Reserve

General Information

Grading:  easy

Distance:   8 kilometers

Total climb:   290 meters

Time taken:   1 hour 55 minutes

Map:   Bungendore 8726-2N 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   16.3 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  55H GA 04684 85772

Destination map grid reference:   none

End point:  Same as start

Route

Description

This walk began at the end of the paved section of Old Sydney Road near Wright Park in East Queanbeyan. We walked through a gate and followed the unpaved Old Sydney Road for about 1.25 kilometres, climbing steadily until we reached the Queanbeyan River Trail. We followed the Queanbeyan River Trail generally south east for about 2.7 kilometers and then headed north and west on the Swamp Trail until we reached the Captains Flat Road. From there we followed Old Sydney Road back to the start point.

Sadly I neglected to take any photos on this walk, but there are some Cuumbeun shots from a previous walk in the Nature Reserve (link).