Sunday 21 December 2014

Namadgi National Park: Bendora Arboretum

General Information


Distance:  3 kilometers
Total climb:  100 meters
Time taken:  1 hour 30 minutes
Map:  Tidbinbilla 8627-2S, 1:25 000
Guide:  Marion Stuart, Best Bush, Town and Village Walks in and around the ACT (2012); 
                                    pp. 64-67.
Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:  59 kilometers
Start point map grid reference:  55H FA 62374 79504
Destination map grid reference:  55H FA 63159 78537
End point:  same as start


Route



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

Description


This is a very short walk that starts at a locked gate at the start of Chalet Road, just off Mount Franklin Road. Going through the gate we followed Chalet Road to the south and then east until we came to Bendora Hut.



We then entered the arboretum and wandered among the stands of different types of trees (mostly conifers) planted between 1940 and 1958. There is a methodical self-guided walk that can be followed, but we decided to just randomly walk through whatever looked most interesting.





We returned to the locked gate by the same path. Given the distance that needs to be driven too get there, this walk would best be combined with some other activity requiring travel along Mount Franklin Road. Having said that, the short walk is well worth the effort; it is, after all, the only arboretum to survive the 2003 bushfires.