Canberra Nature Park: Aranda Bushland and Black Mountain

General Information

Grading: easy

Distance:   11 kilometers

Total climb:   390 meters

Time taken:   2 hours 35 minutes

Maps:   Canberra 8727-2N 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   6.4 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  Canberra 55H FA 89102 96546

Destination map grid reference:   Canberra 55H FA 90789 94434

End point:  Same as start

Route

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

Description

This walk began at the Aranda Shopping Centre in Bandjalong Crescent and, similar to the walk undertaken on 26 February 2019, followed a route through the suburb of Aranda and the Aranda Bushland until just short of Bindubi Street. From there we looped around through more of the Aranda Bushland to the Caswell Drive underpass. On the eastern side of Caswell Drive we proceeded south along the Swampy and Woodland Trails until we reached the Lakeview Trail, where we began a steep and somewhat treacherous climb towards Black Mountain Drive.

Reaching Black Mountain Drive we crossed over the road and slightly uphill from there we picked up a walking track to the old Black Mountain picnic area where we paused to take in the view.

We continued along a faint walking trail to the summit of the mountain, and then down the northern side, initially via a walking trail and then the Link Trail before turning west back towards Aranda. This time we crossed Caswell Drive via the overpass into Noala Street, Wangara Street and Bandjalong Crescent, back to the Aranda Shops.