Murrumbidgee River Corridor: Casuarina Sands to Knoll Lookout

General Information

Grading:  medium

Distance:   14.9 kilometers

Total climb:   451 meters

Time taken:   4 hours 30 minutes

Moving time:  3 hours 15 minutes

Maps:   Cotter Dam 8627-2N 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   22 kilometers

Start/end point map grid reference:  55H FA 77526 89718

Destination map grid reference:  55H FA 79969 84636

Dates walked: 31 October 2025 

 

Route

 

  

Description

This walk starts at the western end of the Casuarina Sands carpark and follows the Casuarina Sands to Kambah Pool section of the Murrumbidgee River Corridor track. For my part I was largely doing this walk to complete the last untrod section of the River north of Point Hut Crossing.

The trail begins at the end of the carpark and soon passes under the road bridge and heads south. Initially it is quite flat, following an alignment about 100-150 metres from the River. It then trends further away from the River, providing only limited views through the trees.

At two points along the track it deviates into private property over fences via stiles, with warning signs to stay on the track and not interfere with livestock. Not a difficult request, but we were bemused as to why these sections of track (which in some places followed the fenceline) were not constructed in the Reserve.

There are quite a few creeks to cross along the way, some of them bridged (the bridge over Bulgar Creek being particularly impressive, and as it turned out, a good place to have lunch) and others with steep steps down and back up again.

 

Just before our destination, the track veers left and through the fenceline once more. From here we could see Knoll Lookout in front of us.

 We climbed up to the lookout, which features elevated views of the Murrumbidgee in both directions.

 

We returned to our starting point by much the same route, stopping at Bulgar Creek for lunch.

Namadgi National Park: Horse Gully Hut

General Information

 

Grading: Medium

Distance: 17.6 kilometers
Total climb: 517 meters
Time taken: 4 hours 25 minutes

Moving time: 3 hours 35 minutes 
Map:  Colinton 8726-3N 1:25 000
Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:  80 kilometers
Start point map grid reference:  55H FA 81464 29033
Destination map grid reference:  55H FA 86626 33637

Dates walked: 2 September 2015, 24 October 2025

Route

 

Description

 

This walk starts at the Mount Clear Campground, just off Boboyan Road in the far south of the Australian Capital Territory. The walking trail follows management trails through the Naas Valley which are part of the Bicentennial National Trail. There are a number of points of interest along the track that are marked with numbered posts (there is a published guide that provides information on these points of interest, so it's a good idea to take it with you).

Leaving the campground the track passes through fairly open terrain, past the Mount Clear horse yards and with occasional glimpses of Naas Creek.

About 2 kilometers into the trail there is a bow in Naas Creek which means that it has to be crossed twice, or walked around. The first time I did this walk the water level was quite high so we decided to walk around the bow rather than try to ford the creek twice. This was quite heavy going through thick grass, and was a bit swampy in places, and we were probably lucky not to encounter any snakes. The second time I did this walk I was able to cross the creek with some deft rock-hopping.

The trail continues through more wooded terrain with a lot of climbing up and down.

About 7 kilometers into the walk the trail goes noticeably downhill with some moderately steep sections down to a grassy clearing and Horse Gully Hut.

 

 

The hut itself is a comfortable place to have lunch, with amenities including a table and chairs.

I returned to the Mount Clear camping ground the way I'd come, but on my second walk (October 2025) took a short side-trip along the way to the Demandering Hut ruins. This hut was destroyed in the 2020 bushfires and sadly I never got to see it.