Yass District: Mundoonen Nature Reserve North of the Hume Highway

General Information

Grading:  medium

Distance:   10.5 kilometers

Total climb:   470 meters

Time taken:   3 hours 40 minutes

Maps:   Jerrawa 8728-3N 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   65 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  Jerrawa 55H FB 872782 44043

Destination map grid reference:  Jerrawa 55H FB 87286 47036

End point:  Same as start

Dates walked:  1 October 2020, 26 June 2026

Route

Description

The Mundoonen Nature Reserve straddles the Hume Highway between Yass and Gunning. We decided to do the smaller section of the Reserve north of the Hume Highway. Our starting point was the Sheldricks Lane turnoff, about 3.4 kilometres along the Hume Highway from its intersection with Yass Valley Way.

Our first task was to climb up the access road to the summit of Mt Mundoonen. Unfortunately there are only limited views here due to the surrounding forest, but it's another peak to take off my list.

Passing the trig marker we continued to the end of the paved road near the towers in the distance. At the point we turned left to follow the ridge heading a bit east of north. The top of the ridge is easy walking through dry sclerophyll forest.

We followed the ridge until we came to a knoll at map reference 55H FB 87231 45102. Ahead of us was a deep gully with another hill on the other side, so we started to walk down the ridge on the left before heading north again at a lower elevation. We found a couple of mostly dry watercourses which were quite nice to walk along while they took us in roughly the right direction.

At map reference 55H FB 87008 46349 we found the abandoned farmhouse complex which we had heard about, all still in very good condition. We paused there for lunch.

From the farmhouse we made our way to the dam at map reference 55H FB 87196 46802...

...and from there continued north to the boundary fence of the Nature Reserve. We followed the boundary fence to the east, which took us to the hill at the end of the ridge we followed from Mt. Mundoonen.

There were some nice rural views to the north from there

We followed the ridge all the way back to Mt. Mundoonen and our starting point, including this time the steep hill we avoided on the outward journey.

Tidinbilla Nature Reserve: Johns Peak, Tidbinbilla Peak and Tidbinbilla Mountain

General Information

Grading:  hard

Distance:   14.5 kilometers

Total climb:   948 meters

Time taken:   6 hours 30 minutes
Moving time: 3 hours 30 minutes

Maps:   Tidbinbilla 8627-2S 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   52.7 kilometers

Start point map grid reference: 55H FA 71480 74646

Destination map grid reference:  none

Dates walked: 12 June 2026

 

Route

 

Description

I have hiked these peaks several times in the past, but never the three of them together. This was made possible by the opening of the Mindjagari Track network in 2025 which (among other things) linked Tidbinbilla Peak and Tidbinbilla Mountain.

The walk starts at the Mountain Creek car park in the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. From the car park we followed the Camelback Fire Trail up to where it intersects with the track to Johns Peak (55H FA 72075 78543). We made Johns Peak in good time and went on to Tidbinbilla Peak and Tidbinbilla Mountain along the Mindjagari Track. The only new section for me was the Track between Tidbinbilla Peak and Tidbinbilla Mountain, which is not as easy as it seems on the map: rocky ground and a few substantial climbs. The views from all three peaks are superb, but Tidbinbilla Mountain is the only one to offer 360 degree views.

After lunch on the Mountain we headed towards the Snowy Corner Track and began our real descent back to the car park, stopping at a viewing chair on the way to take in a final view over the Tidbinbilla valley.

The walk down was quite steep, strenuous, and very slippery after recent rain. It's not a great distance - only 3.6 kilometers - but it took us 1.75 hours to get from the top of the Mountain back to the car park.