Bournda National Park: Sandy Creek Walking Track

General Information

Grading:  easy

Distance:   5.6 kilometers

Total climb:   149 meters

Time taken:   1 hour 25 minutes

Maps:   Wolumla 8824-2N 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   254 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  55H GV 61710 20067

Destination map grid reference:   none

End point:  Same as start

Route

Description

This walk started at the North Tura Picnic Area at the end of North Tura Road, about 8.5 kilometres drive north of Merimbula. Note that a park use fee of $8 per day (at the time of writing) applies and the only way of paying is to put correct change in an envelope, write your details (so you'll need a pen) and place the envelope in the designated box at the picnic area. There is a viewing platform at the picnic area overlooking Tura Beach.

I chose to do the walk counter-clockwise, so I followed the trail to the north through coastal scrub until I came to Bournda Island.

I descended down to the beach and walked up the beach a short distance, then over the rocks and on to Bournda Beach. Continuing north along the beach, and with Bournda Lagoon on my left I turned inland around the northern end of the Lagoon to reacquire the Sandy Creek Walking Track. Some nice views back towards the Lagoon, Sandy Creek and Bournda Island from this section of the track.

The track eventually descends towards Sandy Creek, which it follows for about 1.2 kilometres. At this point it is necessary to cross the Creek, which when I visited was about ankle deep and required crossing in bare feet (although it would have been easy to cross if I had been wearing hiking boots and gaiters). Here is a view of the crossing after I had passed across.

From the Creek the track climbs again. This last section of the track contained a feast of reptiles with a small black snake slithering off in front of me, followed by a goanna taking fright at my approach and climbing up a track-side tree.

After that the rest of the walk was uneventful.

Canberra Nature Park: Black Mountain Loop

General Information

Grading:  medium

Distance:   10.6 kilometers

Total climb:   387 meters

Time taken:   2 hours

Maps:   Canberra 8727-3N 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   6 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  street address

Destination map grid reference:   none

End point:  Same as start

Route

Description

This was another loop around Black Mountain, taking in the Aranda Snowgums, Aranda Bushland, Little Black Mountain, the Botanic Gardens and the lookout above Lady Denman Drive. It's all pretty easy walking apart from the steep descent down the southern side of the mountain along Lady Denman Drive. The starting point was the carpark near Glenloch Interchange and I followed a clockwise route.

Canberra Nature Park: Bruce Ridge Nature Reserve

General Information

Grading:  easy

Distance:   8.4 kilometers

Total climb:   176 meters

Time taken:   2 hours 10 minutes

Maps:   Canberra 8727-3N 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   4.5 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  street address

Destination map grid reference:   none

End point:  Same as start

Route

Description

This walk began at the carpark across the road from 160 Dryandra Street O'Connor. We walked up the management trail to the right of the carpark until we came to a promising-looking bike track, which we followed. Bruce Ridge is a maze of quaintly-named mountain bike tracks but there are occasional maps to consult and trail markers to guide.

We pretty much followed tracks at random, but with a general intention of paralleling Gungahlin Drive before heading back along the top of the ridge. We passed through some very nice eucalyptus forest that looked quite stunning in the morning sunlight:

Eventually we came to an underpass beneath Gungahlin Drive leading to the Calvary Hospital complex.

We walked through and had a look, but were put off by a sign on the hospital gate saying "No Smoking/ No Urinating". Returning to the track we followed a trail with a series of tight switchbacks along the Belconnen Way side of the Reserve, which had some nice views of Black Mountain.

We then followed a management trail up to the nearest of two very large water tanks on the Ridge, and from here at the highest point of the ridge we could get some good views in several directions.

Getting back on to bike tracks me made our way along the top of the ridge and then back down to our starting point.

Pierces Creek Forest: Murrays Hill and Black Hill

General Information

Grading:  medium

Distance:   10.3 kilometers

Total climb:   432 meters

Time taken:   2 hours 30 minutes

Maps:   Cotter Dam 8627-2N 1:25 000 and Tidbinbilla 8627-2S  1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   30 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  55H FA 77363 84873

Destination map grid reference:  Murrays Hill - 55H FA 76311 84505
                                                     Black Hill - 55H FA 77303 83191

End point:  Same as start

Route

Description 

This walk began at the Murrays Corner picnic area off Paddys River Road, about 6 kilometres south of the Cotter Reserve. Left of the entrance to the picnic area is a management trail heading off into the forest.

I started walking up this trail through a mix of plantation pines and native trees, with thick fruiting blackberries hugging both sides of the trail. After about 1.5 kilometres, most of it gradually uphill, I came to an an intersection and turned to the left, continuing uphill around to the north of Murrays Hill and soon finding Murrays Creek on the right. I continued around to the west of Murrays Hill where the effects of the October/November 2018 Pierces Creek bushfire started to become apparent.

Some of the management trails marked on the map have disappeared, probably another effect of the bushfire, but I kept to the left, following the Murrays Hill/ Black Hill ridge above. Some of this was quite steep, but the road surface was good. With a clear view of Black Spring Mountain about 2.5 kilometres to the west...

...I turned east and made the final steep climb to the top of the ridge. Turning left at the top I made my way to Murrays Hill, which had some views towards Cotter Dam.

Heading back south along the ridge I made my way towards Black Hill. The trail gave some good views of the Tidbinbilla Valley and Tidbinbilla Range.

Eventually I reached the summit of Black Hill, but the tower shown on the map seems to no longer exist, possibly another casualty of the 2018 fire. Black Hill is at the southern border of Pierces Creek Forest, and this is marked by the appearance of a wire fence. The map shows the trail I followed up to the peak of Black Hill continuing down the other side and back to Paddys River Road. This has now been deliberately blocked off, but I was able to continue by climbing over a large fallen tree and found the remnants of the trail on the other side. This trail was quite narrow and extremely steep, and is obviously still used by dirt bike riders. The surface is very treacherous, mostly being a mixture of small rocks and powdery dust. 

It was fortunate that I brought two hiking poles with me, or I would have fallen many times on the way down. Embarrassingly the only time I did fall was when I was standing still and the surface just gave way beneath my feet - luckily a few scratches were the only physical injuries.

Eventually I made it back to Paddys River Road where I turned left and followed it for a short distance until I came to another management trail through the forest. This brought me back to Paddys River Road a short distance from my Murrays Corner starting point.

Urban Canberra: Spence, Melba and Mt Rogers

General Information

Grading:  easy

Distance:   7.4 kilometers

Total climb:   214 meters

Time taken:   1 hour 40 minutes

Maps:   Canberra 8727-3N 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   15 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  55H FA 87698 03424

Destination map grid reference:   55H FA 87224 02903 (Mt Rogers)

End point:  Same as start

Route

Description

This walk began at the Spence Shops off Clarey Crescent. We first walked down a long, straight pathway through the suburbs of Spence and Melba until we came to Ginninderra Creek. We then turned around and climbed back up the hill through Melba until we reached the Mount Rogers Reserve and walked around to the summit

There were views, mostly towards the south and the west, from here.

We walked back down from the summit and the short distance back to our starting point.

Urban Canberra: Lake Burley Griffin to Red Hill

General Information

Grading: easy

Distance:   8.3 kilometers

Total climb:   209 meters

Time taken:   2 hours

Maps:   Canberra 8727-3N 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   4 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  55H FA 92487 91648

Destination map grid reference:   55H FA 92141 88953 (Red Hill)

End point:  Same as start

Route

Description

This walk is largely identical to the one completed on 5 February 2019 (link).

Canberra Nature Park: Jerrabombera Wetlands and East Basin

 General Information

Grading:  easy

Distance:   11.6 kilometers

Total climb:   65 meters

Time taken:   3 hours 20 minutes

Maps:   Canberra 8627-3N 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   9.1 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  Street address

Destination map grid reference:  None

End point:  same as start

Route

Description

This walk started at the Capital Brewing Co. in Dairy Flat Road, for reasons that will become obvious later. We started by walking north along Dairy Flat Road and then into the Jerrabombera Wetlands.

We came out of the Wetlands at Eyre Street, which we followed to the Kingston Foreshore and then walked beside Lake Burley Griffin to Kings Avenue Bridge. We crossed over the bridge, and after taking a brief look at the Carillon, we walked east along the side of the lake back to Dairy Flat Road. We followed Dairy Flat Road back towards our starting point, taking a small detour on the right to have a look at the Trench Trail (link). Back at our starting point we had a quick beer and burger lunch at Capital Brewing.

Burrinjuck Nature Reserve: Barren Jack Mountain

General Information

Grading:  hard

Distance:   11.4 kilometers

Total climb:   562 meters

Time taken:   4 hours

Maps:   Childowla 8628-3S 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   106 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  55H FB 49112 30288

Destination map grid reference:  55H FB 46682 29680

End point:  Same as start

Route

Description

We started this walk where Burrinjuck Road meets the Childowla Trail, just under 20 kilometres south of the Hume Highway. We walked up the Childowla trail, steadily uphill, through some pleasant forest.

After about 1.5 kilometers the trail forked, with Childowla Trail heading off to the right and Barrenjack Trail to the left. This is well signposted.

We followed the Barrenjack Trail, and here started a gruelling 300 metre climb over a 1.6 kilometre segment of the trail. At this point we came to a well-signposted walking track on the right which took us the short distance to Barren Jack Mountain (966m).

Not much of a view from the top due to the dense bush around it.

From the summit we started bush bashing, following the ridge northwards. At first this was quite pleasant walking through light undergrowth...

...but towards the end of the ridge it became thick and tangled, making progress difficult. This continued until about halfway down the northern end of the ridge, but at least we found a clear rocky space where we could have lunch and view Little Jack Mountain.

Not long after the thick and tangled undergrowth gave way to some clearer space and we were able to make good time down to the power lines between the Barren Jack ridge and Little Jack. We followed the power lines for about a kilometre before we reacquired the Childowla Trail, which we followed to the right. The Childowla Trail took us all the way back to our starting point.

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.