I first visited Bungonia National Park a few years ago, walking two of the easy tracks on the plateau and visiting various impressive viewpoints. From one of them you get a clear view of Bungonia Gorge, but on that day I didn’t have time to visit. I’m kind of happy I waited to do the Bungonia Gorge Red Track together with my wife Sophia, because it ended up being one our more challenging walks. The scenery is uniquely spectacular, with scenic pools, towering cliffs, and giant boulders in the slot canyon, as well as grass trees, maidenhair ferns and a pleasant stretch of river.
There are significant navigational challenges and tricky scrambling as you make your way through this 76m wide and almost 300m high slot canyon. The crux of the walk is a giant boulder field, and it was our first time to experience something like this. It’s a 3D labyrinth, and apart from the risk of falling, you could also climb down to a dead end and have trouble getting back up. After the boulders is a nice section of river, but beware the rocks as slippery as ice!
You can do these walks as day trips from Sydney, but the 2-hour drive is a little long. My wife Sophia and I took the opportunity of a long weekend to do the circuit on our way down south, staying in Goulburn. The next day we fit in the impressive short walk to Booroomba Rocks in the ACT.
Track notes at the end.
Bungonia Gorge Red Track: The Scenery
Track Notes
Firstly, this walk is not recommended in hot weather as the temperature can be considerably higher in the gorge. We walked it in winter.
Track notes generally recommend walking clockwise to more easily find the exit point from the gorge. When walking clockwise the entrance point is in the shadows and back from the gorge walls. But to be honest there is a big pool there that is an obvious landmark, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. Another reason to walk clockwise though is that you are climbing through the boulder field downhill (at least I think so). If you walked anticlockwise there is a net gain in height and I think that would be more difficult.
Start
From the David Reid Car Park (where they have toilets) follow the marked ‘Red Track’ west, and begin steeply descending into the gorge. You’ll pass through a section of large grass trees, then a short section of rainforest, and eventually come out onto the rocky gorge bed. To the left is a scenic pool and area of interesting trees who’s roots that have grown around boulders. The onward route is to the right (east) however. The route is easy for a while on the bare floor of the gorge, or else on a track in the trees on the right. But before long you will arrive at a field of enormous boulders.
Boulder Field
Navigation through these car-to-truck sized boulders, all piled on top of each other, is tricky. It involves some trial and error, and I recommend not climbing down to a spot you could not climb back up from. To do so might mean you get stuck in a dead end. You’ll have to scramble over and sometimes under these boulders. Care is required.
The one area where I used helpful notes was when approaching a pool amongst the boulders. From here head right and you will soon be out of the boulder field and walking along the river.
River Bed
It would be easy to get complacent after the boulder field, but some of the rocks in the river bed are very slippery. We both slipped, and later met a walking party with a member who had slipped and possibly broken her scapula.
There is sometimes a faint track next to the river on the left bank, but we chose to carefully walk on the river bed sometimes to avoid vegetation. You will pass signs warning of blasting in the quarry above. On weekdays they blast here in the afternoon (3:10pm is an average, but it may vary) and rockfall is a risk. They sound warning sirens I believe.
The Climb Back Out
After two or three of the warning signs you will see the exit point on the right hand side. Carefully cross the river to climb steeply out of the gorge and back to the Green Track. Turn right to return to the car park. Note that on the way up you will get views of the gorge through gaps in the trees to your right.
Time Required
It will take roughly 4-6 hours to complete the circuit. We allowed about 6 hours of daylight and needed it. It’s pretty magical in places and you will want to take your time and enjoy it, including taking photos and eating lunch. But you may well get delayed in the boulder field.
We were half way through when it started lightly raining. We were struggling to find a route through, and I was worried about it becoming slippery, although thankfully the rock was never too bad, and the rain did stop after 10-15 minutes. Nevertheless, this period was quite stressful. Giving yourself plenty of time to allow for navigational delays will make for a calmer walking experience.
The NPWS has notes on this and other walks in the park, as do other bloggers.
