Category: Sydney

Yellow Track, Bungonia National Park NSW

Good views and nice creek scenery on the shortish Yellow Track in Bungonia National Park. To extend your day consider the Green Track also.

The relatively short Yellow Track in Bungonia National Park was unfinished business for me, having done the Green Track and part of the White Track some years ago, and the challenging and spectacular Red Track more recently. It offers pleasant and rocky creek scenery at Bungonia Creek, then keeps high above the creek, ending with good views of the surrounding topography from Jerrara Canyon Lookout.

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Bonnum Pic Route, Nattai National Park NSW

The walk to Bonnum Pic in Nattai National Park is a real classic, with attractive rocky terrain and valley and cliff views in all directions.

The high quality walk to Bonnum Pic in Nattai National Park is relatively unknown, and I hadn’t heard of it until just a week before I did it. The valley and cliff views are excellent, and once you get to the cliff line the walking experience is very enjoyable, walking over rocky outcrops and eventually navigating a rocky ridge.

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Pierces Pass to Blue Gum Forest (+ Rigby Hill), Blue Mountains NSW

A classic Blue Mountains walk taking Pierces Pass down to Blue Gum Forest in the Grose Valley, with a side trip to Rigby Hill at the start.

This was my first time down Pierces Pass, and my first time in a long while into the Grose Valley. You can do a quick side trip to Rigby Hill at the start for already excellent views. Return to the start and descend on the Pierces Pass Walking Track through patches of attractive rainforest to the Grose River. Cross the river and walk downstream as far as Blue Gum Forest for perhaps the most attractive vegetation of the day—tall, straight trunked blue gums and various understory plants including tree ferns.

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Upper Kangaroo Creek Circuit, Royal National Park NSW

Having done an excellent circuit along the lower sections of Kangaroo Creek last year in the Royal National Park, I looked forward to visiting Upper Kangaroo Creek above Karloo Pool. The creek is very scenic, especially Kangaroo Pool, but also other pools and quiet stretches of creek lined by ferns and bush. You get a similar experience of relative remoteness despite being in one of Sydney’s busiest national parks. I didn’t meet a single person until Karloo Pool.

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Russells Needle Route, Nattai National Park NSW

An adventurous walk along the Nattai River in Nattai National Park to the exposed summit of Russells Needle.

The walk to Russells Needle was one of the more challenging walks I’ve done in Australia. The views and sense of achievement from reaching the summit are worth the effort, however I found the Nattai River and Rocky Waterholes Creek to be the highlight of the walk.  There are also excellent views at Needle lookout on the route down to the river, which you could visit for a much shorter day out. Definitely recommended for experienced walkers.

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Bundanoon Short Walks, Morton National Park NSW

Two very short walks and nearby lookouts in Morton National Park near the quaint village of Bundanoon in NSW’s Southern Highlands.

Bundanoon is a quaint village in the Southern Highlands near to a number of good walks in Morton National Park. One day we stopped on our way back to Sydney from Canberra and did a couple of very short walks. These included the Fern Glen walk, and then the Amphitheatre Track plus a five minute section of Nicholas Pass to an area of clefts and waterfalls. We also took in a few lookouts, including Grand Canyon Lookout (at the start of the Fern Glen walk), and possibly Sunshine Lookout and Tooths Lookout (although I forget). 

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Baldy Billy Peak & Wollondilly River, Guula Ngulla National Park NSW

Two walks in one in Guula Ngulla National Park, to Baldy Billy Peak for good views, and down to a secluded stretch of the Wollondilly River.

Two walks in one here, on my first visit to the recently established Guula Ngulla National Park. The name means Koala Country, and there is a population in the park, but also emus, which is the closest to Sydney I’ve seen them. There are good views over the Wollondilly River from the short ascent to Baldy Billy Peak. After returning to the main track, you descend steeply into a valley to emerge at a pleasant stretch of the Wollondilly River. 

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Mount Solitary via Kedumba Valley, Blue Mountains NSW

Mount Solitary via Kedumba Valley is a good work out with varied scenery as you descend into the valley then climb to The Col for views.

My first time to climb Mount Solitary from Kings Tableland to the east. Although not quite as good as going via the Golden Stairs and Ruined Castle, variety is welcome, and it was a good workout. You cross Kedumba Creek at a nice spot, and with a good change in elevation there’s lots of variety of forest and vegetation generally.

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Long Point to the Shoalhaven River, Morton National Park NSW

The walk from Long Point to the Shoalhaven River in Morton National Park offers excellent views and atmospheric riverside walking. You can add to your adventure by climbing Kingpin Mountain and Long Point Intermediate.

There are excellent views from near the start of this walk to McCallums Flat and the Shoalhaven River from Long Point, but also very atmospheric walking along the river and over the river flats. You can add to your adventure by walking off-track over Kingpin Mountain (555m) and Long Point Intermediate (562m), and get bonus views while you’re there. All on all a lesser known but high quality walk that I can highly recommend.

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Bundanoon Lost Lookouts & Dimmocks Creek, Morton National Park NSW

Visit atmospheric Dimmocks Creek and a series of old lookouts over Bundanoon Creek on unmaintained tracks with optional bush bashing.

The ‘lost lookouts’ at Bundanoon in the NSW Southern Highlands are a series of old lookouts that used to be accessed on maintained tracks. My route took me firstly down to the atmospheric Dimmocks Creek, then later on an indistinct but marked track for a while to the first two lookouts with nice views of cliffs and Bundanoon Creek.

After that the route is no longer marked and the track almost entirely disappeared, so I spent 2-3 hours (return) bush bashing to visit two more official lookouts and one informal vantage point. I also enjoyed the mushrooms in autumn.

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