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.
The track is well graded and reasonably easy walking. Walking along the river is often rocky, as is the ridge over Kingpin Mountain. Track/route notes at the end.
Long Point to the Shoalhaven River: The Scenery
A video from that spot:
Track Notes
Depending on your exact route, this walk could take you between half a day to a fullish day. I used track notes from an old edition of Best Bushwalks of the Southern Highlands that suggested five hours (not including the ascent of Kingpin Mountain and Long Point Intermediate). The distance is 12km with roughly 600m change in elevation for the walk as I have described it.
Regarding those views from near the start of the walk, there are a couple of official lookouts, but these provide only broken views. There’s one at the car park, and a slightly better one a few hundred metres into the walk. The best view is from an informal vantage point further along near a campsite (there was evidence of a camp fire) accessible from the track to your left (sout-east). I forget exactly where, but it is near where the track veers to the right of the ridge. The obvious track takes you down to near the river and McCallums Flat, but not quite to either.
Shoalhaven River and McCallums Flat
You have a couple of choices as to your route from the sign post at the end of the track. I went 90 degrees right (south-west) to visit Barbers Creek, then walked downstream to the Shoalhaven River. I walked down the river to a series of rock ledges, then climbed up the steep banks to McCallums Flat.
This is pleasant and mostly off-track walking with occasional pink tape to guide you. (I think it was pink – obvious anyway.) You’ll eventually want to climb back down off the flats to visit the river. I somehow picked the same spot that the pink tape person did. You drop down to rocky, flat ground with casuarina trees ( I think). Walk along the river until you come to a beach and rocky cliffs on the opposite bank. I had lunch here.
You can continue along the river for a while until your way forward is blocked by the steep sides of a gorge. Above you, somewhere, is the start of the walk. It all looks very steep.
You could return the way you came, but I opted to follow the river until I reached that same area of rock ledges. Just past that spot I met someone who was camping the night who directed me back up onto McCallums Flat where you can follow a foot track through trees and shrubs to that sign post.
Kingpin Mountain and Long Point Intermediate
I returned up the track for a while, but left it to climb Kingpin Mountain, which is straightforward, then Long Point Intermediate, which is not. Between the two peaks is a narrow and rocky ridge to navigate. The crux is very near Long Point Intermediate, where you have to scramble up a short but very steep and loose section. An alternative route might be to drop down to the left below this, and climb back up on the other side, but this also looked quite steep. There are a few spots on the ridge that offer excellent views.
The descent to the saddle and track is easier than what you’ve just done.
