Mt Gingera (1857m) in Namadgi National Park is the ACT’s second highest peak, and can be climbed from somewhere near the bottom (~950m) in a longish day. It holds snow in winter, so with that promise Sophia and I headed down to Canberra for our first proper winter walk in Australia. Wide open views from the summit are worth the climb, although I’m sure snow enhanced the experience rather.
It’s a steep but pleasant enough walk up Stockyard Spur from Corin Dam with plenty of birdsong for entertainment. There are a couple of decent viewpoints high up on the spur. After that there’s a few kilometres walk to the final climb through patches of snowgums and open ground to the summit. You can wander around the summit area checking out the views in different directions.
Track notes at the end. There were a lot of fellow walkers in mid winter when we visited the mountain, perhaps attracted by the good snow cover.
Mt Gingera from Corin Dam: The Scenery
Track Notes
From the car park at the dam it’s a steep initial climb up Stockyard Spur. The gradient eases off and the track becomes a wider fire trail. Continue on this past a couple of view points until you hit a larger fire trail/ unsealed road. Go left (south), and continue past Pryor’s Hut until a hairpin bend in the road. From there climb up through patches of woodland and open ground to the summit.
Roughly 20-21km and 1100m of change in elevation. Sophia was a bit sick on the initial ascent (something she ate I think) so we were slow up but fast down. I’ve read it takes 8-9 hours, which seems reasonable. It’s a long walk but the terrain is never hard. There are apparently snakes in spring and summer. There’s more info on walks in Namadgi National Park on the Parks ACT website.
