mountains Archives - Hiking Scenery

Booroomba Rocks Peak from Honeysuckle Campground, Namadgi National Park ACT

Booroomba Rocks Peak in Namadgi National Park is a short extension of the already excellent Booroomba Rocks walk, with some of the finest views in the ACT.

After visiting Booroomba Rocks last year I really wanted to visit nearby Booroomba Rocks Peak. You could easily do both together, but we had arrived at the rocks so late that we couldn’t visit the peak. Now we’ve done both it has confirmed this mountain as one of my favourite places in the ACT. There’s excellent views in all directions from the summit plateau, which is itself an attractive patchwork of open rocky sections, heath vegetation and forest.

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Tidbinbilla Mountain Circuit, Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve ACT

Excellent views from five peaks over 1400m, including Tidbinbilla Mountain (1615m), from this circuit walk in Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.

I’d heard about this circuit in Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve from locals when walking up Mt Gingera, the ACT’s second highest peak. You visit five peaks over 1400m, topping out at 1615m on Tidbinbilla Mountain itself. There are generally excellent views in all directions from the peaks and open sections of what is essentially one long ridge.

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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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Dinosaur Ridge 공룡능선 Circuit, Seoraksan 설악산, South Korea

Korean mountain & valley scenery at its very best on this challenging circuit along Dinosaur Ridge and down Cheonbuldong Valley, in Seoraksan National Park.

Our first time in Seoraksan National Park was one of our enduring hiking highlights. This time we did what is supposedly the best and hardest walk in the park—Dinosaur Ridge 공룡능선—so named for the jagged peaks along its spine (looking like a Stegosaurus I guess). It was bound to be a classic walk with stupendous scenery lifted right out of a Daoist painting, especially in Autumn / Fall, whatever the conditions…

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Mt Gingera from Corin Dam, Namadgi National Park ACT

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.

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Best Winter Tramps on New Zealand’s South Island

My pick of the best winter/snowy tramps on New Zealand’s South Island, particularly for those based near Christchurch or the Queenstown Lakes.

Firstly, deciding what makes a good winter walk is a subjective exercise. My selection includes walks that are beautiful at any time of year, but also lesser walks that are much enhanced by snow cover, whether in winter or the adjacent seasons. They are mostly day-walks to mountain peaks with a few overnighters and valley walks thrown in.

Booroomba Rocks Track, Namadgi National Park ACT

A short climb to Booroomba Rocks in Namadgi National Park provides excellent views of surrounding mountains, cliffs, and a rocky plateau at 1350m of elevation.

The relatively short climb to Booroomba Rocks delivers excellent views from a rocky plateau at roughly 1350m of elevation. The walk up through sometimes boulder strewn woodland is also pleasant. We encountered eucalypts we’d not seen before, and in early winter a number of impressive mushrooms.

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Mount Howitt, Mount Magdala & Crosscut Saw, Victorian Alps

Fabulous mountain views from Mount Howitt (1742m), Mount Magdala & Crosscut Saw in the Victorian Alps, with a night at Vallejo Gantner Hut.

The Victorian Alps have some of the mainland’s best mountain scenery, and the collection of peaks around Mount Howitt (1742m) are one of the area’s highlights. There are rugged peaks and cliffs, views for miles, and beautiful, atmospheric snow gum woodlands. We visited Mount Howitt, Mount Howitt West Peak, Mount Magdala (1725m) and Crosscut Saw (1708m), staying one night in comfortable Vallejo Gantner Hut for our first Australian overnighter.

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Mount Cloudmaker from Kanangra Walls, Kanangra-Boyd National Park, NSW

Fairly remote walking on your way to Mount Cloudmaker (1164m), in Kanangra-Boyd National Park, with great views along the way.

This challenging day-walk to the summit of Mount Cloudmaker (1164m) offers a remote walking experience and excellent views. Most of the views are early on in the walk, but for a sense of adventure and to bag some peaks you’ll want to continue on to Mount Cloudmaker.

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Cheonwangbong 천왕봉 from Baekmudong 백무동, Jirisan 지리산 National Park, South Korea

Climb up a pleasant valley & along ridges to the high point of Jirisan National Park-Cheonwangbong 1915m-for expansive wilderness views.

Jirisan National Park in southern South Korea is the closest thing to wilderness in the country, and is home of the mainland’s tallest peak, Cheonwangbong (1915m). The wide open views are pretty grand, although not as spectacular as some of the more rocky mountain ranges. Our ascent from Baekmudong was up a very pleasant valley. Unseasonable snow overnight added to the aesthetics as we gained the higher elevations. Continue reading “Cheonwangbong 천왕봉 from Baekmudong 백무동, Jirisan 지리산 National Park, South Korea”