The Castle ascent, Morton National Park NSW

We originally intended to do the Pretty Beach to Pebbly Beach circuit, but set off from the wrong beach (Merry Beach), and came across the rather impressive headland called Snapper Point. This has tall striated cliffs and large rock platforms, and is worth a visit. You can’t continue around the headland though, so we returned to Merry Beach and climbed Durras Mountain to the large water tank at the summit. Although somewhat obscured by rejuvenating native vegetation, there are still partial views of the coast.  (more…)

These pics are from our second time up The Castle (847m), one of NSW’s most challenging and spectacular day walks, situated in Morton National Park on the South Coast of NSW near Ulladulla. The views are probably the best I’ve seen in NSW, and with just enough exposure near the top to get the adrenaline flowing, it makes a memorable walk for any fit bushwalker.

You don’t walk all that far (11 or 12 kms) but the terrain slows you down in some sections, and there’s a decent change in elevation of about 800m. Starting in rainforest, you’ll soon ascend into dryer forest, then skirt the western edge of the Castle’s lower walls with views of Mt Nibelung and Mt Owen. It’s then up through cliffs with progressively more expansive views of the Budawangs, until you reach the summit plateau. Make sure you walk to the southern end for the best views of Byangee Walls.  There’s a box for a log book there, but I think the better views are a few minutes to the left (east) of this.

The drive from Ulladulla or Milton takes a bit over an hour on mostly dirt roads, (or faster if you have AWD and some clearance).

Track notes at the end.

The Castle Track: The Scenery

The views as you slowly walk along the western side of The Castle: Mt Owen (left) and Mt Nibelung (right).

The lower walls of The Castle are made of a conglomerate rock, which I’ve not seen much of in Australia. It looks very artificial, like a chunky pebble dash wall.

Climbing higher, but the top still looks far away.

Passing through the tail of the so called Tadpole. There were lots of real tadpoles on top of the mountain. There is an alternative route which bypasses this section, but those with central obesity might nevertheless struggle on this walk.

Sophia climbing The Castle. I ‘borrowed’ this from the photos of our first ascent to demonstrate the steepness of some sections. It felt this scary the first time, possibly because of gale force winds, but much easier the second time.

Mt Nibelung (and to the left Mt Owen) from near the top of the Castle.

Views northish from near the top of the Castle. The Clyde River valley to the right.

First views of Byangee Walls (centre).

There were pools on the Castle plateau containing numerous tadpoles.

Byangee Walls centre, and Pigeon House Mountain distant right, from the top of the Castle at the southern end.

A panorama taking in (from left to right) Talaterang Mountain, Byangee Walls, and Pigeon House Mountain.

A zoomed in shot of Byangee Walls. The walk up there is also good.

Sophia optimistically trying to cross a pool on the summit plateau of the Castle. She turned back to avoid wet feet.

This video is from our first time up the Castle, when the wind was blowing a gale! Sophia almost gets blown off her feet at one point.

Not seen this plant before.

A panorama taking in the Clyde River valley, Talaterang Mountain, Byangee Walls, and Pigeon House Mountain. Looking east from the summit of the Castle.

Looking down the tail of the Tadpole. This name refers to the shape of the Castle from above.

The Clyde River valley.

The rope was definitely handy in this section.

This time around I ascended and descended this section without the rope, but I needed it the first time. I wonder if the difference was merely familiarity and hence confidence.

Talaterang Mountain (centre right) and the Clyde River valley (centre left).

Cliffs of the Castle from on the way down.

Stripey rock.

The walk starts and ends in rainforest.

Track Notes

The route is mostly obvious and the walking easy until the walk alongside the Castle walls to the west. But the most difficult navigation is finding the route up onto the Castle itself. Have a look at my other map below for a bit more detail on that section.

The two routes marked here are to pass through the tadpoles tail (right option; very narrow) or to go to Castle Saddle (left option) and around the tail. Getting up onto the tail and plateau is the hardest part of the walk – it requires some route finding and basic rock climbing ability. Walk to the south of the plateau (easy) for fabulous views of Byangee Walls.

You’ll need good track notes for this walk as it’s easy to get lost and waste time if you’ve not done it before. There are decent notes in two books we own – Take a Walk in Southern NSW & the ACT and Best Bush, Coast and Village Walks of The Shoalhaven, but I think we used notes from the Bushwalking NSW website when we did it the first time. It helps to go with someone who’s done the walk before. We did it 90 minutes quicker the second time around, partially due to increased confidence with route finding. I’d allocate at least 10 hours for the return walk if it’s your first time.

There are sections to the west of the Castle that can take time, climbing over tree routes and big boulders. It’s also possible to lose the track a bit but you won’t get seriously lost (I hope!) The hardest section is finding the way up onto the Castle – one wrong turn takes you to a more challenging rock climb using ropes. I’ve never been there (only read about it) but the easier route is possible to climb up without ropes, but there were a couple of fixed ropes in place which definitely made it easier. You can see some of these sections in my photos. Note you are advised not to use the ropes without someone checking their condition first, but like most people you might like to live on the edge a bit 😉  

Nearby Walks

If you are interested in other walks on the NSW South Coast then have a browse through some that I’ve done below. Many have been in the Budawangs and a few along the nearby coastline. The walk into Monolith Valley from the same start as the Castle is another absolute classic that I highly recommend (and there’s no scary exposure on this walk).