Jack Evans Track Lower Blue Mountains

[wombeyan]

I am interested to know if the old jack Evans track from Erskine Creek to the Watershed Fire Trail near Warragamba is still doable. I was on Erskine Creek and saw two cairns plus a sign on the opposite bank from me (right bank)(too far away to read but would have predictably said no entry because of the Warragamba catchment). The walk is legal up to the firetrail as schedule 1 catchment border(the forbidden zone) is the firetrail itself so approaching it from the north but not reaching it (i.e., turning back) is quite ok according to the Sydney Catchment Authority. In 1995 I walked down to Norton's Basin from the Silverdale Road, crossed the Warragamba River (at the confluence with the Nepean) then found the fire trail that went south west from there to the Watershed Road (but kept north of the road to stay legal), turned right onto Jack Evans, down to Erskine, up to the tourist Road in the Blue Mts NP, along Pisgah Ridge to Breakfast Ck, cross to Bennetts Ridge, on to Euroka, then on to the Glenbrook causeway, then a rock hop down to the Nepean and a climb up the steep ridge on the west side to meet the train at Lapstone Railway station. That was some walk and I'd love to do that again. That was then. But does anyone know what the old Jack Evans Track is like now?

[kanangra]

Yes it is though it is quite overgrown. Still last time I even dragged my bike through so it is definitely doable. It is quite overgrown beside the creek but uis easier as you head up the slope. At one point we needed to lower the bikes with ropes. (We were coming the other way having started at Wentworth Falls) Once on top there is a feint track which slowly improves as you get closer to the Watershed Fire Trail. On your way keep a look out for a very strange box or chest with solar panels on the top out in the middle of the scrub. Only one I've seen. Used for measuring seismic activity I think. I don't know if it is still monitored.

K.

[kanangra]

Oh and another thing. Last time I was down at the junction of the Warragamba and the Nepean there was a big pool there and I couldn't see any way to cross?

K

[wombeyan]

About the Warragamba River, the recent spill from the dam has changed the geomorphology at the confluence with the Nepaean. Now you can actually walk across the river. When I was there in in 90s I crossed the river on a lilo but didn't have a bike like yours. You were lucky not to be sighted by a ranger as you cycled down the watershed FT. I cycled it sometime ago blissfully ignorant that they were not allowed.

[wombeyan]

It has been 2 years since I planned to walk the Jack Evans track that joins Erskine Creek with the Watershed Fire trail. The idea is the get to the FT and then walk down the old FT that leads off to the NE to the Warragamba/Nepean confluence, cross the river and walk up the Norton basin Road to the bus stop on Silverdale Road. All of this hinges on whether the old Jack Evans is still there. Has anyone walked it recently?

[kanangra]

She's o'grown but still there.

K.

PS Look out for the earthquake monitor on the Waragamba Dam side.

K.

[twbeck]

I was out on the Jack Evans track on the 9th June. The climb up from Erskine Creek through the cliff line is clear enough, being marked with old arrows painted on the rocks, and mini-cairns, and tape. Once you reach the top, at 200 to 220 metres there has been burn off, and this has made the track to Erskine Knoll Rd very hard to see. In fact, I'm not even sure I was on it. I followed it for a few hundred metres but there had been a short shower and every bush was drenched. It didn't seem worth the effort, so I gave up. But the track may get clearer later on.