Acacia Flats questions

[DanielC]

Hey guys. Wanting to do another bushwalk and thinking about the "Victoria Falls and Grose Valley to Blackheath Station" walk.

I noticed that on the second night we are supposed to camp at Acacia Flats, but I have some questions, namely:

• Is this a popular camp site? If so, are there quieter camp sites nearby?
• Are fires permitted? If not, are there camp sites nearby which do allow open fires?

Thanks!

[GPSGuided]

Acacia Flats does not take booking and is listed to have 30 sites. For the times I've been there, there's always room. I understand that open camp fire is not allowed and there are no open fire camp sites in that vicinity. Bring your own fuel. You'll want "wilder" areas for open fires.

[johnw]

Hey guys. Wanting to do another bushwalk and thinking about the "Victoria Falls and Grose Valley to Blackheath Station" walk.

I noticed that on the second night we are supposed to camp at Acacia Flats, but I have some questions, namely:

• Is this a popular camp site? If so, are there quieter camp sites nearby?
• Are fires permitted? If not, are there camp sites nearby which do allow open fires?

Thanks!

Yes popular, mainly on weekends but the number of campers can vary - worst times are long weekends/public holidays.
I've camped there Sunday/Monday and it's been empty.

There are quieter spots, eg Little Blue Gum, but Acacia Flat and Burra Korain are the only authorised camp sites in the Grose Valley.
No fires permitted, area is fuel stoves only.

[DaveNoble]

The track down from Victoria Falls was closed for a while to allow for recovery after the bush fires. It now seems to be open - but be aware that the track probably has not had much use for a while - so could be indistinct in places and have fallen logs etc. Perhaps it has been re-cleared? The only official campsites mentioned in the plan of management are Burra Korain and Acacia Flat. Both are nice places. Acacia Flat is quite large - with two toilets. It can be popular on weekends - but even then - it is usually not too hard to find a site well away from other parties. At Acacia Flat - there are signs saying "Fuel Stove Only - No fires - Fines Apply", but according to the plan of management, there is only a trial on having no fires there. The NPWS website ( http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/Natio ... x?id=N0004 ) makes no mention of the area being fuel stove only (I have camped there a fair bit over the years, and do use a stove, but I would estimate that most other parties do light fires). If you look on the website and see no reference to not having fires, then walk down there and see the sign "Fuel Stoves Only" then it is a bit far to go back home and get your stove!

The plan of management generally allows wild camping more or less anywhere in the park, within certain restrictions, such as distance from roads and limestone outcrops. But the Upper Grose Valley is mentioned as an exception and the plan states that "within the area of the Grose Valley upstream of Rocky Points Creek and below the cliff line" you must camp in "designated campsites". The plan also mentions "informal camping", and there seems plenty of evidence of this all along the Upper Grose. As well as Burra Korain, there are other quite nice campsites near the river, on the track between Crayfish Ck and Hat Hill Ck, another a few minutes before the junction with the Pierces Pass Track, another a little further downstream and Little Blue Gum (a great spot). For a Mt Victoria to Blackheath Walk via Blue Gum Forest, a camp at Little Blue Gum is about half way and a good choice. Also - as you walk out from Acacia Flat - on the track to Junction Rock, there is a nice campsite about 30 minutes upstream (just as you reach the creek again after the track climbs high above a large wash away).

If you do camp at Acacia Flat - then you can get good water if you dump your gear, and walk upstream about 5-7 minutes to a small side creek. It is normally flowing OK and has no pollution is its catchment area.

Dave

[jonnosan]

The track down from Victoria Falls was closed for a while to allow for recovery after the bush fires. It now seems to be open - but be aware that the track probably has not had much use for a while - so could be indistinct in places and have fallen logs etc. Perhaps it has been re-cleared?

I did that track last weekend (from Victoria falls through to Blue Gum forest) and it was very easy to follow, looks to have been recently cleared.

[DanielC]

Hey, thanks for the responses guys!

Where in relation to Acacia Flats is Little Blue Gum? Is it before or after? We (my group) are doing the three day version of this walk, so would rather not unnecessarily extend the third day. If it's before, are there many campsites after Acacia Flats?

Also, are there many (quiet) campsites after Burra Korrain?

Regards,
~ Dan.

[johnw]

Hey, thanks for the responses guys!

Where in relation to Acacia Flats is Little Blue Gum? Is it before or after? We (my group) are doing the three day version of this walk, so would rather not unnecessarily extend the third day. If it's before, are there many campsites after Acacia Flats?

Also, are there many (quiet) campsites after Burra Korrain?

Regards,
~ Dan.

Little Blue Gum is roughly 3 km upstream from Acacia Flat. If you're coming from Mt Victoria you pass it before Blue Gum Forest and Acacia Flat. There are no formal campsites as such after Acacia Flat but Dave Noble noted a informal spot in his post above and I think I know that one. I was in the area downstream of Burra Korain recently and there are at least two quiet campsites of reasonable size that I know of including the one near Pierces Pass, also noted above. A number of these places are marked on the topo map and I suggest you get hold of a copy if possible as it's a very useful resource (an essential item IMHO), or have a look at the online tool at http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/. The informal campsites I mention are not officially designated ones but I note that Dave has put forward an alternative view about Upper Grose camping locations in his earlier post, which discusses possible ambiguity in the POM.

[DaveNoble]

I camped at Acacia Flat last weekend with a group of friends. Out of about 6 groups camped there (and some of them were large groups) - I think we were the only party that did not have a fire. This is despite the area being a Fuel Stove Only area. A sign explicitly states this just before the flat on the way down Govetts Ck and the same for a sign at Blue Gum Forest. However, the sign saying "Fuel Stoves Only" as you approach the flat from Blue Gum is now gone. Perhaps it has been burnt for firewood?

What was more disturbing, was the amount of rubbish around. Even nice looking campsites seemed to have small lolly wrapper, popper straw wrappers, tin cans etc scattered around when you looked closely. As for near one of the two toilets - people seemed to be using it as rubbish dump!!

And here is a photo of one of the fireplaces -

A shame!

Dave

[Lizzy]

People are grubs

[DaveNoble]

People are grubs

Yep

And this is a place that is not easy to get to!

We carried out some rubbish, it would be good if other visitors also carried out a bit.

Dave

[GPSGuided]

Just dreadful stuff! Why do people do that? Out of 6 groups, 5/6 of the people disobeyed the rules. Is the society that bad?

[perfectlydark]

Thats disgusting. I was planning on going there next month but I am thinking twice now

[dingelberry]

#@&%$#@ PIGS.

[johnf]

An eyesore for sure. It is not that hard to carry out as the weight is only a fraction of what was brought in.
I do wonder though... A lot of the rubbish looks burnable. I note Dave Noble said there were a lot of people having fires, but I assume many people do not. Perhaps if fires were allowed there would be less rubbish.

What is the reason for no fires in this area? Is it a concern that the Blue Gum forest might be burnt down or is there some special need to provide a ecosystem for the insects that live in dead wood around this area? My thoughts would be have a summer fire ban only if there is a real risk of bushfires.

In other places in the world where campsites like this are common Leptospirosis from the rats is a real concern, do we have any issues with that here?

[tom_brennan]

It is very disappointing that so many people don't seem to be able to carry out what they brought in, particularly given that once you've eaten the contents, it's much lighter. How people can think that this is the right way to act is quite beyond me. Mind you I have enough trouble driving along Bells Line of Road, looking at the rubbish on either side for several metres into the bush, and wondering why people just wind down their windows and toss it. It makes no sense.

I wouldn't be advocating burning the rubbish – it mostly looks like plastic!

I think the main issue with fires in the Blue Gum Forest is that the number of campers mean that fallen timber would quickly become a scarce resource. So not good for the local insect life. It's one of the most popular walk-in campsites in the Blue Mountains.

[mrpotter]

What was more disturbing, was the amount of rubbish around

Yep I was down there on the 27th and ended up carrying out a coles bag full. It didn't look this bad, but there was a rubbish pile in the same spot!