Katoomba to Goulburn

[wombeyan]

I am planning a walk from P to P. That is the Paragon in Katoomba St Katoomba to the Paragon in Auburn St Goulburn. The route I am looking at is along Narrow Neck, across the Cox, up to Kanangra, along the UniRover Trail, past Mt Colong to the Yerranderie Road, down one of the ridges south to the Wollondilly, walking up the Wollondilly to Guineacor Creek, along local roads to the Tarlo River, then local fire trails to the Cookbundoons and then into Goulburn. Has anyone done this walk and if so do you have any advice on its do-ability?

[kanangra]

Wow!!!! What a great concept. I didn't know there was a Paragon cafe in Goulburn. That really is an original idea. I doubt you will find anyone has done it before. Katoomba to Mittagong is a classis route but not to Goulburn. Good luck.

K.

[Wollemi]

Katoomba to Mittagong is a classic route but not to Goulburn.

^ Sounds about right.

I looked up Guineacor. Info may be pertient... '...advice is not to attempt the Guineacor track unless you are on a trails bike or similar'. Actually I chose to put it in because this dirt biker reports 'Walked for three and a half hours, 15 km of the most rugged country'. Awkward for him, but sounds good to me as a bush walker.

http://www.dirtbikeworld.net/forum/show ... hp?t=18577 I acknowledge my Schadenfreude.

[Mark F]

Sounds like an interesting trip. My only comment is that it may be better done from Goulburn to Katoomba to get the roads and rural property out of the way first up. Could you give us a bit more route detail from the Wollondilly into Goulburn? I am just trying to visualise it in Google Earth.

[wombeyan]

The route of the P to P (Paragon Katoomba to Paragon Goulburn) from Katoomba is fairly obvious as far as the Yerranderie road. After crossing the road there are several ridges that can be walked down to the south that all lead to the Wollondilly River. From there it is a straight forward route to Guineacor Creek. I would walk up Guineacor as that avoids the more difficult upper gorge section of the main river. From a short distance up Guineacor Creek it is only a short walk to the south to join the beginnings of Hanworth road. This can be followed to Bannaby and then along the Swallowtail Pass track across the Tarlo River. Then into the ridge trail system of the Cookbundoons which finish on the outskirts of Goulburn and the end of the walk. I wonder how many people have ever heard of the Tarlo River National Park. This part of the bushwalking world has flown below the radar for ever.

[michael_p]

I wonder how many people have ever heard of the Tarlo River National Park. This part of the bushwalking world has flown below the radar for ever.

Funny you should mention this. I've been looking at this NP over the last few months as a potential walking destination.

From what I can gather access is very limited as it is pretty much totally surrounded by private land. It does appear to be accessible from the south on Towrang Rd, but other than that I don't know how to get to it. NPWS where thinking of putting a walk in the section on the south side of Towrang Rd but nothing appears to have happened. There is a road that runs through the middle (so to speak) but it appears to be someone's driveway. Have a read of this thread from offroadexplorer.com (particularly the post by "bpatto" ): http://www.offroadexplorer.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1471.

Cheers,
Michael.

[wombeyan]

I can help you with access to Tarlo River NP as I once led a group through the Wollondilly gorge. You drive down the Tugalong Road and turn west at Bangadiliiy Road and go all the way to the Bangadilly homestead. Make contact with the residents and tell them you are wanting to access the Tarlo and if you look like you know what you are doing they will give permission for you to walk on their property. To get to get to the best part of the Tarlo you have to cross private property. If you look at a map you will see that from the homestead it is an easy walk to the ridge above the Tarlo/Wollondilly junction (about 1 hour) It is easy to get to the river level and from there you can rock hop up the best part of the Tarlo gorge. If you leave a car at Swallowtail Pass and do a shuffle you can walk one way through the best part of the park

[michael_p]

Thanks for the info Wombeyan. I finally got a chance to have a look at your suggestions on the LPI SIX maps. Must admit I hadn't thought about using the river as an access route.

...Bangadilly...

Here's another question. I was researching Bangadilly NP some years back and the only non-npws info I found at the time was from a guy who went bird watching there but I can't find his website now. It even had a directions for finding the correct access to Mt Penang Road (apparently you have to go through a gate off Tugalong Rd). Have you ever been into Bangadilly NP? It's a small park so is it worth a visit?

Cheers,
Michael.

[Onestepmore]

P to P. Cool concept. The Paragon in Goulburn was always our rest stop for a hot chocolate on the way to the skifields. Best of luck! Let us know how you go when you do the trip.

[wombeyan]

I havent been to Bangadilly NP only to the property which has access to the Wollondilly.

[wombeyan]

I am still planning a walk from Paragon cafe at Katoomba to the Paragon cafe at Goulburn, called appropriately the P to P. This has been in the pipeline for a while. I've looked at the route and it looks like a 7 day walk starting at along Narrow Neck, across the Cox, up to Kanangra, along the UniRover Trail, past Mt Colong to the Yerranderie Road, down one of the ridges south to the Wollondilly, walking up the Wollondilly to Guineacor Creek, along local roads to the Tarlo River, then local fire trails to the Cookbundoons and then into Goulburn. Since it's been a while since I posted my original idea has anyone actually walked this? I am planning a week in October for it.

[clarence]

It depends whether you want to see the countryside, or just cover the ground quickly.

I have walked from 500 Acre Flat to Katoomba. We went up Murruin, Bindook Creek to Bindook Falls, then over through Bent Hook Swamp, Mt Colong, Chruch Ck Caves, Kowmung, Cambage Spire, Kanangra Tops and out to Katoomba. It was a bit of a "scenic" route and took seven days.

There are certainly quicker ways from Bindook Plateau down to the Wollondilly.

The Canoeing Guide to Rivers of NSW has a lot of good info for certain rivers, and includes that section of the Wollondilly, and may have hints on access, campsites, terrain etc.

Sounds like a great idea. I have eaten at both of the abovementioned Paragons by the way.

Clarence

[kanangra]

Sounds like a great trip there Clarence. I'm a big fan of Murruin Ck myself.

K.

[WarrenH]

Last Winter I rode along the BNT from Canberra to the Southern Blue Mountains. I was heading for New England. Every low level crossing from Kiora Crossing south of Crookwell heading north was flooded. It was when Waiborough Creek and the Abercrombie River flooded and stayed flooded, that the ride halted at Hogans Flat. I waited two and a half weeks for the rivers to drop and when they didn't, I made it back to Taralga and decided to head east and cross the Tarlo, with the intention of going down Swallowtail Pass and back towards Goulburn through Long Swamp. By the time I made it to the top of the steep descent of Swallowtail the Tarlo had flooded. Luckily I was warned by a 4x4 driver that the river was no longer passable, he was not able to cross. Meeting at the top of the pass saved me the steep climb back. After nearly 4 weeks of sitting out the flooded rivers and creeks ... I returned to Canberra.

When I was heading back to Canberra and crossed the Tarlo River just south of Big Hill the size of the logs and the quantity of logs that had been dragged out of the river a few days before ... was mind blowing. That was well upstream. I can only guess what it must have been like at the crossing below Swallowtail Pass.

Above Swallowtail Pass.




Finally the rain was clearing. Looking South from the head of the pass.




Warren.