Bushwalk Australia

Hi everyone,

I stumbled on the Mount Royal summit traverse in Greg Powell's excellent Hunter Valley Bushwalks (https://books.google.com.au/books?id=9Z ... &q&f=false). It sounds like a terrific walk and I can't believe I know so little about this park, having grown up in the Hunter.

My interest was further piqued after reading Chrissy and Caz's account on their equally excellent blog (https://awildland.blogspot.com/2014/12/ ... -park.html).

Just wondering about a few questions:-

1) What is park access like? Our group has a few AWD vehicles between us but not anticipating anything too troubling
2) How long should we set aside for the full walk? We intent to follow in Chrissy and Caz's steps going from the SW road near Mount Royal, north over the spine, then trail and road walking back once we hit the old Sneaky Pinch track. A few other accounts turn back after reaching the summit but they set off later than we intend to. I've set aside a full day but want to get a feel for whether a sneaky walk up Pieries Peak on the way out is overly ambitious.

Any further advice?

Cheers!

Well to answer my questions again,

1) Fine, good road in, very 2WD friendly
2) It took us 4 hr 45 min, stopping for lunch at the northern end of the second peak. That involved leaving cars at the base of Mount Royal where the road is currently closed and walking the Sneaky Pinch trail then road back to the car.

Absolutely outstanding walk, btw. My new favorite day walk.

There's a little bit of everything in this one, from the initial hard ascent, to alpine grassland, moss and lichen dripping forest, amazing little grass boy grove, stunning views everywhere, rock scrambles, epic stuff. The 80 km/h gusts just made things more exciting too!