Trip Report: Great North Walk, Mt Kuring-Gai to Berowra
Posted: Tue 24 Aug, 2010 12:03 am
Mt Kuring-Gai to Berowra via the Great North Walk
Last Saturday it didn’t take much to motivate me to avoid the Federal election hype and attempt part of the Great North Walk and its feeder tracks. Having previously done a few other sections, for some time I had planned to complete the one from Mt Kuring-Gai to Berowra, to the north of Sydney. This is a one way walk, requiring a short rail trip back to the start, or a car shuffle if you can organise one. On previous occasions something had always thwarted my plans for this particular trip; weather, railway maintenance or some other distraction. Finally success!
Mt Kuring-Gai to Calna Creek via Lyrebird Creek gully
A little over an hour’s drive from home found me parking at Kuring-Gai railway station. The first section of the walk descends a steep, sealed trail into Lyrebird Gully within the Berowra Valley Regional Park. At a clearing this joins a narrow bush track which eventually descends very steeply following Lyrebird Creek. There is a walker’s log book near the start of the foot track encouraging feedback on track conditions and walker enjoyment. Having no feedback as yet I registered my trip plans, noting a few others out and about before me. During the day I encountered a number of parties who, judging from their frenetic pace and hydration packs, were likely teams in training for the 100km Oxfam Trailwalker event the following weekend nearby. Continuing down beside the creek it’s a very pretty walk requiring some agility to negotiate various sections of rock hopping, creek boulder crossings, climbing up and down steep sections, steps cut into rocks etc. There is a lot of variety along this rainforest-like walk, featuring rock pools, cascades, ferns, mossy rocks, an interesting long sandstone wall, and cave overhangs. At one point I encountered a group of magnificent yellow-tailed black cockatoos in the trees above, whose screeching and flightiness appeared to signal annoyance at my presence.
Last Saturday it didn’t take much to motivate me to avoid the Federal election hype and attempt part of the Great North Walk and its feeder tracks. Having previously done a few other sections, for some time I had planned to complete the one from Mt Kuring-Gai to Berowra, to the north of Sydney. This is a one way walk, requiring a short rail trip back to the start, or a car shuffle if you can organise one. On previous occasions something had always thwarted my plans for this particular trip; weather, railway maintenance or some other distraction. Finally success!
Mt Kuring-Gai to Calna Creek via Lyrebird Creek gully
A little over an hour’s drive from home found me parking at Kuring-Gai railway station. The first section of the walk descends a steep, sealed trail into Lyrebird Gully within the Berowra Valley Regional Park. At a clearing this joins a narrow bush track which eventually descends very steeply following Lyrebird Creek. There is a walker’s log book near the start of the foot track encouraging feedback on track conditions and walker enjoyment. Having no feedback as yet I registered my trip plans, noting a few others out and about before me. During the day I encountered a number of parties who, judging from their frenetic pace and hydration packs, were likely teams in training for the 100km Oxfam Trailwalker event the following weekend nearby. Continuing down beside the creek it’s a very pretty walk requiring some agility to negotiate various sections of rock hopping, creek boulder crossings, climbing up and down steep sections, steps cut into rocks etc. There is a lot of variety along this rainforest-like walk, featuring rock pools, cascades, ferns, mossy rocks, an interesting long sandstone wall, and cave overhangs. At one point I encountered a group of magnificent yellow-tailed black cockatoos in the trees above, whose screeching and flightiness appeared to signal annoyance at my presence.