Friday night Sydney camp escape
We zoomed out of Sydney straight after work, had a pizza in Windsor and set up camp in the dark at Mount Wilson’s Cathedral Reserve Campground. It’s the perfect spot if you want to make an early start on your Blue Mountains adventure on a Saturday morning.
Garden of Stone loop
We completed the shortest car shuffle ever imagined and placed our two cars at the beginning and end of our 13km Gardens of Stone Walk so we didn’t have to walk along the Wolgan Road. Then, we initiated Cailin into Helen’s Huskies and hit the track.
We balked at the first hill – thinking that it looked far too steep and ripped up by dirt bikes to be our track and decided to head down a path parallel to the road. This turned into a super rough dirt bike track and we accidentally found ourselves at the second car/planned end of the walk (Baal Bone Trail). Helen’s huskies took it all in our stride and decided to do our trip clockwise instead.
The Western side of the loop is a section of the Bicentennial Trail and is significantly more beautiful (think pagodas and views galore) than the Baal Bone Trail which is under powerlines for half the time.
On the second half of the day we ran into lots of dirtbike riders and a 4WD convoy – but the track was wide enough and they gave us lots of room. When we finally reached the steep section that scared us in the morning – we found a 4WD traffic jam after one had crashed into a tree. Perfect time for afternoon tea while watching everyone give unhelpful advice and a nail biting winching session.
Topo Map
Gardens of stone walk PDF map for download
Capertee valley
We camped at Coorongooba campground in the Capertee Valley and woah boy is it an impressive campsite! Driving into the Capertee Valley was incredible – I’ve never seen rock formations like that before!
We had a leisurely walk along the Capertee River trail and had a delicious lunch by the River before heading back the same way.
Topo Map
Out of the way vino side trip
So…. it turns out Mudgee is not really close to Capertee and Margot really likes a glass of vino. With no fact checker and a promise of being “just around the corner” Margot managed to convince the car to make a slight detour in the opposite direction to a vineyard in Mudgee. Probs should have just gone to The Royal Hotel in Capertee… will do next time!
Too Long; Didn’t Read
- Cathedral campground at Mount Wilson is great campground along Bells Line of Road – easy to get there straight after work
- 13km loop day walk around Gardens of stones
- Primo views of the pagodas on the Western side
- Sandy firetrail the whole way though – reasonably flat with a super steep bit near the carpark
- Coorongooba campground is one of the most incredible car camping ground I’ve ever been to!
Idea of Garden of Stone Overnight Bushwalk
Our original plan for this Gardens of Stone edition of the Six Weekly Aspirational Bushwalks was to do a through trip along a 24km section of the Bicentennial trail from Wolgan Road to Ben Bullen (see route on google map) but we had to change plans last minute so Cailin could get back to Sydney early. We’ll definitely have this idea in the bank for next time!
Six Weekly Aspirational Bushwalks 