Corn Trail Hike

by Laszlo Schuster
7 years ago
Near Monga, AU

85 views

A wonderful but extremely challenging hike through an historic Aboriginal route linking the East Coast of NSW with the Southern Tablelands Region on the Great Dividing Range.

1. Interesting Things to See and Do:
- View out to the Pigeon House Mountain
- Lots of Native Flora including some very advanced grass trees.
- Native Fauna.

2. Things to Bring:

- Lots of Water. I was carrying full camping gear for an overnight stay just in case we ran into trouble and for training for future walks later in the year. Due to the difficulty of the descent you will need at least 4 litres of water. I used up all of my 3 litres with 2.5km to go before the end of the hike. Recommend electrolyte replacements and extra snacks. You can replenish at the Buckenbowra River at the bottom of the hike but recommend a Life Straw Drink Bottle if not boiling the water.

- Walking Poles x 2 - this is a very challenging hike as you climb to around 850 metres at the beginning and then it is down hill nearly 60% of the hike and the descents in places are very steep. The poles were great for unstable terrain and steep descents.

- Recommend Gaters as there are lots of leeches in the wet areas.

- Camera
- GPS/Compass and Topographic Maps.

3. What is the best time of year to experience this?

- Recommend Spring/Autumn as the difficulty of the hike would make it challenging in the summer unless you dressed accordingly and took extra water.

4. Are there any special parking instructions

- This hike is best done with two cars where you leave one at the bottom Car Park of the Corn Trail and start at the Dasyurus Picnic Area at the beginning of the hike which is accessed from River Forest Road. The bottom car park of the hike is accessed from Misty Mountain Road on the Kings Highway.

- The topographic map correctly shows the corn trail starting at the Kings Highway, BUT there is nowhere to park you car there and there is a sign stating that the Corn Trail should be accessed from River Forest Road.

- The current topographic Map does not show the access track from the Dasyurus Picnic Area to the Corn Trail which is why I recorded the journey to share…

5. Accessibility Issues

- The Misty Mountain Road to the bottom car park can be a little rough in places, but a car with reasonable ground clearance should be able to make it ok. I wouldn’t take a low sporty sedan in there unless you are wanting to scrape the underneath in places…