Hikes and Bikes at the South End of Namadgi National Park

We had to make another trip to the ACT and also had to pick up my kayak from the south coast which all equated to a lot of driving. The only way to make so much driving tolerable is to plan some activities along the way. Shanahans Mountain and Mount Boboyan have been on my list for a long time. After all, there are tracks to the summits and each walk takes only around an hour so why would you not go? But, these two trails are at the far south end of Namadgi National Park and are too short to be worth the long drive on their own. South again, however, right on the border is Mount Clear and the shortest drive from Canberra to my kayaks location on the south coast happened to be down the Boboyan Road.

First up is Mount Boboyan via the Yerrabi track. In spring, the top of the hill is a mass of wildflowers. Very pretty unless you are allergic to bees in which case you walk gingerly through the masses of insects and masses of flowers. A short descent from the trig leads to a big rock platform with a sturdy panoramic sign detailing all the peaks visible from Yankee Hat down to Yauk just peaking out in the distance.

A little further south is Shanahans Mountain with a short loop walk and filtered views to Mount Clear and the long ridge of the Clear Range. We camped at Mount Clear campground, a lovely little spot by Naas Creek with a plethora of kangaroos along the grassy valley bottoms.

Next morning we rode all the way along Long Flat Fire Trail (not that flat) to Mount Clear Fire Trail (FT) and the top of Mount Clear. The bikes got stashed near a massive boulder on Mount Clear FT and, to save an inexplicable 60 metres up and 60 metres straight back down again on the FT, we contoured through open bush (I haven’t been in such easy to walk bush for years!) at the 1400 metre contour. Mount Clear has filtered views, a trig and lots of communication towers. There was still a little snow visible in the far distance.

The four hour outward bound trip was replaced by a return trip of around two hours as the FT riding was very fast. Apart that is, from the two kilometre section along the southern tributary of Nass Creek. The topographic map shows Long Flat FT running pretty much south along the western side of a small creek. Which it does, sort of. The almost two kilometre section from the north side of the creek (right near the 1334 metre spot elevation on the map) to the junction with Mount Clear FT is very vague, and, when you are bombing along on a bicycle coming from the north easy the overgrown FT is easy to miss. The FT is marked with a piece of blue string around a tree but we only saw this on the way back. On the outward journey, we shot straight past this junction and followed an old FT unmarked on the topographic map which junctions with Long Corner FT (runs along the Boboyan divide) at a water tank (quite close to the 1376 metre spot elevation). This route is longer and has an extra 70 or 80 metres of elevation gain but I can’t say it’s slower on a bicycle as Long Flat FT is slow riding along the creek as there is barely a trace of the FT left.

Either route works, although the more main, undocumented FT is about a kilometre longer with a bit more elevation gain. We rode both, following the Link FT on the way back. The Link FT is barely visible most of the distance but runs along the creek on grassy open meadow so no trail is really needed if you are walking although it’s a bumpy ride on a bicycle. It’s flat, however, so still easily navigated on a bike. In wetter weather, maintaining dry feet might be a challenge. I got a “booter” where the FT fords a minor creek. Once we hit the main Long Flat FT the rest of the trip was a breeze, zooming along the well maintained track with the uphills easy to ride. One of those trips where you are so happy to have a mountain bike!