Deep Creek Dam Single Track

On Sunday I went out to explore the single track around Deep Creek Dam near the Eurobodalla Botanic Gardens. It was not near as exciting as the previous days sea kayak trip from Bawley Point to Maloneys Beach - which turned out to be a sausage trip because my tendinitis prevented me from going. By all accounts, this was one of the best paddles of the year with breaching humpback whales, rafts of hundreds of shearwaters, cruisy conditions for the first half of the trip followed by white knuckled sailing on the second half; in fact, the superlatives used to describe the trip afterward outnumbered racists at a Donald Trump rally. 

 

Deep Creek Dam

I'd been told about a new single track trail around Deep Creek Dam by the local bicycling contingent and knew that the track originated somewhere near the Botanic Gardens, so I started there. Walking along the outlying tracks at the Botanic Gardens I had to backtrack a couple of times when I deviated down smaller tracks thinking they might be the single track only to find they abruptly ended. The smarter thing would have been to walk straight out to Deep Creek Dam, or even park at the end of Deep Creek Dam Road where there are bicycle gates (but no trail map). 

 

Trail Map

After various side tracks, however, I arrived at Deep Creek Dam but on the wrong side of the fence to access the track - hence the recommendation to start at Deep Creek Dam Road. In my best MovNat style I vaulted the fence and immediately got on the single track. 

 

Redefining garbage on the tracks

There is a ring of fire trails around Deep Creek Dam, about 60 metres above the dam and the track basically follows these keeping 10 to 20 metres below. About a third of the way around I realized I had missed Mogo Trig, and bushwacked up to Dog Trap Road and got on Mogo Trig Road. I can confirm there is a trig and absolutely no view. Where Dog Trap Road joins a more major forest road that originates in Malua Bay, I came upon a trail map which was handy.

 

Trig but no view

Around at the north end of Deep Creek Dam I took the powerline track which goes steeply up and down into a couple of gullies until I intersected the old road the mountain bikes use and popped out at Deep Creek Dam where a friendly fellow I had met biking the track offered me a cup of tea. From there it was an easy sidle back to the Botanic Gardens.