When most bushwalkers think of Morton National Park, they think scrub, and that is not unreasonable. The Budawangs are famous for scenic wilderness bushwalks and for thick, almost impenetrable, spiky scrub. However, in the vast bushfires of 2019 to 2020, much of Morton National Park burnt. The Ettrema Wilderness saw extensive fires that rampaged across Ettrema Tops but thankfully seem to have spared the deepest creeks like Jones and Ettrema.
On a cool, windy, winters day, we walked north into the Ettrema Wilderness. An old fire trail, not driven since the area was declared wilderness and vehicles were shut out, leads north along the a broad plateau between a series of deeply incised creeks.
About 2.8 km in, there is a poorly defined fork in the fire road. Either option works and they meet up in a few hundred metres where the track continues north. After about an hour of walking, we happened to meet Marilyn, who's blog inspired much of this walk. Her group had been exploring Monkey Ropes Creek in some fairly extreme winds.
The walking, post bush fire, is open and pleasant. Lots of water in all the creeks and signs of recovering forest, however, there was little fauna around. The usual kangaroos, wallabies and normally prolific bird life were sadly missing.
After a few hours of walking, we passed by Rodgers Hill where we dropped our packs and walked up to the top of this little hill where there are filtered views out to Jervis Bay and Point Perpendicular. Another hours walk and the track dropped into Tilly Anne Gap and faded out. We followed a small creek north until it joined Cinch Creek. A few hundred metres north (downstream) along Cinch Creek we found a small but adequate campsite. There were small sandstone bluffs above us to the east.
Days are short at this time of year and after a cup of tea and putting up the tent, there was only about 45 minutes of daylight left. I wandered along Cinch Creek until it became blocked with big boulders. I scrambled up through the small cliffs to the east and as darkness moved in, I walked back to camp along the top of the plateau.
Next morning we followed Cinch Creek south and then west for about three kilometres. There were small sandstone cliffs to either side and easy walking through light bush. Where Cinch Creek bends to the south again, at a point where the creek spills over flat sandstone slabs, we left the creek and walked a hundred metres uphill to some big slabs overlooking Rodgers Hill and Cinch Creek for a short break.
With the aid of a compass, we walked up to Billys Hill through open burnt forest and then dropped 20 or 30 metres down to the west where we left our packs and headed off to ramble up Hamlet Crown. Hamlet Crown bends Ettrema Creek to the west which is over 400 metres below in a deep incised gorge.
There are easy slabs to scramble down and then a simple steep slope leads down to Billys Pass where the land drops steeply away to the north and south. Hamlet Crown has a series of stacked up sandstone cliffs guarding the top, but it is easy to find gullies through the bluffs by traversing around the south side of Hamlet Crown.
We walked straight uphill from Billys Pass until we hit the sandstone cliffs and then walked south until we could scramble through one set of sandstone cliffs to a second set of sandstone cliffs. Another minor traverse and we found an easy, if scrubby ramp, up to the summit.
After scrambling onto a boulder to make sure we had tagged the absolute high point we wandered around to find the best view of the spectacular Ettrema Gorge. After another short break, we reversed our route and hiked back up to the plateau for a late lunch.
The next few kilometres of walking were simply wonderful. We walked right along the edge of the escarpment that drops steeply into Ettrema Creek on easy rock slabs. Grass trees were flowering and there were good views all the way of steep red and grey sandstone cliffs.
Around 4.00 pm, we found an excellent camp site by a creek running into a little mini gorge before it dropped over steep cliffs into Jones Creek. After a cup of tea, I wandered along rock slabs beside our little rock gorge until daylight faded.
Next morning we continued walking south along the line of the escarpment until we reached a faint old vehicle track which is labelled Jones Creek walking track on the map. The cliffs of Jones Creek soon pinch out as the track runs along the contour line to meet the main old fire trail we came in on.
The final walk out was quicker than expected and we reached our car in time for a late lunch.
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