Cowan to Brooklyn (after more Covid lockdown and a very very wet Sydney summer and autumn.)
Cowan to Brooklyn
Another Covid lockdown before Christmas and Sydney’s very very wet summer and autumn has kept me off the trails. My friend Rodney and I took advantage of a glorious winter day to do this next GNW section.
This walk picks up from Cowan station just across the road from the finish of the last section. Another track of about 13.5 Kms, it descends to Jerusalem Bay then climbs up, joining firetrail for the second half via Brooklyn Dam to Brooklyn and the Hawksbury River railway station for the trip back. A week of fine weather has let the trail dry up a bit, but still a bit of mud and puddles.
Again the excellent tracknotes are here:
http://www.wildwalks.com/bushwalking-and-hiking-in-nsw/ku-ring-gai-chase-national-park/jerusalem-bay-track-cowan-to-brooklyn.html
Cowan Station
You have to follow the GNW arrows onto the station and walk along the platform to reach a point where you cross the rails to the east, walk north beside the rail line and reach a bridge over the freeway, to begin the track.
Descent to Jerusalem Bay.
The track was a lot wetter than the last time I walked it, still drying out after all the rain. Its a beautiful clear winter day and we begin to warm up as we follow the track descending through the bush beside the creek which feeds into Jerusalem bay. There are lots of places where you descend through rocky breaks with the creek bubbling away on the left. We reach a small waterfall and the the track crosses onto the other bank as we near the bottom. The track begins to widen as the creek meets the estuary and we head along to reach Jerusalem Bay.
Jerusalem Bay
Jerusalem Bay ( a bay off Cowan Creek) is famous for its solitary and much photographed Palm tree. It is a popular place for boats to come, especially on weekends. It has a high jumping rock, popular with teenagers. Its a beautifl spot.
Climb up to the ridge.
After Jerusalem Bay the track sidles on the northern side, crosses a small tributary creek, skirts the cliffline for a bit and then climbs steeply out of the valley up the next side creek. Its just under 200m climb up to the ridge top, with plenty of cut steps.
To Campbells Creek.
The next section of track heads across the ridge and descends into Campbells creek which eventually flows into Porto Bay.
To the freeway Cutting
From Campbells Creek the track climbs back up through a couple of rock breaks, and follows a cliffline for a way. There are some good views at various point along the track.
Once on the top of the hill again, the track soon meets up with a firetrail, turning right leads on to Brooklyn. Its worth the short diversion along the firetrail to the left to reach the top of one of the deep cuttings of the main freeway north from Sydney, as the road descends down to the Hawksbury River.
Fire trail towards Brooklyn
Back at the juction of the firetrail and the foot track, the firetrail leads along the tops towards Brooklyn. There are good views at several point, down to the main rail line, across to the sea and Porto Bay, and to the main north Railway Bridge over the Hawksbury.
Further on the just before the firetrail starts to descend, there is a good lookout over the Hawksbury River, with views to the north and east. The railway bridge and Freeway Bridge are prominant.
Brooklyn Dam
A bit further on we took a shortcut, down the ridge and re-joined the firetrail at Brooklyn Dam. There are a couple of camping areas here. The smaller is located just off the firetrail before the dam wall. From there you cross a small creek, flowing from the dam wall and go up to the Main Brooklyn Dam campsite on the other side. This is a pleasant spot next to the small dam. We had lunch here.
Down to Brooklyn
From the dam the trail follows the firetrail, up and down over a few rises in the land before beginning the final, very steep descent of Hobo Hill. The track here has concrete sections and is very steep. On the way down there is are some good views to the right through some shady forest down into Dead Horse Bay. A bit more steep descent and you reach the trail end at a locked gate. Its a short distance through the Brooklyn Street to the station. Grab a coffee for your wait for the train.
We had a really beautiful winter day for this walk, clear as a bell and warmer than expected. This walk has more firetrail than the GNW walks so far, but in winter its was OK. I’ve done it before, when it was very hot walking on the firetrails. The highlights of this walk are Jerusalem Bay and the climb out, the freeway cutting, and the magnificent views to the Hawksbury. The end of this walk marks a major point on the GNW, about 75Kms from Sydney. The next sections are now all north of the Hawksbury.
(Tip: Be aware that Cowan station is a short platform and if you want to get off there, ride in the rear 4 carriages of the train. We didn’t and had to wait an hour for a train back to get the car.)