Gourock Range - Tallaganda Forest

This is one of a series of posts dealing with the Molonglo High Plains (Hoskinstown, Rossi, Forbes Creek and other areas to the west of the old volcano Palerang).  The entire series is at:

Wild Places

Bounding the Molonglo High Plain on the South East is the Gourock Range.  I travelled there today looking at timber.

The Gourock Range is a rugged mountain range in the Tallaganda Forest to the south of Captains Flat and Braidwood.  It is accessible by Fire Trails - particularly the South Forest Way.  The South Forest Way to Nick's Trail was in fairly good condition today - the dirt road has sharp drop-aways on the slope of Round Mountain and there is a washed out area which could be dangerous in wet weather.

Gourock - Round Mtn (left) and Tumatbulla (right)

The two mountains accessible from South Forest Way, Round Mountain and Tumatbulla, are straightforward walks from the trail and there are areas where a couple of vehicles can be parked off road close to the climb.  The bush land is not dense - but there was a lot of branches on the ground.  A good mobile signal can be obtained at the intersection of South Forest Way and Nick's Trail.  A useful account of a walk to the two mountains can be found here.

There are plenty of wildflowers and some remnant bushland (esp. along the deep gullies).

Gourock Range - Strawflowers, South Forest Way

Gourock Range, South Forest Way

Gourock Range, South Forest Way

 An unexpected bonus was a fly by by a family of yellow tailed black cockatoos.

And there are some superb northerly rolling farmland views towards Braidwood driving back along the road between Captains Flat and Braidwood.

Author: Peter Quinton
Palerang
March 2014