Six Foot Track (day 3): Cox River to Explorers Tree
The third and final day of our Six Foot Track adventures takes us through misty Megalong Valley and the lush rainforests leading up to Explorers Tree in Katoomba, where we have only a short journey back to the car and then onwards to Sydney for much-needed showers. Even without the dramatic sandstone cliffs and sprawling valley views that you’ll find on most other walks in the Blue Mountains, this trail has proven to be scenic in its own way and full of unexpected adventures. An Easter Long Weekend to remember!
Trail stats: Cox River to Explorers Tree
Distance: 17.5km (including yet another wrong turn)
Trail time: 4.5hrs
Highlights: crossing the Bowtells Swing Bridge (again); hiking through misty Megalong Valley; steep but beautiful stair climbing up to Explorers Tree
Crossing Bowtells Bridge (again)
After a positively blissful sleep at the Six Foot Track Eco Lodge, we are feeling energised and ready to hit the trail for our final climb out of the valley. Sadly, every article of clothing I was wearing yesterday, as well as my hiking boots, are still sopping from the rainstorm, so I get dressed rather reluctantly. We profusely thank Pavel, the owner of the Lodge, for his incredible hospitality last night and set off around 830 towards the Bowtells Swing Bridge (which we are crossing for the second time in two days, due to our poor navigation last night). Thankfully, we now know to take a right at the fork immediately after the bridge, so there shouldn’t be a third crossing in the near future..
Once on the opposite side of Cox River, the morning is a mix of up and down along a narrow trail all the way to Megalong Valley Cemetery, whose nearby campground we had intended to stay at last night (despite the weather having different plans for us). It’s fairly cool this morning and the whole valley is covered in a thick fog, which lends the walk some mysterious vibes and also a very pleasant temperature.
Much of this section crosses through private land and farms, so we open and close gates or walk up stairs that sit over the fences every few minutes, all the while avoiding the sheep poo that sits in large piles near the path. Naturally, we manage to take a wrong turn at another unmarked fork and find ourselves on a private farm that is actually nothing to do with the Six Foot Track, setting ourselves back yet again. Surely it wouldn’t take much effort to just put a few more signs along the trail, I can’t imagine this is the first, or last, time some hikers have found themselves opening a gate onto a private farm thinking it’s part of the route..
Luckily, the elderly woman who hobbles out to see if we are lost is incredibly helpful in pointing us back on track, and her young grandson even rides alongside us on his kiddie motorbike to make sure we get to the track. Frustrated by wasting time walking in circles again (but more frustrated with the lack of signage), we are relieved to finally arrive at the campground in Megalong. We don’t hang around at all, but at least we know it’s only a further 8km to go!
The next few kilometres are beautifully sunlit and pleasantly level, which prepares us nicely for the final uphill climb to Explorers Tree. In no time, our leisurely walk is over and we arrive at the start of the stairs to begin our ascent, loudly praising our trekking poles (without which I’m not really sure how we’d get up some of the larger steps, apparently built for giants). The entirety of this climb is through vibrant green rainforest and past little waterfalls, providing a wonderful distraction as we huff and puff all the way to the end. Even as my calves feel like they’re on fire, though, I kind of enjoy this final physical push.
Within 1km of the end of our walk, we make a slight detour to the right to visit a lookout over the cliffs that neither one of us would have even noticed if not for the recommendation of a fellow hiker. It is a great view with which to celebrate the end of our 50km walk through the Blue Mountains. From the trailhead, we can’t find a route to get back to our car without walking on the shoulder of a busy highway, so we end up, somewhat shamefully, taking an Uber 2km down the road. As good as it felt to haul myself and my heavy pack up all those stairs, it also feels pretty amazing to take my still-saturated boots off and let my pruny toes start to dry out. My toes are basically one enormous blister, I smell very questionable, but I’m radiating the kind of happiness that only comes from the trail. Next stop, post-hike burritos!
Back at the car– burrito time!
Read more about the Six Foot Track
SIX FOOT TRACK (DAY 1): JENOLAN CAVES TO BLACK RANGE
The Comments
fellowhiker
Man these are the stories you live for! I’m not much of a reader but I was fully invested in all 3 parts this was so well written haha
Reminds me of some of my mistakes on hikes. Ahh the good ol days.
P.s. you’re cute! :p
brooke brisbine
fellowhikerThanks so much for following along! 🙂
Claire
Just a note it’s a left turn straight after the swing bridge walking Jenolan to Katoomba
Matthew
Hi Brooke,
It isn’t weird for the Six Foot to change a lot with the seasons, last year was a very dry summer and the April-June “big wet” didn’t turn up so everything was very dry, come to think of it, I’m sure the Fire Ban had been extended to around the the month of May.
This year there has been summer storms to keep everything topped up and green.
I’m really hoping for a wet foggy walk this year, the same track can look, feel and smell completely different once you add water to the mix.
There a quite a few hiking app out there and have had a go at a few of them, Viewranger is the one I found I gravitated to.
This one seems to have a worldwide user base, which may be helpful for you globetrotters.
The app does rely on user route creation so some places a well covered others not.
The website companion is great and user friendly so if a route isn’t created, it is fast to map one out.
The app is quite powerful in what it will do, including live tracking your walk and even allowing other to follow your progress if you feel it necessary.
If you have a planned route loaded, you can have prompts if you got astray.
Below is the link to my current Six Foot Track route (a walk you will know), which anybody can view/download as an example of what you might find.
https://my.viewranger.com/route/details/MTc1NzE1NA==?ref=-33.71215807373051|150.31194400000004|11
Cheers
Matt
brooke brisbine
MatthewHi Matt,
Thanks so much for sharing the link of your Six Foot Track route! I will have to download ViewRanger and test the app out on a few upcoming walks, it sounds like it could be a great asset for directionally-challenged hikers like myself.
If my April walk was any indication, you should be in for plenty of wet, foggy weather along the Six Foot Track next month. I actually really enjoyed the early morning haze, and of course the lush vegetation was an added bonus of recent rain!
Matthew
Hi Brooke,
The Six foot Track is the one track I think is most affected by seasonal conditions in the Blue Mountains, if the season is dry all the little streams will be empty, on the flip side if we have a wet season (usually April-June in the Blue Mountains) than there just seems to be water everywhere, I have once been there when hip high crossings where so frequent I ran out of fingers to count them all.
I agree filters are a must especially if around farmland or populated areas.
I have tried a few apps, Wildwalks is fine to get ideas but that is all.
ViewRanger seems to have the biggest coverage worldwide but does require users to create routes others can download. The companion website is pretty good make routes easy the make, adding photos a points of interest, very handy.
The app does track you live, so getting lost is harder, just retrace your steps shown on the apps map.
The app does quite a lot of more detailed stuff such as geocaching (if that’s your game)
Cheers Matt
Matthew
Hi Brooke,
Nice to see someone walking it in the same direction I do.
Just makes sense to me to travel there by bus, clean and smelling pleasant enough, to allow no time restraints for the rest of the walk.
I do this one every year with my brother, a bit of a release of stupid brother antics for a weekend.
It is amazing how much the track changes, last year in early May, water anywhere other than campgrounds and Cox’s river was hard to come by. The current conditions look so lush, makes me look forward to my June 1-3 trip this year.
I think the track is one of the best marked but have noticed that over the years some markers have gone, So I have created the route on the app ViewRanger with I hope the required information to keep people informed and on the right track (pun intended).
Each year I do update it with new information I think is helpful.
I’d recommend a hiking app of some form if you are hiking in the Blue Mountains, there are so many intricate tracks to be had there a map is so helpful.
Cheers
Matt
brooke brisbine
MatthewHi Matt,
I totally agree! I also really liked exploring Jenolan Caves while I was still fresh on the first day, a great start to the walk.
Interesting to hear that you had difficulty finding water during your trip last year, it sounds like I may have gotten quite lucky that the rain tanks were all full in April. Definitely something to consider for people hoping to do the Six Foot Track in future, a filter is essential just in case!
There were several junctions along the trail that had zero signage, I wish that I had something like ViewRanger with me to avoid those unfortunate wrong turns.. I will definitely have to check it out. Is this the best app for trail maps, in your opinion?
Thanks for your comments, and I hope you enjoy your upcoming hike! I’ll be interested to hear if there’s still water in the tanks next month– hopefully so 🙂
-Brooke