Walk 25:- Otford to Bundeena At A Glance
Route Summary:- This walk goes steeply up for about 0.75 km. on fire trail and public road from Otford Station to the start of the Coast Track on Lady Wakehurst Drive. It then follows the Coast Track to Bundeena. The final 1.5 km is along Bundeena streets.
RQI:- 89
Highlights:- This is an iconic Sydney bushwalk that traverses the Royal National Park from south to north .
It crosses the Palm Jungle, Burning Palms, Garie, Wattamolla and Marley beaches, several headlands including Eagle Rock and Wedding Cake Rocks
With spectacular Pacific views.
Negatives :- Trains to Otford only every two hours; track degraded and washed out in parts
Length:- 26.3 km
Grade:- Hard due to length
Weather:_All weather; some wet creek crossings after heavy rain.
Continuous walking time with a few 3-4 min. stops and 20 min. lunch stop:- 6 hrs 30 min.
Train Time from Central to Start :-. 1 hr 1 min. ; trains every 2 hours
Train Time from finish to Central:-. Ferry from Bundeena to Cronulla every hour departing on the hour; train from Cronulla to Central and Eastern Suburbs Line 48 mins., every 15 mins.
Total Climb :- 500 meters
Total Descent :- 650 meters
Water:- Otford and Bundeena; shop at Garie Beach may be open
Toilets:- Bundeena; Wattamolla; Garie
Café/Kiosk :- Bundeena; possibly at Garie Beach
Published 1:25,000 Map :- Otford and Port Hacking
Walk 25 Track Notes Otford to Bundeena
6 August 2013; update 15/11/2016
Track Update 9th April 2015
Majot track upgrade in progress:-
- Duckboard has been placed over the grassy slope south of Burning Palms
- Numerous green arrowed posts and some metal signage and maps have been placed along track. A significant improvement, but signage does not mention the end points of the track.
- The whole track north of Marley Beach is now in excellent condition
- The formerly very bad climb up north of Garie Beach replaced with sandstone steps
Km./Hrs.min Kilometers in bold are shown on map
0.00/0.00 Otford Station; walk up stairs and continue walking straight up steep paved footpath; do not take track on right along fence.
0.16/0.04 Sealed footpath intersects gravel service road with signage:- ‘ Station Road Fire Trail’, turn left and follow this less steeply up; after a right hand bend, this becomes Fanshawe road.
0.60/0.12 Fanshawe Road T junction with Lady Wakehurst Drive; turn left and follow Lady Wakehurst Drive for about 150 m.
0.75/0.13 Signage on right ‘Bundeena 26 km’ This is the start of the Coast Track; turn right and follow walking track up steps
1.00/0.17 Track junction; go left on Coast Track sign; right track goes down to Werong Beach.
1.25/0.22 Walking track intersects service road turning circle; continue along service road
2.52/0.37 Track junction with signage on right:- ‘ Coast Track’ and ‘Garie 6.5 km’; turn right and follow walking track
3.15/0.47 Track junction; very faint track straight ahead and down probably goes to Werong Beach; turn hard left and continue on good track
5.86/1.30 Burning Palms Beach and clubhouse
6.25/1.36 Track junction on grassy headland after walking up past several huts; signage:- ‘ Coast Track’ straight ahead; track on left up grassy ridge goes to Garrawarra farm; go straight on Coast Track
6.54/1.40 Track on grassy slope veers slightly left and gently down towards two vertical posts
6.76/1.43 Track junction near start of South Era huts; continue straight on
6.92/1.45 South Era; cross creek near beach, then turn left and walk upstream to a 2 m plus high pole with wide green stripes; turn right and track marked with similar poles up grassy headland.
7.66/1.58 North Era; again cross creek close to beach, turn left after crossing and walk up grassy headland on steps
8.38/2.15 Little Garie; track clearly marked with arrowed posts
8.92/2.22 At Garie Beach; walk along beach to is northern end, then take poorly maintained track up rocky headland
10.59/2.48 Track junction and signage:- ‘ Curra Moors Car Park’; continue straight on walking track
12.74/3.13 Track junction with service trail joining from left; continue straight on walking track
13.00/3.17 Curracurrong Creek crossing at Eagle Rock
14.68/3.41 Creek crossing and bay; beautiful location
14.84/3.44 Track junction; take track on right with arrowed post; take care from here as several side tracks can mislead; track eventually heads up to rocky knoll where it widens
15.62/3.55 Near top of rocky knoll; track widens here and goes downhill
15.78/3.58 Track T junction with wider service trail and signage:- ‘Curracurrang’ back track; turn left and follow service trail downhill
15.87/3.59 Water tank on right; continue down, veering left, still on service trail
16.11/4.01 Track emerges at upper Wattamolla car park; turn right, then left at end of parking area; follow track down
16.20/4.03 Wattamolla picnic area; time out for lunch
16.20/4.22 Resume walking; walk downhill and follow arrowed posts past the toilet blocks past car parking area to Coote Creek above the waterfall and pool; (do not go down to the beach to find track)
16.39/4.26 At Coote Creek and signage:- ‘ Bundeena 12 km’ across Creek and ‘Otford 15 km’ back track; cross Creek
17.74/4.44 Track junction and signage:- ‘ Little Marley’ and ‘Bundeena’ track on right; ‘Little Marley Fire Trail’ track on left; go right ; track eventually emerges on bare rocks near cliff line.
Note:- Much of the Coast Track from here is on bare rock close to the cliff line. There is a tendency to veer uphill on minor tracks and thus lose the main track; if this happens, walk down towards the cliff line where the main track is marked with short metal spikes and even variously constructed matting; take care with cliff edge- the track is never less than 10 m away from cliff.
19.88/5.14 At Little Marley Beach; walk about half way along the beach close to the Ocean on sand in front of dammed creek/lagoon, then veer hard left away from Ocean towards rocks and metal pole with sign and arrowed post; ignore the arrowed post-it misleads over rocks; a good walking track through bush resumes here ;
20.26/5.18 Unsignaged track junction; go right towards Marley Beach
20.51/5.21 At Big Marley Beach; walk along the full length of the the beach to its northern end on sand, close to the Ocean; cross creek on rocks and turn left, walk about 50 m upstream to find slightly obscured washed out steps on right and track continuation
21.26/5.30 Track junction with service road turning circle; follow rubbly service road for about 50 m gently uphill to arrowed post and track continuation on right
22.28/5.43 Pure white sandstone cliff; special location
23.13/5.53 Creek crossing; after crossing, track up on poorly maintained steps.
24.20/6.07 Track junction; faint track goes straight, but turn left at ‘ Bundeena’ signpost now gently uphill
24.85/6.15 Track junction with sealed service road; turn right and follow service road; about 50 m on there is another track junction with signage:- ‘ Jibbon Head Trail’ on right; continue along service trail to locked gate
25.02/6.17 At locked gate and signage:- ‘ Wattamolla 8 km’ back track; end of Coast Track; start of Bundeena Urban Area; follow Beachcomber Ave. to its T junction with Scarborough Street past several side streets
25.75/6.25 At T junction of Beachcomber and Scarborough Streets, turn left and follow Scarborough St. downhill to a T junction with Brighton Street
26.16/6.30 At Brighton Street, turn right and follow this to Bundeena Shopping centre and ferry wharf
26.31/6.32 At Bundeena shops; end of walk
Route Quality Index
On public vehicular road:- 2.04km/ 7%
On locked service/fire trail 2.20km/ 8%
On walking track:- 22.07km/ 85%
RQI= 85+4+0=89
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