Walk 53:- Glenbrook Circuit via Duck Pond and Blue Pool exit At A Glance
Route Summary:- This walk starts with an 0.5 km walk along Glenbrook streets, then follows a walking track for 1.75 km to Duck Pond on Glenbrook Creek. The walk then goes for almost 3 km off track or on faint track downstream along Glenbrook Creek which is crossed twice, once just downstream of Kanuka Brook and again just downstream of Blue Pool. The walk then goes upstream, past Blue Pool and up for about 0.8 km on poorly defined track to a fire trail, then on fire trail for about 0.5 km. to Glenbrook streets with the final 0.5 km. again along Glenbrook streets
RQI:- 86
Highlights:- Pristine bush and rock channels along Glenbrook Creek; Duck Pond and Blue Pool; short walk with off track experience
Negatives :- Nil
Length:- 6.9 km.
Grade:- Medium
Weather:_All weather except when Glenbrook Creek in flood
Continuous walking time with a few 3-4 min. stops:- 2 hrs. 33 mins.
Train Time from Central to Start :-. 1 hr 1 min.; Western Line; every hour
Train Time from finish to Central:-. 1 hr. 1 min.; Western Line; every hour
Total Climb :- 135 m.
Total Descent :- 135 m.
Water:- Glenbrook
Toilets:- Glenbrook
Café/Kiosk :- Glenbrook
Published 1:25,000 Map :- Penrith
Walk 53 Track Notes
Glenbrook Circuit via Duck Pond and Blue Pool Exit
30/07/2013 updated 18/12/1014
Km/Hrs.min Kilometers in bold are shown on map
0.00/0.00 Glenbrook station; after leaving station, turn left and follow Burfitt Parade to its T intersection with Cowdery Street, turn left, cross railway lines on bridge and then turn right into Station St.; follow Station St. to its end
0.50/0.06 At end of Station St., turn right and walk down grassy slope beside house No. 7 to track start; follow track down
0.77/0.10 Crossing gully
1.00/0.14 Track junction beside railway cutting; veer left parallel to rail lines, more gently up
1.22/0.19 Track Y junction; veer left; wide red and white bunting tied to trees marks track
1.86/0.26 Track T junction; track on left also goes to Glenbrook Creek but emerges downstream of Duck Pond near Kanuka Brook
1.89/0.28 Track junction; wider track continues more gently downhill, but turn left here and take narrower steeper track down-this is a shortcut
1.93/0.29 Track T junction with above wider track; turn left and now follow this down. This wider track is a former service road to access a pumping station on Duck Pond that supplied water to historic steam trains
2.08/0.31 Wider track now less distinct; turn right here and take a narrower steeper track down-another shortcut.
2.12/0.32 Multiple track junction; the first now very indistinct track on left goes gently uphill and is the remnant wider service road; the second track on left goes steeply down along the former pipeline route; ignore both tracks on left, but turn right and follow this clear track down; after bout 30 meters it winds left and follows a gully down to Glenbrook creek.
2.24/0.37 At Duck Pond; note concrete pump mounting block with bolts; turn left and follow Glenbrook Creek downstream on recognizable but faint walking track; track initially obscured by flood debris.
2.48/0.44 Track junction on sandy spit; faint track on left uphill probably joins with next track up.
2.52/0.45 Track junction at another sandy spit; faint track on left uphill marked with fading bunting on trees; this is the other end of track noted at 1.86 km. above; continue to follow Glenbrook Creek downstream
2.62/0.48 Kanuka Brook joins Glenbrook Creek on opposite side
2.69/0.50 Crossing Glenbrook Creek on rocks at rapids about 50 m downstream of Kanuka Brook; turn left after crossing Glenbrook Creek and follow massive sandstone outcrops along the right bank downstream, Glenbrook Creek now on left
2.83/0.54 Track along solid sandstone to this point, then sporadically clear or faint track, mostly within 10-15 m of Glenbrook Creek; strategic yellow bunting irregularly on trees; this track is reasonably easy to follow downstream to sharp bend in Glenbrook Creek noted below; Creek still on left.
4.06/1.24 On start of sharp bend to the left in Glenbrook Creek with sand beach on opposite bank; easy Creek crossing possible here on rocks just upstream of sandy beach; there is also an alternative track up to Glenbrook right behind the beach; continue walking downstream along the right bank of Glenbrook Creek, Creek on left; there is a faint walking pad for about 70 % of the distance to Blue Pool but the track is easily lost in places; mostly stay close to the creek; when boulders make walking too difficult here, try walking further up on rock ledge, just below the cliff line.
4.86/1.50 Faint track from here- upstream end of Blue Pool
5.01/1.54 Metal sign on metal pole adjacent to Blue Pool on opposite bank
5.06/1.56 Crossing Glenbrook Creek just downstream of Blue Pool; after crossing, walk up creek bank over fairly wide stretch of slippery boulders to find a good walking track just below a cliff line that runs parallel to Glenbrook Creek.
5.08/1.58 Turn left onto walking track and follow this upstream with Glenbrook Creek now on left; walk past metal pole seen from opposite side; track then runs briefly along cliff to a pristine gully/glen that flows into Glenbrook Creek from the right.
5.25/2.03 At gully/glen; note metal blue arrow shields nailed to trees.
5.26/2.04 Track junction on gully bank after crossing; go straight on rough track shortcut; ignore track on left- it goes down to Glenbrook Creek, then veers right and right again then steeply uphill away from Creek to intersect with shortcut
5.28/2.05 Track T junction with wider track described above; turn right, now steeply uphill
5.30/2.06 Track turns left just below cliff, now along cliff.
5.36/2.10 Track at another gully; cross at right angles; care with slippery rocks; track resumes along left bank of gully, gully on right; abundant bunting marks track
5.38/2.11 Track re-crosses gully on easier crossing; now along right bank, gully on left
5.40/2.12 Track now in gully going upstream.
5.46/2.14 Track veers left away from gully, steeply uphill; note silver foil on trees on left; then follow clear track marked by yellow metal tags nailed to trees
5.63/2.18 After crossing the top of a minor gully on right, note blue paint on rocks as well as yellow tags; the blue paint marks a recently constructed mountain bike track that adds confusion to the earlier older walking track.
5.77/2.23 Track Y junction; older walking track continues on left, but new bike track dominates; veer right and follow blue dots and bike track uphill
5.87/2.24 Bike track T junction with service trail; last 20 m. of bike track on grassy slope and fairly indistinct; note double silver foil on tree; turn right and follow service trail;
6.03/2.25 Service trail Y junction with large tree in middle; veer right and continue to its end at Station Street.
6.32/2.27 At Station Street; turn right; follow Station Street to Cowdery Street on left; cross railway lines on Cowdery Street, then turn right into Burfitt Parade and follow this to Glenbrook Station
6.87/2.33 Glenbrook Station; end of walk
Note:-
This walk can be extended by about 2.34 km and 1 hr 30 min. walk time to visit some large cave overhangs beside the pristine Kanuka Brook. To do this:-
At 2.69 km/0.50 mins. walk time after crossing Glenbrook Creek
Turn right and walk about 50 m. back to the junction of Glenbrook Creek and Kanuka Brook
0.05/0.01 At Creek junction; turn left and follow Kanuka Brook upstream on faint and sporadic walking pad; brook on right all the way
0.92/0.33 Track junction at side creek on left; blue arrow shield on tree indicates bush track on left to red Hands Cave; go straight, initially through thick scrub and fallen timber, then on faint walking pad; Kanuka Brook still on right
0.96/0.36 Impressive cave overhang; faint track
1.17/0.45 Large impressive cave overhang; end of deviation; return to original Glenbrook Creek crossing point
2.34/1.30 Back at Glenbrook Creek Crossing
Continue with track notes above from 2.69 km, 0.50 mins..
Route Quality Index
Without extension
On public vehicular roads:- 1.10 km/ 16%
On locked service/fire trail:- 0.45 km/ 7%
On walking tracks/off track:- 5.32 km/ 77%
RQI= 77+4+0=81
With Kanuka Brook extension
On public vehicular roads:- 1.10 km/ 12%
On locked service/fire trails:- 0.45 km/ 4%
On walking tracks/off track:- 8.01 km/ 84%
RQI= 84+2+0=86
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