PLAN: Budawangs - Wog Wog to Styles Creek

summary: A great walk from the Western end of the Budawangs through Burumbeet valley and up to Styles Creek.
distance: 46kms
tags: HIKE - PLAN - WOGWOG - STYLES - TARN - HAUGHTON - BURUMBEET - BUDAS - 2015
views: 2652

Trip Summary

This trip is best done over four days, with three nights of camping. The first leg caters for arriving at Wog Wog and then a short days walk. The second day however, is a bug push all the way to Styles Creek, with the remaining two days spent taking it easy returning along mostly the same trail.

Lots of amazing views to be seen throughout this trip with the majority of walking on marked and popular tracks.

Getting There - From Wollongong

From Wollongong, head south on the Southern Freeway (F6) and then Princes Hwy to Nowra. Continue south on the Princes Hwy through Nowra until the Kalendar Street intersection (near the Archer Hotel). Turn right on to Kalendar Street and then take the Albatross Road exit (the 2nd exit) at the roundabout.

This is the Nowra Braidwood road which takes you all the way to Briadwood via Neriga. We want to continue along this road until we get to Charleys Forest Road which is about 85kms out of Nowra. We turn left here and head to Wog Wog camp site which is just another 5kms down the road on the left.

First leg (12kms)

This leg begins in the car park at the Wog Wog national park campsite. Head out of the area to east, following the main trail out over the creek and onto the well marked bush trail. The track takes us through some forest areas before hitting the ridge line and opening out towards Corang Peak. You can chose to walk up Corang Peak or take the low road around. Shortly after Corang peak, you will pass Corang Arch which is always worth a stop at. Once passed the arch, head down from the ridge into the valley floor where a camp site can be found on either side of the main trail.

Second Leg (12kms)

Today you need to rise early, as there are many hard miles to be walked.

Set off to the east, towards the Burumbeet valley. If you are early enough, the fog should still be hanging around in the valley as you pass through. At the end of the valley, the track heads up the stairway to heaven - or the stairway of death depending on how your legs are feeling! The steps are large, but easier than walking through the bush.

Once out of the valley, the trail continues along towards Bibenluke moutain. Keep an eye out for a camp site around here, as we will be using it tomorrow. You should be able to find the main trail break easy enough, however there is a short cut track that can be found about half a kilometer before the main junction. Take either track and head up out of the valley to the North.

This is where the trail becomes more difficult, it is steep and likely to be a bit overgrown in stages. Keep following the track through, and you should be able to locate some markers along the way. The track winds its way along the cliff face for a while before getting to the top of Mount Tarn. There is a well marked track across the top of Mount Tarn, which will help you avoid the bog. The track eventually drops down to a saddle once you get to the Northern end.

This saddle takes you across to Mount Haughton. You will again be traversing along the cliffline here to the north east. Lots of great camping caves along here, as well as a water supply. If you are running out of daylight, pick any of these caves for the night. If you still have time, push on to the Northern tip of Mount Haughton and find the track that takes you down into the valley of Styles Creek. If you have found the right track, it should be easy enough to get to the bottom of the valley, then try and find a dry track over to Styles Creek for the night.

Third Leg (7kms)

You can sleep in a little today after a hard walk yesterday. But dont sleep in too long, we have some exploring to do.

Head back the way you came, back up through Mount Haughton, and on to Mount Tarn. You should have plenty of time to explore the top of either mountain today. On Mount Tarn there is also the Anvil to look out for once you reach the peak.

From Mount Tarn, head back into the Bibenluke valley and locate your campsite for the night. If you dont use the one we found yesterday, there are also some camps closer to Bibenluke peak, or head back to Burumbeet valley.

Fourth Leg (17kms)

Our final day, and another log walk today. Make your way back to the start of the Burumbeet valley, and locate the faint junction that will take us towards Corang River. This track is likely to be overgrown, but it is worth the effort to get to Corang River and its huge waterholes.

Spend whatever time you need here, but not too long as we still have some distance to go. The track does get a little easier to follow, and before long you will find your way back to the main track. You then follow this track all the way back to the car park.


Notes

Notes on Styles Creek to Mount Haughton (walk #29) from "Bushwalking in the Budawangs" by Ron Doughton (3rd edition, 2004)

[The track emerges] from the bush in the headwaters of Styles Creek on an open, undulating, heath plain. The track once again begins to resemble the old timber getters road that it was and it crosses Styles Creek without ceremony.

Once crossed, the old road can be followed for about half a kilometer before you have to divert to the south towards the closest (north-eastern) end of Mount Haughton, visible to the south some 2 km away. Directly in front of you lies a swampy area of some substance. It does need to be crossed as, oddly enough; it provides the easiest access to a camping cave at Mt Haughton. If a diversion is taken towards either Hoddles Castle Hill of the hill marked as '770' (ENDRICK 428973), this will lead to more swampy ground, incredibly thick scrub, and a longer route.

A passage through the Styles Creek swamp can usually be found by paralleling the edge for a while and picking up an animal pad (path) that heads into the swamp. These can help you with the problem of avoiding wet feet or falling into overgrown channels. The crossing completed, ascend a ridge that drops away steeply to Hollands Gorge to the southeast, providing a magnificent view of the gorge and its surrounding peaks.

The ridge line leading up westwards to Mt Haughton will be reached and a faint trail made by others will soon be detected leading up to the base of the cliff line. Once attained, the cliff may be followed to the right or left, as cavernous overhangs and water exist in both directions.


Google Maps

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  • leg-1 
  • leg-2 
  • leg-3 
  • leg-4 
  • waypoints 
If this text does not disappear quickly, then your browser does not support Google Maps, or Google changed their MAPS API without telling me

Waypoints

 
BBTRAL
[56H 240699 6093849]
BNLCAMP
[56H 241886 6093922]
BURBET
[56H 238426 6092582]
CAMP
[56H 237580 6092610]
CORANGPK
[56H 236505 6091483]
CRNGARCH
[56H 237227 6092272]
CRNGTRK
[56H 235810 6094711]
GOODTR
[56H 232999 6093099]
HHILTON
[56H 242968 6096854]
MTHNE
[56H 243000 6096950]
MTHSW
[56H 242350 6096450]
MTTARNS
[56H 242149 6094799]
MTTARNT
[56H 242199 6093600]
MTTARNW
[56H 241699 6094849]
MTTRN
[56H 242449 6095299]
MTTRNENT
[56H 242474 6095925]
SNDNPLO
[56H 235176 6090713]
WOGWOG
[56H 230308 6093164]
STYLES
[56H 243507 6098701]