PLAN: Budawangs - Wog Wog to Styles Creek

Trip Summary

This trip is best done over four days, with three nights of camping. This plan expects an early start from the Wog Wog camping area on day one, so best to arrive the night before. From there we head down the Burumbeet valley, over Mount Tarn to Styles creek and then turn around and come back again.

Some of the best views of the valley will be seen as we climb up and over Mout Tarn, so have the camera and drones ready!

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 (18kms)

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 to the end of the ridge where you will find a shimmy down the rock face and pick up the steps to the bottom of the valley. You pass a couple of camp sites here before crossing the creek and heading off towards the Burumbeet valley. There are great views in all directions here. After passing through the scrub you will enter into the Burumbeet valley itself. Keep an eye out for a camp site around here, as we will be using it tomorrow. There is also a toilet in the valley if you need to use it.

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. You will find another camp site along here with a good water source. There is a track just behind the water source which we take here to cut off the corner to the Mount Tarn track. Make sure you fill up with water here though, as there is little water at our camp tonight.

The track continues up the hill, it does become a bit over grown but before long you will pop out at the cliff face of the edge of Mount Tarn. Cliff overhangs can be found to the left which will be our campsite for the night.

Second Leg (6kms)

A much easier day today, at least in distance. You may need to drop back to the valley to fill up on water before you set off for the day.

From our camp, we head off back along the cliff face, the trail does become more difficult from here, 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, duck boards and cut tracks will help you find the way. 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 cliff line here to the north east. Lots of great camping caves along here too, as well as a water supply. Push on to the Northern tip of Mount Haughton and find the track that takes you down into the valley of Styles Creek, make sure you dont go past the drop off, you will know as the bush gets very overgrown quickly. If you have found the right track, it should be easy enough to get to the bottom of the valley, follow the well worn track that avoids the bog and takes you down to Styles creek.

Third Leg (12kms)

Head back the way you came, back up through Mount Haughton, and on to Mount Tarn. 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 back towards Burumbeet valley for our camp tonight.

Fourth Leg (13kms)

From Burumbeet valley, continue back across Canowie Brook 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 - and a possible swim if you are brave enough.

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.