Black Bluff

[johnw]

This kind of vaguely relates to the Mt Tor post I suppose, in as much as it seems to be in the same general area.

During upcoming visit to Tassie end of April I’m hoping to do the Black Bluff via Paddys Lake (plus Winterbrook Falls) walk described in the Chapman book (among other walks). Wondering if anyone here has done it, any advice, current conditions etc?

I noticed that it’s graded “Hard” in the book but the Peak Baggers Guide to Tasmania only ranks it as a “2” http://www.wildtiger.biz/upfiles/wt_articles/1144648242_PeakBaggingList.pdf.

Different route perhaps (noted that it’s on the Penguin/Cradle Trail)? It looks like mainly a steep walk with a big altitude gain of about 1000m. That would make it quite strenuous, but I can’t identify anything that would make it especially difficult.

I’ve only been to that area once before. Recall admiring Black Bluff from the lookout above Leven Canyon and have since wanted to climb it.

Kind regards,
John W

[Son of a Beach]

I can't give a lot of specific information (due to poor memory, and much time in between), but I did the walk starting near some lodge (EDIT: "Brookes Track" starting near "Mountain Valley Lodge" which is at Taylors Flats) when I was a bout 12 or 13, I guess. We only got as far as Paddy's Tarn where we camped for the night. We didn't go to the top due to unfavourable weather conditions.

So for the walk as far as Paddy's Tarn, I can tell you that I don't remember it being particularly difficult, even for a 13 year old carrying a full pack for an overnight walk, and the walking conditions being cold and windy, with rain and sleet. I can't comment on the view, because we didn't see any. I can't remember much more detail than that, other than my fingers being so numb, I couldn't undo the buttons on my clothes, and being scared we were going to get blown into Paddy's Tarn during the night, tent and all.

Sorry, it's not very specific.

[Speculator]

Hey y'all.

I've been wanting to do Black Bluff for a while too. It's yet another one on the ever-expanding to-do list. I believe the winterbrook walk is from Smiths Plains, maybe, and the steeper (although I think only a little steeper) version is from Taylors Flats, and is called Brookes track?

I recently walked into Winterbrook Falls, and the track was quite good, better than when I did it about 5 or more years ago. It can get muddy after a rain, and there's a little creek to cross, but it's all easy enough. The falls are fantastic and I've always wanted to do the trio (winterbrook, paddys and the bluff), but lacked enough daylight hours at a time when there was a good amount of water at the falls. I do know someone who's done this walk recently, and can probably provide some more information, I can find out about it if there's anything specific you want to know.

I've always assumed the track from Taylors Flats to be about as hard as the Kings Road track up Mt. Roland, I think some books tend to rate them similar. If so, it's hard work, but not ridiculous.

L8r.

[walkinTas]

Both walks are excellent day walks. Both walks are on well formed and well marked tracks. The walk into Winterbrook Falls is very similar to the walk into Meander Falls.

As mentioned the Black Bluff walk is part of the "Penguin-Cradle" walk. You are walking on the Brook Track from Taylors Flats which is accessed from Loongana Rd. It is a pleasant walk along the river through the forest, and then the climb starts. From memory, there were three longer climbs with some respite in between. I'd rate the walk as medium-to-hard. I spent a while at Paddy's Lake. In hindsight I realized I could have walked onto up the track to the top of Winterbrook falls, but didn't think about it on the day. Sometime, I'll go back and do the full walk across the range.

It is very possible you could get snow on Black Bluff in April. In fact it has already had a snow cover a couple of times this year.

There are two tracks into Winterbrook. I took the Tramway Track off Smiths Plain Road. The drive into this track is reasonable well sign-posted. The other track, the Maxwells Track can be picked up at the end of Smiths Plain Road. Google earth shows the Maxwells Track can also be accessed from Loongana Rd, with a 4.5 KM walk into Smith Plain Road, but I have no details of this walk. There is a no-trespassing sign on the Loongana Rd end of this track.

The Tramway Track partly follows an old King Billy Pine logging Tramway. There are signs along the track pointing out the remnants of the tramway. You walk into an amphitheater. I walked on past the falls and climbed up to the base of the cliffs. There was a track that lead off around the base of the cliff heading south, but I didn't explore this further. I wondered if it would be possible to climb up out of the amphitheater onto the mountain, but it looked very daunting and well beyond the time I had available.

There are a couple of pictures in this Gallery.

Anyway, good luck with your walks.

[johnw]

Thanks for the info everyone, the comments fit in with what I thought. The walk I'm contemplating is the Brookes Track one from Taylors Flats. The side tracks to Black Bluff and Winterbrook Falls are described as starting from a saddle above Paddys Lake.

I was in Paddy Pallin store in Sydney over Easter and they had the Loongana 1:25000 map which showed most of the walk (I think Lea is the other one needed) but haven't bought it yet. Currently I've only got the little topo map in the Chapman book, plus the 1:250,000 Northwest map, which shows the other tracks coming in from Smiths Plains (marked initially as minor vehicular tracks).

Have only done the walk up Mt Roland from O'Neill's Road at Gowrie Park. It's relentlessly uphill but not difficult. I believe the Kings Rd one is considered harder. Meander Falls is another on my to do list, have only been up past Split Rock a way. Unfortunately didn't have time to do the falls walk when there about 2 years ago.

Note the possibility of snow and had been wondering about that. We'll be keeping and eye on the weather and have appropriate gear etc. Won't go up there if the top is whited out. Hours of daylight might also be an issue so we'll aim for an early start.

Thanks Speculator for offer of further info. The're's nothing more specific I can think of, so I've probably got enough for now. Hopefully all goes as planned and we get to complete the walk.

Kind regards,
John W

[tasadam]

When I did Black Bluff, I wasn't mentally prepared. I didn't study the track notes or map, as I was going with others and "just went along". I didn't really know what I was in for and I carried too much weight, and on the way down my dicky knee stuffed up, as it was doing back then. Had to walk half way down backwards, to keep my leg straight.
Very uncomfortable.
Knee has been operated on 3 times now, last op they took "a fair bit" of the meniscus.

What I mean is, it's a long way up. Great spot though.

[tastrekker]

I've climbed via Brookes Track from Loongana and the Tramway (Winterbrook Falls) Track from Smiths Plains. I've also walked down via Maxwells track and completed the circuit by walking around the road to the Tramway Track carpark.

Of all these routes, the Tramway Track is my favourite because:
* History - Old saw pit and wooden tramway
* Vegetation - All of these tracks feature changing vegetation from rainforest in the gullies to wet eucalypt scrub on the slopes to alpine shrubs up high. The Tramway Track has the added attraction of passing through the most northerly King Billy Pine forests in Tassie (and in the world for that matter).
* Starting altitude - Carpark is almost 200m higher than Loongana thus less altitude to be gained
* Climb is done in sections with levelish patches between - Once the Brookes Track starts climbing, it's fairly relentless
* Interesting Rocks - The link track from Winterbrook Falls to the ridge above Paddy's Lake climbs through some interesting rock formations and slabs

The main advantage of Brookes Track is distance. It is the shortest and most direct route to the summit.

If you are a nutter for reaching the highest point of an area, it's worth knowing there's a point on the Black Bluff Range slightly higher than Black Bluff itself. You reach this by walking 2km past Black Bluff on the Penguin-Cradle Track and heading to the high point slightly west of the track. I learnt this from "The Abels" and have not yet bagged this one. The weather was absolutely foul last time I walked this section of the Penguin-Cradle Track and a detour through the mist with virtually nil visibility seemed a touch pointless.

Track notes for this area have been produced by the NW Walking Club as part of their work on the Penguin-Cradle Track. There were also detailed notes done for the Tramway Track when it was established 20 years ago but I'm not sure if they're available on-line.

[walkinTas]

TasTrekker, Can you actually walk (climb) up to the summit from the base of the falls (Winterbrook Track).

[tastrekker]

TasTrekker, Can you actually walk (climb) up to the summit from the base of the falls (Winterbrook Track).

Yes, you can. This is where the detailed notes on the Tramway Track are handy. Signage was poor when I was last there.

The Tramway Track climbs through King Billy and Celery Top forest and eventually reaches a lookout with a great view of the falls. The track then descends briefly to cross a small button grass plain before the final climb through the forest to the base of the falls.

From the base of the falls, back-track to where the Maxwells Track branches off and crosses Winterbrook below the falls. (If you reach the button grass, you have back-tracked too far.) You walk north along Maxwells Track for a short distance (still within earshot of the falls so I think it's only one or two hundred metres) to where a track heads steeply up-hill to the west. This track leads up past the treeline, through a gap between two craggy boulders and then over some smooth slabs of rock where you can see the falls down below. It is then a hop step and a jump to the saddle above Paddys lake where the track up the bluff is roughly straight ahead.

[walkinTas]

This is where the detailed notes on the Tramway Track are handy. Signage was poor when I was last there.

Yeah, notes certainly help. So do knowledgeable people on this forum. I headed the wrong way, thinking the Maxwell track was nothing more than an alternative way out. I would have been 100 meters from the track up to the Paddy's. Thanks very much for this info.

It would be a long walk round the loop from Loongana Rd to Winterbrook Falls via the Maxwell Track and then up to Paddy's lake and down the Brookes Track. Probably one for the longer days when there is plenty of day light. I haven't walked the Maxwell Track, but I think the Winterbrook Track is a great day walk.

[Speculator]

Ya know, it's one of the strengths of this forum, that there are so many knowledgeable and experienced walkers who can provide information on so many different walks. Have any queries regarding tracks actually gone unanswered?

It makes me wonder if there's scope here for formalising some of this information. Creating some walk reviews with track notes etc. Maybe a bushwalk-tasmania blog or wiki?

It's worth giving some thought to anyway. There are a lot of poorly documented walks out there, with little or no information available about them on the web.

L8r.

[Joe]

wiki is a great idea. most wikis main failing is a lack of administration...but I highly doubt that will be the case here

[howhardcanitbe]

Access to Black Bluff, Winterbrook Falls, Maxwells Track and the Tramway Track currently starts at the quarry at 417000 5411250 on the Loongana map as there is a large hole in the road just beyond this. This adds about 1km to the Tramway Track and several kilometres to Maxwells Track. The Tramway track is well signed and took about 2 hours to Winterbrook Falls and another 2 hours to Black Bluff via the Eye of the Needle.