Bushwalk Australia

I emailed PWS and asked about the Mt Campbell Track. I was up there on the weekend and asked a staff member if all tracks in the day use area were open and was told yes they were.
I got an email back from PWS today and was told the Campbell Track has been closed for at least 8 years and would remain closed indefinitely.

I’ve emailed them back to highlight the mixed messaging but I reckon there must be plenty of people who have just walked past that sign to bag the abel...With the info given at the desk, I did.

No-one who knows what's up there pays any attention to that sign.

In the past, I spoke with a ranger at Cradle, who basically said if you know about the track, it's fine to use it. They just don't want to have to maintain it.

Tortoise wrote:. They just don't want to have to maintain it.

That applies to most tracks in our parks sadly. Especially the ones that don't generate revenue.

Tortoise wrote:In the past, I spoke with a ranger at Cradle, who basically said if you know about the track, it's fine to use it. They just don't want to have to maintain it.

They also don't have the money to maintain them.

Warin wrote:

Tortoise wrote:In the past, I spoke with a ranger at Cradle, who basically said if you know about the track, it's fine to use it. They just don't want to have to maintain it.

They also don't have the money to maintain them.

They do have the money that should be spent on them. It's just spent elsewhere on ridiculous things like a second Wineglass Bay viewing platform...

doogs wrote:

Warin wrote:

Tortoise wrote:In the past, I spoke with a ranger at Cradle, who basically said if you know about the track, it's fine to use it. They just don't want to have to maintain it.

They also don't have the money to maintain them.

They do have the money that should be spent on them. It's just spent elsewhere on ridiculous things like a second Wineglass Bay viewing platform...

Yep, and massive car parks and expensive stonework on the revenue making tracks.

doogs wrote:

Warin wrote:

Tortoise wrote:In the past, I spoke with a ranger at Cradle, who basically said if you know about the track, it's fine to use it. They just don't want to have to maintain it.

They also don't have the money to maintain them.

They do have the money that should be spent on them. It's just spent elsewhere on ridiculous things like a second Wineglass Bay viewing platform...

But it's going to be a fancy split-level one way system, so they can shuffle the loopies through quicker and easier. Surely that's more important than the fact that the track south of Wineglass has had no work for decades except the occasional visit from a chainsaw? After all, a bit of erosion (ie metre deep gullies for tracks) just makes the walk more "interesting".

The track to Mt Campbell was fine when I was up there yesterday, still has the closed sign, but no issue with the actual track. As suggested by NNW the views from Campbell are fabulous. The Hounslow Heath track (access to Brewery Knob) is pretty rough in the lower section but fine on top, which is more than can be said for the Maryland track (which completes the circuit back to Waldheim), which is in atrocious condition. The track up to Mt Kate is in reasonable nick, plenty of muddy overgrown sections, but bits of marker tape turn up when you need them, there are a couple of spots where you will need to take care not to head up the wrong pad. For those looking for the start of the Mt Kate track, at Ronny creek cross the little foot bridge towards the Mt Kate and Blanfordia Huts. Take the boardwalk towards Blanfordia (it says private access), when you get to the very first step up in the boardwalk, look to your right, in the gap in the bushes you will see a cairn and a little creek, that is the start of the track.
BW