Which State Capital Gives Access to the Best Bushwalking?

[Strick]

I am lucky enough to be moving to Hobart from the UK in October, so I expect that many on the forum will think I've answered my own question as there are so many Tassie fans here.

So, I'm more interested in the mainland capitals.

I'm thinking 1. Canberra 2. Sydney 3. Melbourne

[Pteropus]

Hi Strick,

As an ex Sydneysider, I have a bias towards that town. There is a lot of remnant bush in Sydney on the Hawkesbury Sandstone parts, even close to the centre of town, around the Harbour. Sydney is also surrounded by magnificent bushland, some of it wilderness, which is easily accessible by public transport. In fact, when people ask me if I miss my home town, I tell them the thing I miss most about Sydney is the bush that surrounds it! Most of this bushland has been preserved due to the rugged nature of the landscapes that did not lend itself to agriculture or other development.

I now live in Brisbane and though there is plenty of beautiful bushwalking areas here in south east Queensland, most walks require a one or two hour drive to reach them and there are only very limited options for people without their own transport.

Anyhow, when people from overseas ask me advice on what city to go to experience both a city and have the option to get away into some natural areas, I always recommend Sydney first. Hobart would be my second choice (I confess it is my second-most favourite city in Aus, if only for the great pubs and beers ...but I am not sure I could handle the cold in winter!)

Cheers
Andrew

[whynotwalk]

I think you HAVE answered your own question Strick The order you've put them in is pretty close to right IMHO.

(1) Hobart ... no questions! ... wild bush in 20 minutes; World Heritage wilderness in just over an hour. A lifetime won't be enough to walk everything that's within 4 hours
(2) Canberra ... lovely nearby bush, plus local ranges like the Brindabellas, and then the Snowy Mountains pretty accessible.
(3) Sydney ... great for shorter walks, with the Blue Mountains, Royal, Boudi etc not far away for overnighters.
(4) Melbourne ... again good local shorter walks, but a bit further to get to great overnighters like the Grampians, Great Ocean Walk or Alps.

Of course it depends what sort of walking you want to do. But answering your query does show what a lucky country we are for bushwalking!

cheers

Peter

[Strick]

Thanks for the replies.

Am I right in thinking that, although there is great walking to be had close to Melbourne, Wilson's Prom etc, to find real wilderness Sydney is better? The Blue Mountains seem to join up with a whole lot of other wilderness areas to both the North and South.

I have done a fair bit of walking in Australia, but never been to Hobart or Canberra, so I have some important gaps.

[doogs]

Brisbane is up there too with some great walks; Glasshouse mountains, Lamington NP, Springbrook NP, Moreton Island, Mt Barney NP and down to Mt Warning. All within a coupla hours of the big smoke Hobart is way out in front of the others though Mt Coot-tha V Mt Wellington, no contest really

[Nuts]

Canberra is good, you would get walking much quicker than melb or Brissy. South Coast parks/Buddawangs/Ettrema/Snowies/Brindies/Namadgi even.. Surrounded by bush (getting out of there is the best thing about Canberra )
About a 6/10 compared to Hobes though

[whynotwalk]

About a 6/10 compared to Hobes though

And that's from a northerner

[dannnnn]

brisbane is pretty good - but it's a bit of a drive. lammington and barney are world class but they are about 90mins from the cbd.

[ILUVSWTAS]

About a 6/10 compared to Hobes though

And that's from a northerner

Beat me to it Peter....

[Strick]

I recently walked the English Coast to Coast and was surprised to bump into loads of Australians.

Some of them said that Hobart's reputation as a good base for bushwalking was overplayed as it is miles from the Central Highlands and higher Alpine areas. They said that driving 200 k's in Tassie was nothing like driving the same distance in the rest of Australia as the roads are twisty, the terrain more rugged and it takes forever to get anywhere.

That's as may be, but I can see from Google Earth that Hobart is surrounded by wilderness, especially dense bush, which I am especially interested in as we cut down all the forests in the UK 1000 years ago. To be honest, I'm not that interested in travelling miles and miles to find scenery and mountains that are similar in size and appearance to what I can find in Scotland.

[stepbystep]

Some of them said that Hobart's reputation as a good base for bushwalking was overplayed as it is miles from the Central Highlands and higher Alpine areas. They said that driving 200 k's in Tassie was nothing like driving the same distance in the rest of Australia as the roads are twisty, the terrain more rugged and it takes forever to get anywhere.

Lake St Clair is less than 2 hrs from Hobart which provides access to the higher alpine areas, the Central Plateau is accessed via Bothwell and is a little over an hour away. The great advantage Hobart has is ready access to the South West World Heritage area. The mountains here are lower than the Cradle-St Clair area but they give far more of a wilderness feel to them and are easily if not more spectacular and you can be in a place like this within 2 hrs of home, and that includes the walking time!

It's worth the effort

Mt Field NP is less than an hour from Hobart and offers a wide range of walking experiences on good tracks. The Tasman NP is also only an hour away for possibly the most spectacular coastal walking in the world(?), and if all of that is to far too travel Wellington Park has hundreds of km of tracks over varying terrain to explore right on Hobart's doorstep.

For what it's worth, Perth is pretty bad, probably the worst city in Australia and Sydney although it has some lovely bushland is a massive city and just getting through the traffic to get out of it is enough to drive you crazy.

When you get to Hobart there are a couple of walking clubs you might want to join in order to help you explore, and share a ride to boot. Enjoy!

[Strick]

Thanks for all the good info.

[jacko1956]

Whilst all the above may be true, in Perth you can take a local bus to 5 metres from the start of the Bibbulmun Track and 963 km later be 5 metres from the road bus from Albany back to Perth.

[Strick]

Yes, I've hiked the Bibb twice, it's one of my favourite tracks. In 2001 I didn't see anyone at all from Mundaring Weir for the next 4 days, still the longest period of time alone. It was great.

[stepbystep]

Whilst all the above may be true, in Perth you can take a local bus to 5 metres from the start of the Bibbulmun Track and 963 km later be 5 metres from the road bus from Albany back to Perth.

Yep I lived less than 1km from the start of the Bibb for 20 years. The Darling Range is vary nice in Winter but alas Hobart it is not

[rucksack]

Perhaps, an auxiliary question might be: Which State Capital Gives the Best Public Transport Access to the Best Bushwalking?

For Hobart, there is public transport access to the Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair NP, the Freycinet NP and, with a longish (but not entirely unpleasant trudge), the Tasman NP too, but elsewhere, access via public transport involves a fair bit of creative thinking, often an expensive charter, and occasionally, plain wishful thinking. Tasmania's south west lost out a few years back when Tassielink terminated its three-day-a-week summer service to Scotts Peak Dam. That service enabled summer sorties into Lake Rhona and the Denison Range (and further west to The Spires), the Mt Anne Circuit, both the Western & Eastern Arthur Ranges, the Port Davey Track, the White Monoliths, Folded Range, and one end of the Wilmot Range-Frankland Range walk. Sydney is a no-brainer: a train from Central in Sydney will have you walking in the Blue Mountains NP in 2 hours or less, and a lot of decent walking options too. Jacko1956 writes that you can take a local bus to the start of Western Australia's Bibbulman Track; with a bit of planning, one can use public transport to various access points to South Australia's Heysen Trail, but the pickings are slim if you want to head up to the more interesting northern end and into the Flinders and Gammon Ranges.

So, Which State Capital Gives the Best Public Transport Access to the Best Bushwalking?

A regularly updated public transport guide to the best bushwalking in Australia would be a rather useful resource, I have always thought. If you are coming from interstate or overseas, access is always a hurdle: how do you get to (and from) the walk without a car or a bike?

rucksack

p.s. Many years ago, I used public transport when I kayaked the Franklin. I think that bus regulations might have been just a little more 'flexible' then. I remember sitting chatting to the driver on the scheduled bus service from Strahan back to Hobart, with the Dancer wedged in the aisle. No-one seemed to mind. rucksack

[mikethepike]

When I first read the question, I thought it was referring to easy access half day or day walks. For that I would put Adelaide first - the Morialta Falls tracks and the Waterfall Gully to Mt Lofty track are great walks and would be closer access than comparable walks from any of the other city CBDs. And no leaches or ticks! Thanks to Morialta Gorge and the Adelaide Hills, the same answer applies also to rock climbing and cycling. What me biased? Never!

For extended walking, Adelaidians do have to go a bit further afield but at least we get clear of the built up areas fairly quickly. I have friends who once flew Adelaide to Melaleuca 3-4 hours faster that it takes me to get to the Gammons. In it's own way, the travel can be as enjoyable as the walking but of course it does take time which would otherwise be spent walking.

[LTM]

Better chip in for Adelaide as well although I am always excited to visit the other places and get walking. Mike is right about the many options close by in the Adelaide Hills. One good thing about Adelaide being a provincial capital is that you can get out of it quickly. You can get home from work on a Friday quickly and hit the road to access heaps of overnight weekend walks. To the north you can be camped in the southern Flinders or southern Yorke Penin by a reasonable time for bed. Likewise heading east you get all the national parks on the Vic/NSW borders, very differnet country to the Flinders and coast. To the south you have Deep Ck and can be on Kangaroo Island by 9pm., all having left work at 5pm and having a pit stop dinner on the way..

you'll just have to do them all Srick and report back in 10 years;). Definately join a club and when you get tired of Hobart's winter head for the Flinders or the Larapinta one year.

[Strick]

I suppose which state capital gives best proximity to true wilderness was what I where my interest really lies. However, it's also good to know about day hikes and overnighters too.

The Heysen Trail is definitely on my list of long trails to hike. I'd like to do it in one hit as an E2E, I think it can be done. I have also been out to the Blue Mountains by train from Sydney, so know about that. I also did the Great North Walk once too starting in Circular Quay. I remember wild camping the first night on some kind of roundabout and being disturbed by intrigued dog walkers, but after that it got much wilder and I really enjoyed it. I didn't get the impression that many people do it all in one go, but there's no reason why not.

There is certainly plenty of buses from Central Perth to Kalamunda. In 2005 I walked the Bibb in July and I think it rained every day for the first week. It was very green and muddy and not at all like the WA everyone imagines.

[seagullhike]

^^^Yes, the south west of WA is beautiful in winter but can be pretty wet (nothing like a lot of you would be use too, but for us westsiders it's something). I just walked the cape to cape track here, it was fantastic but it rained pretty much constantly on us all 5 days. Still, winter is by far the best time to hike in WA. I normally get around by bus and hitch hike when I walk, TransWA buses travel through most of the town the Bibbulmun track does and can get you to some pretty special places on the south west coast. It is easy to venture to the Darling scarp by metro bus from Perth and this can make for some awesome hiking as well.

Other than WA I have only walked in the Blue Mountains in Aus, I look forward to venturing over to Tassie in December it will be my first time. Cant wait!

[tom_brennan]

A quick way of gauging is to look at the Google maps of each capital at a zoom of about 8. On a standard size screen, that's probably about a 3 hour radius. Look for the green, the darker the better! Sydney, Canberra and Hobart are way ahead of the other capitals on this measure.

Sydney has a bunch of urban parks (Garigal, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove), and then an encircling ring roughly an hour from the city consisting of the Royal, Heathcote, Nattai, Blue Mountains, Wollemi, Yengo, Dharug, Marramarra, Brisbane Water and Bouddi. Basically it's not possible to go any direction but south west without running into a national park in 50km or less. The ring parks contain 5 wilderness areas, including the Wollemi Wilderness, the largest in the state. So Sydney's hard to beat for choice, whether it's short walks, day walks or week long walks.

Here's direct links to the maps for each capital (assuming they make it through some kind of spam filter!)
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=brisbane,+Australia&z=8
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=sydney,+Australia&z=8
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=hobart,+Australia&z=8
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=canberra,+Australia&z=8
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=melbourne,+Australia&z=8
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=adelaide,+Australia&z=8
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=perth,+Australia&z=8

[mjdalessa]

Probably Hobart. It troubles me what mainlanders will classify as a wilderness area e.g. a large camp ground with a river next to it 2mins from the road had a wilderness area sign in the Port Stephens area. You'd be luck to get 1km from a road in that particualr wilderness area Areas like Mt. Direction and the Meehan Range which are poor by Tasmanian standards quite easily trump this where wilderness is concerned and they're pretty much within the city limits.

The plateau between the Wellington summit and Thark Ridge gives quite a remote feel within 30mins including walking from the CBD.

Sbs, is that the Sentinels?

[tom_brennan]

In short, we're all biased!

[jacko1956]

"In short, we're all biased!"
Not at all!
I think for shorter walks I would be leaning towards Canberra over Hobart as having the most appealling walks nearby but I find the Alps very beautiful.
I just pointed out how civilised access to the Bib is. Unlike the AT I'm going to next year where it is a hassle to get to a point in the middle of nowhere to be able to hike about 10km up a bl##dy mountain in order to start or finish. And at one end you then have to retrace your steps to boot!
As well as the bus stops, the Bib even has a Coles at the northern terminus and an IGA store at the southern terminus.

[whynotwalk]

A quick way of gauging is to look at the Google maps of each capital at a zoom of about 8. On a standard size screen, that's probably about a 3 hour radius. Look for the green, the darker the better! Sydney, Canberra and Hobart are way ahead of the other capitals on this measure.

Nice attempt to objectify things Tom! But green on Google maps is one thing, actual bushwalking terrain another. Then there's ease of access (traffic), population pressures, climate and sheer lifestyle choice. These are other key factors. I've lived in both Sydney and Melbourne, and those other factors complicate matters very much when it comes to getting out into the bush. Brisbane is lovely, but too warm for many (most of the year). Distances to wilder places, plus summer heat are problems for Adelaide and Perth ... and heat makes Darwin better for swimming (apart from the crocs!)

So Canberra and Hobart are rightly favourites in this contest. And to break that deadlock, I'll have to agree with you Tom ... "We're all biased". So for me Hobart's at the head of a classy field! (We really are the lucky country.)

cheers

Peter

[Taurë-rana]

I moved from Hobart to Devonport and one thing I really miss is access to the mountain - Mt Wellington is a 20 minute drive from Hobart and once you are there, you can be in areas where you see nobody and that feel quite remote very quickly.

whynotwalk mentioned Darwin - it has some of the most amazingly beautiful bushwalking country not too many hours away. I would love to spend a couple of years there walking in Kakadu and Litchfield.

[north-north-west]

You get into bushwalking country quicker from Hobart than any other Capital.
You also get into the best bushwalking in Australia from Hobart. Hands down.

[mikethepike]

You get into bushwalking country quicker from Hobart than any other Capital.
You also get into the best bushwalking in Australia from Hobart. Hands down.

It makes me feel sick to admit it, but you are right. At least having to travel from the mainland, I never get blase about it as I expect many poor Taswegians do!

[Mark F]

As a person who grew up in Sydney, lived in Hobart for 15+ years and now lives in Canberra, my thoughts are that it to some extent depends where you live in those cities. In Sydney and Hobart I lived within 5km of the centre and so needed to escape before walking. In Canberra I live about 12km south of the centre but even when I lived 1km from the centre I could climb a decent peak (Mt Ainslie) from my door step.

Sydney offers the longest travel times but the best public transport access to a wide range of walks. We recently stayed with friends at Grays Point on the edge of RNP and walked 500m to reach RNP. Next day the train took us to Otford for the Coastal Walk with ferry and train back to Grays Point. The trains provide great access to the Blue Mountains, South Coast and Southern Highlands as well as to the north.

Canberra offers the easiest access from most suburbs for short walks but needs a car to access other areas. I walk out my front door, turn right and can climb 250 metres vertically though park and bush to the summit of Mt Taylor. 90-120 minutes sees me in Koscuisko or the Budawangs. Another hour or less gives access to Kanangra, RNP and other coastal walking. Shorter drives see me in the Brindabellas.

Hobart offers similar ease of access to superb walking but like Canberra it is largely reliant on a car.

[north-north-west]

In Sydney and Hobart I lived within 5km of the centre and so needed to escape before walking. .

But 5km from the centre of Hobart and you're at the Waterworks, which means you're in walking country, and you have the whole of the Wellington Range ahead of you.