MTB ride on Little Forest Plateau

West of Lake Conjola is Little Forest Plateau.. Mountain bike ride
Little Forest Plateau west of Conjola
Sunday 22
nd October 2006

We left the Princes Highway at Yattey Yattah and turned west up “Porter Creek Road” which in the topo map is called Pointer Gap Road. We checked the tracks on the topo map to ascend Pointer Mountain but the first on the left signed Currowar Road is now sealed and a definite dead end. Galgaroo Road was signposted on the right and looked good. We took a road to the left half way up the mountain to detour back to Pointer Mountain. This road reaches some hobby farms before petering out as it follows some power poles down the hill to the East. We returned to continue to Pointer Gap lookout and then back to Porter Creek Road and at the T intersection went South (Right) towards the dam and about 2.5 km along to a carpark on the left for walking tracks to Florance Head and Rusden Head.


The Ride
We road from the carpark along the walking track (single track) for 0.5km to reach the 4WD track and a sign advising 3km to Florance Head to the left and 5km to Rusden Head to the right. We took about an hour riding the further 2.5km to Florance Head as there were many viewing spots. The view south to Pigeon House Mountain and to the coast was fantastic. The return ride was about 15 minutes. The track had been mown and was a pleasant dual track in open heath.
Back at the sign we took the western track to Rusden Head. This was a much more interesting ride though probably not so after wet weather as about 1km along there are some sections where planked walkways have been installed to avoid the bogs. This was fun to try riding along. There are some pleasant forested sections and a variety of terrain though it was all fairly flat. The track was less well maintained and although there were two car tracks it was often more akin to single track. It was 4.4km from the sign to the cliff top lookout at Rusden Head and took 20 minutes to half an hour each way.
At the sign we took the 4WD track to the South rather than the walking track and 0.5 km there is a Broadcast Tower on the cliff edge. More great views. Following the 4WD track to the car park is another 0.5 km for a total ride of 16km taking a bit over 3 hours with plenty of viewing time. The computer actual ride time was 1:05 hours.

We visited the Porter Creek Dam and then drove South the 6.4 km to the car park for the Mount Bushwalker walking track. There is a 4WD track marked on the map but this only goes about half a km just past a signposted walking trail to Mount Bushwalker. This is a narrow single track with plenty of planked sections over potentially boggy ground. In between the planked sections there are stump end steps which make riding this track very difficult. We then rode along the “Turpentine Fire Trail” which is a reasonable road. There are great views about 0.4km along the road and then there is a gate which was not locked. We continued a total of 3km from the carpark to the “narrow neck” where the plateau drops away steeply to the east and west with only a road way width from either side. About an hour return to car park and about 7km out an back.

The Drive.
Note we drove along Turpentine Fire Trail which theoretically requires permission from Nowra office of NPWS.
From the Princes Hwy it is about 10 km to the plateau and the Pointer Gap Lookout Turn off and assuming this is accurate the total km are thence.
11km to T intersction (Left to Porter Creek Dam and Right on Turpentine Fire Trail.
15 km to Mount Bushwalker Trailhead and Carpark
16 km to gate which may be locked after abandoned airstrip and great viewing point.
26 km to gate in forest which again could be locked
27 km to western (left)turn at Kangaroo hill leading to Sassafrass (no signs).
28.5 km to Twelve Mile Road junction (signposted to Braidwood Road)
35 km to George Boyd Lookout
40 km to Luncheon creek Road intersection
43 km to Princes Highway Junction with Twelve Mile Road.
53 km ESTIMATE maximum total distance for loop. (Ie less than 10km down highway to Yattey Yattah