Sunday 29 March – Wednesday 1 April, 2026
Photos courtesy of various participants. Walk reports by Donna, Gay, Rob, Ian and Rosalie & Russell.
The ‘Explore Namadgi’ Camp was held over 2.5 days in Namadgi N.P. The Camp Leader Lenore organised and led five individual walks, each one of them interesting and varied, which gave participants a great taste of this spectacular national park. The majority of the participants camped onsite whilst a few chose to stay in Canberra and commute each day. The weather was stunning every day which only added to the enjoyable experience.
Day 1 A.M – Granite Tors Walk
This 8 km walk started from an area which was the site of the Orroral Valley Tracking Station. Other than concrete platforms, not much is left now but in the mid 60’s a 26 m antenna and associated infrastructure was constructed. The tracking station was used to continuously track and process data from satellites. It was used by NASA to switch from one supporting satellite to another and assisted in the 1975 joint Apollo-Soyuz project as well as the first flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. The tracking station was closed in 1985.
Fortunately the mist covered our destination so we didn’t see how high the mountain was in front of us that we had to climb. On top of this mountain is the Orroral Geodetic Observatory. Built in 1974 the facility was used to refine Australia’s national coordinate system, connecting our latitude and longitude measurements to the rest of the world via lunar laser ranging. The facility was later closed in 1997 when Mt Stromlo was built
Morning tea was at the observatory. The adjacent lookout revealed not only the climb that we had done from the car park but it also provided a stunning view of the Orroral Valley below us. It was soon time to return to the car park, but not before detouring through a magnificent outcrop of granite tors which provided yet more stunning photo opportunities.
Day 1 P.M – Orroral Heritage Walk
Twelve walkers continued on for the afternoon walk to the Orroral Homestead, Woolshed, Gregory’s ruins and on through the valley to the Orroral Campground. After seeing the valley from up at the observatory in the morning, it was an interesting wander through the grounds of the tracking station and on to the homestead. We were watched steadily by large mobs of kangaroos. Observing them jump fences so gracefully kept many of us amused and perhaps a tad jealous as we no longer can achieve that elegance and grace over fences and obstacles.
We were kept cool down in the valley with a welcome breeze and Margaret spotted a dog lurking near some rocks. The group was undecided if it was a wild dog or dingo. The ranger later confirmed it was indeed a dingo as they have a reasonable population in Namadgi NP. Our Publicity Officer, Donna, was quick to react and managed to capture a photo as he ran back to the tree line and disappeared.
After crossing a bridge over the Orroral Creek, we too disappeared into the tree line, skirting ridges up above the creek and making our way back down into the campground. By now, it was mid afternoon and quite hot. The sight of the campground was a welcome relief.
Day 2 A.M – Yankee Hat Art Site
Everyone was keen to do the Yankee Hat walk for two reasons. Firstly, this walk ends at the only currently known Aboriginal art site in the A.C.T and secondly because a conversation with a ranger the day before at our campsite gave us hope we would see dingoes. The 6 km walk starts out traversing a wide open plain that was used for sheep and cattle but is now part of the Bimberi Wilderness area. While the stock are gone the kangaroos have taken over with sightings of multiple mobs each with 20+ members. We were half way across the plain when we started to hear the cries of 3-4 dingoes echoing off the nearby hills. While we were hoping to see some dingoes it was impressive to hear their calls.
The information signs on dingoes stated that the wild dog population in Namadgi National Park can best be described as dingo with a small proportion of domesticated dog genes that were introduced in the last 200 years. The pictures of dingoes showing colours varying from the traditional sandy yellow to black, white and brindle were quite a surprise.
After the 2019/20 fires A.C.T Parks repaired the boardwalks leading up to the art site which is located on an overhanging face of a large granite boulder. The art site included white ochre images of dingoes, a turtle, emu and possibly a kangaroo or wombat. There were also a number of red/orange images of human figures. Carbon dating of campsite deposits shows this area was first used over 800 years ago with other nearby sites dated at 3700 years.
On the way back across the plain Ian pointed out a mature tree surrounded by a new generation of small saplings. These new trees would have started after the 2019/20 fires and with no stock to eat the new growth could be a grove of magnificent mountain gum in 50 years.
Day 2 P.M – Gudgenby Bush Regeneration Circuit
After lunch, we walked something different – an ex pine plantation.
In the late 1960’s a big slug of the Yankee Hat valley was planted to pine as part of the A.C.T mission to be as self reliant as possible, including the supply of building timbers. When the valley became National Park in 1984 the pines had to go. After harvesting, the remnant trees were wiped out in the 2003 bushfire followed by a big, and continuing, effort to return the area to natural bushland. More fires, the latest in 2020, have since swept through the landscape.
We walked a 5 km circuit on firetrails through the regenerating scrub and, importantly, saw no pine trees. Not satisfied, some members went a further 4km to confirm the result and managed to find and greet only a basking copperhead snake before returning to the carpark. We declared it another successful day of walking.
Day 3 A.M – Nursery Swamp
Another cracker of a day in Namadgi National Park. We climbed the first two kilometres on a fairly steep, well-formed track amongst magnificent granite boulders of many shapes, sizes and formations. The walk flattened out into sparse eucalypts and thick tussock grasses. There were metal walkways almost hidden under the tussock growth and we “walked the plank” on narrow timber walkways which protected us from potentially boggy ground.
We continued walking under an amazingly blue sky to our morning tea and turn around spot at Nursery Swamp. It was a very civilized affair with rustic log seating under the shade of a group of black sallees – a form of snow gum with olive-coloured trunks. We enjoyed the mid-walk break in this lovely, peaceful spot in glorious sunshine.
The swamp is a fen – a type of peat-forming wetland. The dominant plant is the fen sedge which is a yellow colour that contrasts noticeably with the surrounding green grass. Nursery Swamp is around 14,500 years old and builds at a rate of around 6cm/100 years. Due to the cold winters, the swamp freezes over for 3 months of the year with a layer of ice 15cm thick. The name Nursery derives from the valley’s use by early settlers for stock calving and lambing. Prior to this, indigenous people camped on the flats and in rock caves, hunting and gathering food.
On our return trip we noticed a type of grevillea with small flowers like little clenched hands protecting themselves from the cold nights. Lunch was back at the Orroral Campground where Lenore was thanked for organising 3 great days of walking, socializing and camping.
The camp was Lenore’s first foray into leading a camp and a wonderful time was had by all. It is hoped that it is the first of many more to come!! Thank you Lenore for all of your work.
