Wednesday 15 April, 2026
Photos courtesy of Ian, Rob and Lenore. Walk report by Walk Leader Ian.
The 630 metre high Bolaro Mountain is west of Batemans Bay and overlooks the village of Nelligen. It is the highest remnant of the Moruya granodiorite belt which stretches from Moruya north to the Kings Highway. It is a home to Spotted Gum and Burrawangs nestled among granite tors, boulders and solid rock slabs. It is also a home to the lesser seen Maidens Gum.
Four BBBW members recently tackled the northern slopes of the mountain in perfect weather, generally in the area of previous visits – in 2012, 2014 and 2020. In five hours we walked an 8km circuit and climbed 450 metres of elevation. It was a pretty thorough workout.
Granite rock was the feature, either house-size tors, hectares of sloping slabs or fields of boulders. Lunch on the penultimate slab gave marvelous views of the upper Clyde River valley toward Pigeon House Mountain, The Castle and beyond. Features of the Budawang Range to the west could also be easily identified.
The climb was slow going in places due to whipstick wattle regeneration from the bushfires six years ago, ever present loose rock and a “sticky” litter layer. The boulder hopping and slab contouring also demanded good footing. On the descent Rob tried to take home a sample of a slab but it was the rock that won. He has an impressively sizeable leg graze to show for it.
It was a challenging walk but the rock features, and the views, were worth it.