21 – 23 April, 2026
Canowie Brook is in the Budawangs Wilderness Area of Morton National Park. It is a tributary of the Corang River which flows westward to the Shoalhaven River.
The BBBW visited the headwaters of Canowie Brook in August 2014, soon after a bushfire ran through the area. At the time, the absence of undergrowth made off track exploration of the long clifflines easy but the ash and charcoal soon made us very sooty! (see photo of Bronwyn Dunn, David Sledge and Wendy Matheus – they became very grubby but they were very happy to be there).
On this occasion five Club members attempted to repeat the exploration – a day walk and set up camp for two nights, a day of off track exploration, and a day’s walk back out. The weather was perfect – mostly cloudy, mild temperatures, cool nights, light winds and (almost) no rain. The campsite was very comfortable.
The first day’s entry of 12km along the established track from Wog Wog was straightforward and included a visit to the top of Corang Peak, always worth the 360 degree view.
Ian leading the way in the stunning Budawangs
Descending into Canowie Brook valley
Julie ascending Corang Peak with the Yadboro wilderness in the background
Panorama of Canowie Brook valley
Steve, Bruce, Lenore and Julie at camp
Three joyful hikers in 2014 soon after a bushfire in the same area
The plan for the second day worked very well except for one problem. It is six years since the 2019-20 bushfires and the undergrowth has come back with a vengeance! Our bush bashing up the western side of the Brook’s valley was, in places, horrendous – regrowth whipstick eucalypt, wattle, banksia, dense tea tree, cut grass with fallen dead timber mixed in. In places we could hardly see five metres to pick a route.
The vegetation was so thick it slowed our progress to a fraction of what we achieved in 2014. When we finally arrived and gazed down on the first target of the day’s exploring, the rainforest headwaters of Freemans Creek, we hesitated. We had to adjust our plan and decided, in the time left, to visit our second objective.
We returned down the eastern side of the valley, hugging the base of the cliffline, visiting the series of magnificent overhangs found there.
The overhangs were enormous, each one different in length, height and depth, some retreating up to 40 metres into the rock to almost cave like darkness. Many had extensive “beaches” beneath. The honeycombing in the conglomerate rock was spectacular, some of the best in the Budawangs. Many openings were accessible. One very cosy “room” had three windows, two with balconies, as well as a door.
The overhangs were a welcome respite from the morning’s bush bashing and we delayed our departure of each.
On the way back to camp we checked out the Burrumbeet camping area for those who had not visited it before.
Walk leader Ian
The deepest overhang and an extensive ‘beach’
Spectacular cave like honeycombing in a conglomerate overhang
Lenore and Julie ‘on the beach’ below the caves
Ian amongst some stunning formations
On the ‘grassy’ watershed between Canowie Brook (Shoalhaven) and Freemans Ck (Clyde)
Ian checking out the cave-like honeycombing
Emerging from thick tea tree scrub
The third day’s walk out was also uneventful but pleasant. We visited the Corang Arch, a traditional stop for any walker into this end of the Budawangs. We gathered upon its arc and another “Oh, what a feeling” photo was taken for the Club record.
Julie leaps yet another gap while Steve and Lenore wait
Corang Arch – ‘Oh What A Feeling’ group pic
Photos courtesy of Ian, Steve H. and Bruce. Walk report by Walk Leader Ian.
