Namadgi National Park Settlers Track (September 2022)

As part of our Williamsdale farmstay weekend, we drove into the Namadgi National Park (the northernmost end of the Australian Alps National Park) to Brayshaw’s Hut – circa 1903, a lot of long, cold winters ago – to do the Settler’s Track, a meandering walk of about 9km that links Brayshaw’s with Waterhole Hut, Westerman’s Homestead and a lot of old sheep yards and historic fences along the way. If you like history, the alpine landscape and easy walks, this is a winner. Especially if you happened to get as perfect a day for it as we did: cool and sunny, with the occasional hint of a breeze.

Of course, given the winter we’ve had, it was muddy in a lot of the lower areas of the track, especially between Waterhole and Westerman’s, which is largely on a maintenance track that is open for bicycle access, leading to some pretty serious damage to the track, which in turn – as you can see below – led to some detours either side, many of which didn’t completely save us from getting wet feet.

Side note: it took us an hour to drive out along the spectacular Naas and Boboyan Roads to Brayshaw’s Hut, along bitumen and then good dirt roads, and it still felt remote. Imagine living out at those huts back in the 1800’s and 1900’s, without the benefit of modern transportation. It would have been a desolate, isolated place to be, especially during the long winters.

Hospital Hill lookout, with spectacular views into the Gudgenby Valley, and some of the ACT’s highest peaks in the background.