Hornsby/Galston Explorer

A jolly Sunday morning jaunt exploring some of the best (er, only) dirt in Hornsby Heights!

Using as little tarmac as possible one can string a number of fire trails together to make a 45kmish ride in Hornsby/Hornsby Heights which provides a good workout - it's just over 1000 metres of climbing I think. I like it because I don't have to travel very far; you can move at a reasonable pace, making the downs interesting enough, and a couple of the ups are challenging. I'd equate it to the Centre/Duckholes/Perimeter/Long tracks + connecting road bits, with more hills.

Starting at Crosslands, it's 2.5km uphill on gravel to warm the cockles, and then a series of fire trail sections drop off from Somerville Road & side roads. A fire trail links the front end of Somerville Rd to Montview & Mckay Roads which leads to an out & back fire trail. Once back on Mckay, it's tarmac to Galston Road, then right (down towards the gorge) for a couple of hundred metres to a fire trail on the left. Once on this fire trail it's all dirt, barring 150 metres or so of Hornsby's finest suburban tar, to Stewart Avenue (assuming I can find the 1km link trail from Clarinda St which I couldn't the first time I looked in a storm (otherwise it's a few hundred metres more bitumen)). Stewart Avenue is of course the trailhead for the Galston Gorge fire trail, which has been well documented by fellow NobMobbers, and it would indeed be rude not to have a chug along this to Quarry Road & back whilst we we're here.

My route back last time was along the bitumen - about 8km's + the drop back down to Crosslands, which made somewhere around 45km's. I've done it once and I'm sure there are others out there who can suggest ways of minimising the bitumen bits even more - please let me know.

Morgan