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Duffys Track
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Double track out and back to a lookout. There's a fork maybe 200m from the East end which is an overgrown dead end - don't bother with that.
Distance:
748m
Altitude (min):
0m
Altitude (max):
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Update Dec-11: NPWS has placed a no bicycles sign on the Duffys Track. Confirmed with NPWS ranger that sign was placed there about a month ago due to damage from MTB & horses. Ranger was very clear that no cycles were permitted on this track.
When someone complains about people horse riding on a trail in the bush!
I really couldn't think of anything nicer and more intune with Nature.
Sometimes things are just taken too far
Same goes for the exclusion of mountain bikes.
Instead of spending, say $500 bucks on the sign/installation spend $500 on armoring or just call up the local mountain bikers and you would get it for free (end rant)
I've always been in favour of those cameras they have on the beach that stream live to your computer
These could be attached to the trees around all popular bush areas
These areas could then be declared 'illegal to trespass' to the public
Big metal signs would make this obvious and leave no loopholes for trespassers to slip through
Normal people, who find the bush too full of bugs and nasties, could then enjoy it from the comfort of their iphones or computers
or some other high res piece of technology with live streaming
This would also make it easier to fine, or preferably imprison, those swines that dare set foot upon these pristine landscapes
Far safer, environmentally friendly, and easier all around for everybody
It's a win/ win
You know it makes sense
Let's not forget that a few years ago, the land to the South of this track was just bushland. Now it has one huge house on it, with more to follow.
Still - if they keep a few MTB and horse riders out then that's all that counts, right? I mean then the fire truck that this track was built for will surely be able to pass more safely as there would be no dirt out of place and no horse poop to loose traction on.
<rolls eyes>
Seems that if NPWS can't or won't maintain a service trail then it becomes off limits to mtb's. The same doesn't apply to the many walking trails that they also don't maintain - walkers can keep using them. In fact walkers can keep walking wherever they like, trail or not.
Now, I have no real interest in riding where no tyre has ever turned before, but there is a distinct lack of equity in the NPWS approach to these sort of access issues. As there seem to be more riders than walkers just about every time I get out into a NP around Sydney these days, it needs to change.
(There's also some considerable inequity in the level of concern about damage / erosion caused by mtb riders in NP's and the apparent lack of concern about the amount of damage / erosion caused by for example the current owners of Waratah Park in re-doing their boundary fences, but that's probably another story.)
It looks to me like NPWS's preferred approach (in Sydney at least) is to corral mtb use into some small pockets, rather than liberate it by working with other land managers to create suitable links between interesting areas of riding. That needs to change also.
Although any progress is better than none, the rate of change to date is akin to trying to turn around the QM2 without use of bow or stern thrusters.
To date, we as a user community have generally been co-operative and patient. If the rate of change remains glacial, it may not be too long before some strategic civil disobedience might be necessary to publicise the cause and galvanise some action....