079 6ft track from Megalong cemetery to Cox’s River with bonus wine tasting.
After 2 full days of rain prior to the walk, we were a bit concerned that the inclement weather might continue into the Saturday. As it turned out, it was a beautiful morning with clear blue sky and temperature in the low 20’s.
In total there were 10 walkers most of whom had made the 2 hour trip up from Sydney. Janet, Di and John had planned to camp at Megalong Valley Farm but decided on an AirBnb when we hit the rain Thursday afternoon. Smart move. The walk coincided with a wine tasting at Dryridge Winery which is in the Megalong Valley just by the 6ft Track Route.
We slightly cheated by starting the walk by the Winery which is 2kms along the route. Despite that we ended up doing 12kms in total.
The track starts by crossing some fields with sweeping views of the Megalong Valley and then descends towards the Cox’s river. The track is clearly defined and meanders down along a ridge to the left of the Cox’s. Although we could hear the river it did not come into view until 55 minutes into the walk. The terrain down to the Cox’s was through bush which afforded a little shade from the sun. We expected the river to be higher because of the rain but nevertheless it was running at a good flow.
There were views towards Kananagra from Ron’s Roost which is a bench seat in the shade about 40 minutes into the walk and which was ideal for a drink stop.
We continued to walk down to the river and along it until Bowtell’s Suspension Bridge came into view. The original Bowtell’s Bridge was built in 1991 and was named after Corporal Bob Bowtell an engineer who died during the Vietnam war on Jan 11 1966. It is a 100m suspension bridge enabling walkers doing the full 6ft Track (42kms) to cross the Cox’s when the river is flowing hard. The new bridge which is a U Shaped configuration capable of supporting 5 people was opened on 13 September 2024.
We all decided to cross the bridge to get views from the other side before returning along the Cox’s to find shelter for morning tea along the bank.
The walk returned on the same route with Di leading and John plodding at the rear. Many wonderful birds were seen and or heard on the route including a Black Cockatoo.
The walk up was a steady 350m up from the river which we did in 1.45 hrs owing to the higher temperature (which we estimated at 25c) and instead of returning to the start of the walk we entered the Dryridge Winery just off the track.
The winery has sweeping views of the Megalong Valley and is very popular for wine tasting with their ploughmans, cheese and charcuterie boards. It made a very nice change and everyone felt that it was a great way to finish the walk.
This section of the 6ft Track is probably the most scenic and is a nice way to experience one of Australia’s landmark walking tracks.
Our thanks to everyone who did the walk and we hope that everyone enjoyed it
Best Regards
John & Di
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