Glenbrook Zig Zag Railway Historical Walk
Yesterday, five of us set off on the Glenbrook Zig Zag Historical Railway walk. We started near Lennox Bridge, which is a really impressive old stone arch bridge at Mitchell’s Pass. This is the oldest stone-arch bridge on mainland Australia, built in 1833 by hand by convicts under the direction of David Lennox.
From there, we made our way up through the bush toward Marge’s Lookout, which sits high above Lapstone Hill. The views there are stunning, looking out over Penrith Lakes and beyond.
Next, we hit Elizabeth Lookout, which also overlooks the Cumberland Plain — it’s a nice vantage point for sweeping panoramas of Sydney and its outskirts. Apparently on a clear day you can spot the CBD — but not yesterday – although we did think we could make out Parramatta.
Then came Top Points Lookout, which is right along the old Zig Zag railway formation. The walk follows the historic route of the Lapstone Zig Zag, which was built in the 1860s to manage the steep climb up the mountain. The route includes the Knapsack Viaduct, a gorgeous sandstone bridge that once carried the trains across a deep gully and is now a well used local bike/walk path.
We paused at Top Points for morning tea, enjoying the misty views over the plain below. After that, we ventured along to the now-disused rail tunnel which the locals call the “Mushroom Tunnel.” It’s part of the old 1892 Glenbrook Tunnel, built to replace the zig zag when it became a bottleneck. It’s closed off now, but you get a feel for the engineering involved.
We did get a little surprise: as we walked along some rear fences, seven dogs barked at us, from seven adjacent yards. Like a local doggy neighbourhood watch team.
Along the way, we wandered through lovely bushland, soaking up the greenery, and surveyed even more brilliant views from the Lapstone side, looking back across the Cumberland Plain. We scrambled along a rough track next to the current main rail line from Sydney, which was a fun (and slightly challenging) stretch.
Another great lookout for lunch. By then, the skies had started to mist a little and it rained lightly, but that just added to the atmosphere and cooled us down a bit.
One of the real highlights was spotting blooming fringe lilies everywhere. These were totally new since our recce last week — they weren’t open then, but today they were out in force. Super delicate and beautiful.
After the walk, we had coffee and smoothies in the park at Glenbrook thanks to some excellent local delis.
Everyone was in good spirits, no injuries, just good company and heaps of history. A top walk all around
