Climb Mount Warrawolong: Highest Point on Great North Walk

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Climb Mount Warrawolong: Highest Point on Great North Walk

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Difficulty: Moderate
Length: 1.3 miles / 2.1 km
Duration: 1-3 hours

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Overview: SPUR UP MT WARRAWOLONG: 2.1 km (moderate to easy)

Although called a ‘Mount’, it could only be thought a mountain in the uniquely low-lying continent of Australia where even our highest peak, Mount Kosciusko, is only a very modest 2,228 metres (7,310 feet). And, the highest point on The Great North Walk, Mt Warrawolong is much lower than this, squatting, rather than towering, only 641 metres (2,100 feet) above mean sea-level. The short sidetrack to the top commands a glorious view of the surrounding forest and countryside

Tips: LOOK OUT FOR
Abundant flowers of many species. This is a floral reserve and as the soil differs very much for the surrounding soils there are a large variety of wild flower to be seen on this short hike.

ACCOMMODATION
Although not directly on the GNW track, there is accommodation in Laguna and Wollombi that may be useful to know about. You could try Arcadian Retreat in Laguna. An upmarket venue with spa bathroom, full breakfast served in the suites which have their own kitchenettes and private verandahs. Lunches and dinners are also available.

A little further away is delightful Wollombi with a number of accommodation options. If you opt for Wollombi look out for memorials to the Convict road building: More than 3,000 convicts worked on the Great North Road from 1826 to 1834. Tourism NSW provides leaflets for a self-guided tour (Convict Trail Project). Convict Trail: follows the route of the 240 km Great North Road. Free e-brochures can be supplemented by a coloured self-guided tour booklet with maps, which has been produced with assistance from Tourism NSW. Contact the Convict Trail Project, PO Box 96, Wahroonga, New South Wales. Parts intersect the Great North Walk.

Points of Interest

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Mt Warrawolong GWN Signpost

Look out for this sign - it is the only one to the top of Mt Warrawolong. Mount Warrawolong (33° 2′ 39″S, 151° 15′ 50″E) was seen by Captain Cook on his round-the-world voyage on the ‘Endeavour’ in 1770 not long after he left Botany Bay. He noted it in his official ship’s log.

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Gum Tree Plantation

European settlers have developed gum tree forest for timber and more recently for carbon storage. NSW was the first jurisdiction in the world to allow trading in carbon credits. Before British colonisation Aboriginal Australians, its the original people, used the sap from one type of gum tree to treat diarrhoea and the sap from another type to treat constipation. There's an old guide joke around here that goes: ‘so you had to know what you were looking for or you wouldn't know whether you were coming or going’.

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Path to the Top: Highest Point on the Great North Walk

The word Warrawolong comes from ‘wallung’, the Awabakal people's word for ‘head’. Australia’s first published grammar of an indigenous language was written by a Congregational minister and missionary, although he was dismissed from the London Missionary Society in 1829. The Rev Threlkeld lived near Lake Macquarie until 1841 when he moved to central Sydney.

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Floral Reserve

Abundant flowers of many species. This is a floral reserve and as the soil differs very much for the surrounding soils there are a large variety of wild flower to be seen on this short hike.

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Pacific from Mt Warrawolong

On a clear day, you can see to the Pacific Ocean and, perhaps, to the route where the ‘Endeavour’ skirted the coast of New South Wales in May 1770, heading north after noting, but failing to explore, Port Jackson at the mouth of what is now called Sydney Harbour.

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Mt Warrawolong Tower

This mountain top is thought to have been used as a ceremonial meeting place as people from hundreds of kilometres visited the area and made their way to Mount Yengo (25 km west of Wollombi), which is a place of great significance throughout the ancient nations of eastern Australia.

Mount Warrawolong was climbed many times by Surveyor General Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1831 in his selection of a route for the Great North Road since the vantage point gave an excellent view of the ridges to the south-west.