CLELAND : SUGARLOAF HILL LOOP
 Circuit : 1 hour 40 minutes, 6 km


Drive up Waterfall Gully Road and park the car near the Chambers Gully / Burnside Quarry turn off.  Waterfall Gully Road can be surprisingly  busy, but there is a pedestrian trail to follow.  

From the car, walk up Waterfall Gully Road for ten minutes to arrive at Woolshed Gully on the left.

The track up this Gully is called the Winter Track, and near the beginning there are ruins of an old shed and yards used by Sir Samuel Davenport who owned most of Cleland during the late nineteenth century.

I am always pleased to have hopping company on my walks.   This fellow was quite tame, and bounded just ahead of me for a hundred metres.

The road up the Gully rises steadily for 25 minutes.  The Gully appears to have been cleared and grazed in the past.

There are thistles, tasty blackberries, and even this rosehip which may be a native?

This yellow flowering weed which may also be native, is beautiful close up.

At the top of the Gully the road rises steeply and turns sharp left,  back tracking at a high level above Woolshed Gully and then Waterfall Gully.    A friendly honey eater ...

At the top, the Winter Track meets Long Ridge Track, really a fire and power line track.  I turned left heading for Sugarloaf Hill, which, of course, had to be adorned with power lines!  The Chambers Gully Trail entrance can be seen at left.

It is a nice walking track, which we shall follow down shortly.

There is an amazing 270° view from the top of the Hill – the Long Ridge Lookout.  In particular one can see the city, the traffic climbing Greenhill Road, and the Stonyfell Quarry.


Click photo for larger view ...                                                                                                                  

Looking backwards, Woolshed Gully is at left, and Waterfall Gully at centre.

The Chambers Gully Trail is very pleasant – a long and fairly gradual descent. I understand that the flowers are scabia.

The Track follows around above Waterfall Gully and into Chambers Gully. In places the hillside is quite precipitous ...

... but the path continues its easy descent past grass trees.

Finally the track arrives at the Chambers Gully floor.   This gate leads to new unexplored delights, but not today!   Instead we turn sharp left down the valley.

Chambers Gully used to be quarried for its stone, and is very scenic.

There is evidence of early occupation here too.

So back to the car on Waterfall Gully Road.  An excellent hike!
SUGARLOAF