Mt. Cordeaux & Bare Rock

Mt. Cordeaux Peak from the Lookout

Date: 7/5/2011

Walkers: Maree, Myself

Walk Description:
Mt. Cordeaux, along with Mt. Mitchell, are the two peaks that stand over each side of Cunningham's Gap in the Main Range National Park. With a stunning Autumn day the decision to head out for a walk was extremely easy to make. The drive from Ipswich took about an hour and we arrived at the top of the gap by about 10AM. This was despite the large road works heading up the range reducing the traffic down to one lane.

The  temperature was much cooler up in the shade of the rainforest so we were keen to get going and warm ourselves up. The track started along the Rainforest Circuit at an easy uphill gradient and it wasn't long until we were greeted with a familiar panorama from the first lookout to the East. From here we continued along the rainforest circuit until we reached the track junction to divert us to our destination of Mt. Cordeaux and Bare Rock.

From here the track continued steadily uphill as we tracked North-West along the side of the moutain before switching back and heading towards the peak lookout. As the track climbed higher there were some great views to the South, showing us a different aspect of Mt. Mitchell.

The vegetation on the more exposed slopes in this section had opened up and comprised of a combination of low shrubs, grass trees and very large succulents. Throughout the walk there was also a large variety of mosses.

The Mt. Cordeaux lookout provided a near 360 degree view, only excluding the North-West to North region which was blocked by the peak itself. We arrived here by about 11:30 and stopped for morning tea before continuing on towards Bare Rock. The track detours around the Western side of the peak where you get a good view of the cliffs surrounding it. This is the reason that the track dosn't actually reach the true summit.

Mt. Cordeaux Peak from the North

On the Northern side of the peak the track followed the top of a narrow ridge that connects the mountain with the rest of the range. From here there were more views to the East as well as back to the peak. The track then continued through lush vegetation for another hour or so before reaching the junction for Morgan's Lookout. At this point we decided to head for Bare Rock for lunch, and were glad we did. The view from Bare Rock was once again a near 360 degree one with good outlooks towards Castle Mountain and further along the range.

By contrast the view from Morgan's Lookout was fairly overgrown. We followed our same path back to the car except for a couple of stopover's and detours. The first was for a trip up to the peak of Mt. Cordeaux. The "Take a Walk" guidebook advised that the best way to attempt this was from the Northern end. I bush bashed my way to the base of the cliff line on the Western side and tracked North along the cliffs until I found a possible way up. It was a very steep scramble/climb and apart from the point of reaching the top, probably wasn't worth it. The top was mostly covered by vegetation and didn't provide any additional outlooks.

The only other variation we made on the return journey was to continue around the other half of the rainforest circuit. Great way to spend an amazing day.

Moss Covered Tree