This morning I visited Belanglo State Forest, following instructions I found at: http://www.iboc.org.au/PDF/Bird-Walks/BelangloStateForest-area.pdf
Every walk described says I must access the park from the freeway via Bunnygalore Rd, but I couldn’t find it. The only road near the location described is signposted Belanglo Rd. Has the road been renamed?
I drove up Belanglo Rd, and soon reached the sign for the park. The instructions said to continue on, but there was a sign saying something like “Single track closed. No unauthorised access. Penalties apply.”
I suppose that means it was closed, but what the hell does “single track closed” mean? “Track closed” means the track is closed, but why “single track”?
Unsure whether I was even on the right road, I turned right and spent a couple of hours looking around. I was there to make a recording, but that part of the park is really noisy because it’s so close to the freeway.
On the way out I decided to explore the closed track, and soon crossed a track whose name I recognised from having crossed its other end in my earlier exploring. If questioned, I could say I’d come in that way and not passed the sign.
The rear section was a lot more interesting that what I’d seen earlier, and much quieter. At one point I heard what sounded like a lyrebird, which I wasn’t expecting, but ran out of time and had to leave. I might be able to get back there tomorrow morning. Can anyone confirm that road name change?
Peter Shute
Thanks for that Chris. I assumed that the “satellite map” link was just Google Maps, but now that I look on a PC, I see that all the tracks with their names are shown, including the main access road (but spelled Bunnigalore).
That would have been REALLY handy at the time, but on my phone I was zoomed out one level too far. I just tried zooming in now, and they all suddenly appeared. That’s a trick worth remembering, as that’s an otherwise impractically large scale on a 3″ screen, and not something I would have thought of trying otherwise.
I tried to buy the maps, but they didn’t have them in Goulburn.
Peter Shute
Peter
On the pdf link that you have included are details of which topographic maps to use and there is also a another link “Satellite map”. If you click on that link it will take you to a more recent map which is consistent with both GoogleMaps and the topographic maps. The original track notes were written in 1999, I’m not surprised things have changed since then. I checked with Land and Property information and they advised me the section of road through the Forest was changed in 2010. I can’t comment on access being restricted, however it is a working forest, so I guess that happens from time to time during timber harvesting. The information on the website you mentioned is now maintained by the Illawarra Bird Observers Club.
cheers Chris Chafer
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Thanks to those who confirmed that the road name has changed. I’ve emailed the author of the notes to let him know.
Peter Shute