The Network of Bridle Tracks of South-East New South Wales.
In the area south and east of Braidwood to the coast there still exists a network of bridle tracks that were vital in the development of settlement and trade for the area. These tracks preceded the roads and provided the most direct routes for travelling from one place to another, moving supplies and livestock. Many remained in use after the invention of motorised transport, as the most convenient way to properties not serviced by roads.
Enthusiastic horse riders still like to use them today, but unfortunately horse access in some cases is prohibited by wilderness declaration. The Wilderness Declaration was made with little or no regard to the existence of these historical tracks and this was the driving force in the creation of Access for All
By using the Deua River Track, as an example we can understand how the tracks were networked.
The Deua River Track commences near where Araluen Creek joins the Deua River and follows the river south. At its start it connects with the Moruya/Araluen Road, which itself was a bridle track until the 1860s. Nearby is the beginning of the Shoebridge Track which leads to the Clyde River and links to the port of Nelligen. It also had a branch to Broulee, the early port for Moruya. From the Shoebridge Track you can also link with The Corn Trail, descending from the tablelands and Braidwood.
If we head south along the Deua River Track, we come to Moodong Creek where it meets the road going back to Araluen via Neringla. At Neringla there is the Back Creek Track. It follows the creek and climbs up to the tablelands and emerges at Gundillion.
Heading further south we come to a property called Wyanbene. From here there is a track heading west following Wyanbene Creek and leading to the upper Shoalhaven.
Then continuing on to Alpine, the track is partly covered by the Mongamula Fire Trail. In fact the fire trail also covers much of what was once Blanchard’s Track which lead from his house at Alpine and gave access to Fairfield, the Shoalhaven and the Braidwood/Cooma road.
The Deua River Track is nearly 50 kms long and ends at Bendethera. At Bendethera there is the Zig Zag Track which links back to Snowball and the Braidwood/Cooma road. This provided the western access from Bendethera homestead. The eastern access to Moruya was provided by George’s Pack Track. There is also a track that goes over the range to Belowra and links with the W.D.Tarlinton Track.
The W.D.Tarlinton Track comes from the upper Shoalhaven and winds its way south closely following Woila Creek. It also has a branch, called The Jump Up, which leads to the Monaro, emerging on the Braidwood/Cooma road. The W.D. Tarlinton Track lead to Cobargo and branched to Cadgee on the Tuross and the coast.
These tracks still exist but it is not possible to ride on some, (notably the Shoebridge Track and the W.D.Tarlinton Track) because of Wilderness Proclamations. It is understandable that where tracks go through private property the owners’ wishes should be respected and permission obtained, but this should not apply to public land, such as a national park.
Notes on Individual Tracks.
The Deua River Track.
This track is now well documented with the Access For All publication, ‘The Deua River Track’.
The river was surveyed by surveyor, Peter Ogilvie, under the direction of the Surveyor General Mitchell in May 1828, as part of the complete survey of the nineteen counties. A copy of his map exists in the State Records Office. It is accurate in its detail of the river to the 36th parallel which is south of Bendethera. Ogilvie must have followed a path up the river close to what became the Deua River Track.
The track provided for settlers living along the river possibly from as early as 1840 and was still the only means of access for the Davis family of Woolla until 1960s.
It extends from the junction of Araluen Creek to Bendethera.
Links to Articles
The Shoebridge Track.
This track has been the subject of an extensive heritage study by heritage management consultants, Peter Freeman Pty Ltd. The study was prepared for the National Parks & Wildlife Service in 2004; as a result the track is fairly well documented.
Thomas Shoebridge, who owned a store at Lower Araluen, is credited with the initial surveying and construction of the track. It served his store as well as being an all weather route between the port of Nelligen and the Araluen goldfields. It became a busy thoroughfare with teams of pack horses loaded with supplies travelling the route daily. The heavy use meant maintenance and an upgrade was soon required. In 1861 the Government allocated £1,000 for upgrade and widening of the track. It fell into decline after a short time when the road to Moruya became a dray road.
The features of this track are the gentle grades, passing lanes, benching and extensive filling. It extends from Lower Araluen, once known as Mudmelong to the Buckenbowra Valley to link with other tracks.
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The Corn Trail.
The Corn Trail linked the tablelands of Braidwood and the Monaro to the coast. It was first pioneered in the 1830s by settlers of the Bolero Valley to trade produce with their neighbours on the tablelands. The major crop of the fertile valley was corn which was transported by pack horse. The track was also used to bring cattle down from the tablelands for adjistment. It was superseded in 1853 when a dray road was constructed down the nearby Clyde Mountain. The track was almost lost until volunteers re-opened it in 1988, as a bicentennial project.
It commences at the top of the Clyde Mountain at Monga and winds down through the Monga National Park and the Buckenbowra River to the Bolero Valley.
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The Back Creek Track.
This was the shortest route from Oranmeir/ Krawarree to Araluen. It is documented as a track that was used by the Clarke gang when they raided Araluen. On one occasion, the police from Balallaba intercepted the bushrangers on this track. This was after the bushrangers had raided the Commercial Hotel at Mudmelong, which co-incidentally, was formerly Thomas Shoebridge’s store. The bushrangers were returning to the tablelands via Back Creek. The police with the aid of a black tracker managed to follow the bushrangers along the range to Wyanbene where they exchanged fire with the gang, resulting in the shooting of the outlaw, Pat Connell.
The track starts at Neringla and follows Neringla Creek, otherwise called Back Creek, then heads up the mountain and joins the Bettowynd Fire trail through the Deua National Park crossing the Shoalhaven, near Emu Flat and joining the Braidwood/Cooma road.
Wyanbene Creek Track.
This track served the property called Wyanbene on the Deua River as a link with Wyanbene located over the Minuma Range also called Wyanbene. In later years both properties were owned by Reg Watt and he used the track to drive stock and access his properties. There are some great stories about Reg’s adventures crossing the Deua in flood, with his trusty pack horse.
This track starts below the ruins of the old Wyanbene hut on the Deua and follows Wyanbene Creek to the top of the range and then heads down the western side.
Blanchard’s Track.
Frederick Lester Blanchard built the house at Alpine, still standing, around the early 1900’s. To access his property from the Braidwood/Cooma road he used this track. It was also used by others such as the Rankin family who lived 5 kilometers up the river. It was their main communication with the outside world. They drove stock and received supplies via this track.
The track begins at Alpine and follows Curmulee Creek, up the Devil’s Pinch to the top of the Minuma Range and then down across the Shoalhaven and onto Fairfield, which fronts the Braidwood/Cooma Road. Today much of the original track is covered by the Mongamula Fire Trail.
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Zig Zag Track.
It was 11 kilometers from Rankins’ to Georges’ at Bendethera along the Deua River Track. If the Georges wanted to go to the Shoalhaven, instead going to Blanchard’s they would use the Zig Zag Track.
It was well known that the Clarke gang was often harboured at Bendethera. There was a proposal by an inmate in Darlinghurst gaol, Henry Antill, who knew the Clarkes well that if he was released along with two other inmates, he would set up an ambush on the track going up the limestone mountain and make short work of the bushrangers. This proposal, made to the Colonial Secretary, Henry Parkes, in 1866, was not accepted, but it provides us with evidence that the track existed at that time.
The Zig Zag track goes up from Con Creek through limestone outcrops, above Bendethera Caves, to the top of the Minuma Range and onto Snowball and the Braidwood/Cooma Road.
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Georges Pack Track.
The George’s of Bendethera would sometimes use the Zig Zag Track or come down Deua River track depending on where they were headed, but their main connection with the outside world was via what is known as George’s Pack Track, which ultimately connected with Moruya and coastal shipping. It was along this track they drove their turkeys, pigs, cattle and packed corn.
The track climbs steeply out of the Bendethera Valley not from the homestead site and eventually joined up with the Moruya/Araluen road, near Kiora. Some of the track is covered by current road into Bendethera.
Link to Articles
W.D. Tarlinton Track.
This track was pioneered by William Duggan Tarlinton in 1830’s. The Tarlintons were among the earliest settlers in the upper Shoalhaven, with a land grant near the junction of the Shoalhaven River and Jerrabattgulla Creek. The Tarlinton’s later acquired land near Cobargo and pioneered a route to take their cattle overland to their new properties. The track was also used by other early pioneers of the upper Shoalhaven such as the Curlewis’s and Coghills. It also became the convenient route for travelling to the coast from the upper Shoalhaven and Monaro. It was used by John Lambie when carrying out a survey of occupied properties of the Monaro in 1840.
The track starts near Snowball above the creeks that form the upper Shoalhaven and follows Woila Creek to the Tuross River at Belowra. It continued on to Cobargo and Tilba Tilba.
Links to Articles
- W.D. Tarlinton Track
- Bushwalkers walk the WD Tarlinton Track
- Tarlinton Family Retraces Historic Trail
The Jump Up.
This track branches off the W.D. Tarlinton Track. It forms the track to the Monaro as an alternative to the Shoalhaven. In recent times riders have seen a sign at the junction, ‘To Monaro’.
It branches off above Woila Creek and joins the Braidwood/Cooma road, south of The Badga mountain.
Belowra to Bendethera Track.
This track linked two valleys, Bendethera on the Deua and Belowra on the Tuross. It therefore extended the network by joining up with other tracks.
