Distance: 10.1 km
Time: One hour
Grade: Hard
Surface Type: 20% unformed paths, 80% gravel tracks
Map reference: Canberra Cycleways Map (2nd
Edition) pages 25 and 26 (not all tracks shown)
Route Map
Features: A switchback figure eight ride along some very rough unformed paths and
some smooth gravel tracks. A number of very steep climbs and descents. Mostly open country
with views towards the Rob Roy Range and across the Tuggeranong
Valley. There are a number of fences and gates to lift the bike over.
Route Description:
Tuggeranong Hill Nature Park is really two distinct and prominent peaks which form the southern edge of Theodore and the eastern side of Conder and Banks. The peaks are separated by a high saddle which can be accessed from either Conder or Theodore. The ride starts at this saddle.
The best way to reach the start is to ride the bike paths as they climb past the Calwell Group Centre shops, and steadily upwards through the centre of Theodore, until a sealed track is reached which leaves Callister Crescent and ends at a locked gate almost at the top of the saddle. The total distance to this point is about 20km from Weston Park. Alternatively, this is a convenient place to leave the car.
Lifting the bike over a gate, the ride starts by heading towards the top of the saddle, then going through a gate on the left (east), with the Nature Park boundary fence on the right. The faint and rough track now heads steeply uphill as it follows the fenceline for 300 tough metres to the highest point on the ride. At this point the track leading into the Rob Roy Range can be seen clearly off to the south. Somewhere ahead the Monaro Highway can be heard but not seen as it climbs south away from Tuggeranong.
Following the fenceline, the rough track now plunges down until the Monaro Highway comes into view, then swings left, parallels the road for a short while until a gate is reached which joins the boundary track above the houses of Theodore (1.4km).
Through the gate, turn left onto the track and through a second gate. Follow the track as it edges the hillside with a fine view across the Theodore bowl until it reaches the saddle and the start (2.9km).
The second loop in the figure eight starts by heading south over the saddle and right past a large electricity transformer station, through a fence and right onto the track which follows the edge of Conder. The track plunges in a series of short but very steep descents, and some equally steep climbs as it edges around the very steep flanks of Tuggeranong Hill. The views across the Tuggeranong Valley are nothing short of stunning: south towards the Namadgi National Park and Lanyon, west across the valley towards the Brindabella range and Tidbinbilla Valley, somewhere in the middle distance the Murrumbidgee River runs unseen, while in the foreground the spreading low density Australian dream - houses, roads, schools, shops - obliterating what was a tranquil grassy valley until a few short years ago. This is as far south as Canberra is planned to extend - thankfully stopped by the Tuggeranong Hills in the east, the economic disincentive in crossing the Murrumbidgee River on the west, and the heritage protected Lanyon Bowl with its historic Lanyon Homestead in the south.
Back on the bike, the track swoops along the edge of the hill, gradually descending until a gate on the right is reached which leads back into the lower flanks of the hill (5.8km) near the junction of Mentone View and Freeman Street. Over the gate, a very faint track leads across the grassy hillside, across a steep gully and sharply uphill towards the rooftops of the Calwell houses on the south side of Tharwa Drive.
Back out of the Nature Park at a gate (6.6km), the track takes a very steep and slippery route up behind the houses, shortly looping back down an equally steep slope along the edge of a gully towards the Fidge St/ McManus Place junction. Turn sharply right and head back up the other side of the gully back behind the houses for a further 500m until a huge water tank comes into view. The ride can either follow the track clockwise around the tank, or alternatively go straight ahead across the paddock, keeping the tank on the left, across a gully and back onto the track (7.5km).
Another steep rise and the track finally levels off behind the houses. From here a fast and pleasant ride leads back to the start at the saddle (10.1km).
The nearest refreshments are a couple of kilometres back down the hill to the Theodore shops.