Lake Woodford Loop – an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

Australia, NSW, Western Sydney & Blue Mountains, Woodford
Blue Mountains National Park
Dharug, Gundungara Land

Summary: The Lake Woodford Loop is a pleasant bushwalk that follows a firetrail out along a ridge, and then returns along the lake.

Trailhead: End of Winbourne Road, Woodford
Public transport options: Train
2.1km walk from Woodford station
Distance: 5.8km
Duration: 1-2 hours
Grade: Easy
275m total ascent
Route type: Loop
Best season/s: All year
Topographic map/s: 8930-1S KATOOMBA (1:25K). Buy / Download
Online map: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/australia/new-south-wales/lake-woodford-l6-and-l5-loop
No Dogs
Mountain biking permitted

Using mostly firetrails, this fairly easy loop bushwalk goes along a shaded ridge and returns along the edge of Lake Woodford. It’s a pleasant but not overly interesting walk that you could also do on a mountain-bike. The bushwalk starts at the end of Winbourne Road at a locked gate, where the unsealed road becomes the L6 Firetrail.

1X3A2274 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

1X3A2275 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

The L6 Trail is fairly flat for the first couple of kilometres as it follows the ridge.

1X3A2279 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

1X3A2280 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

Below the ridge is the Black Hand Cave, which has some well-preserved Aboriginal hand and arm stencils.

1X3A2286 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

After 2.2km the end of the ridge is reached, and there’s a steep descent as the L6 Trail drops about 150m in height to the Lake Woodford Dam.

1X3A2281 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

1X3A2300 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

1X3A2307 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

Just below the dam a ladder provides access to a walking track that connects to the Linden Ridge Firetrail. (This enables a much longer 20km one-way walk from Hazelbrook to Faulconbridge, although most of it would be on firetrails with a section along roads at both ends if you’re accessing the walk by train.)

1X3A2305 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

1X3A2306 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

Woodford Creek Dam was completed in 1928, with the concrete arch dam built on the junction of Woodford Creek and Bulls Creek. The dam was originally constructed to provide water for steam trains, and then to supply water to the Blue Mountains area.

Woodford Dam was decommissioned in 2000 and the area was opened up to bushwalkers and mountain bikers in 2009 – but while the dam is no longer used as a water supply, access to Lake Woodford is prohibited.

1X3A2311 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

Although you can’t swim in Lake Woodford, there are some nice photo opportunities as the L5 Trail follows the edge of the lake.

It’s a pleasant walk along the lake, with the service trail for the dam following the edge of the water fairly closely.

1X3A2316 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

1X3A2318 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

After a couple of kilometres from the dam a bushwalking track ascends up to the ridge – it makes for a nicer option to complete the loop (you could also continue a bit further along the L5 Trail and then up the Winbourne Powerline Trail).

1X3A2324 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

1X3A2327 LR Lake Woodford Loop - an easy Blue Mountains bushwalk

You can easily do this loop walk in under two hours, or extend it by also exploring the Linden Trail.

Getting to the Lake Woodford Loop

It’s a 2.1km walk or drive from Hazelbrook to the locked gate at the end of Winbourne Road; both the L6 Trail and the bushwalking track down to the L5 Trail start here. The trailhead is 88km (1:10min) from Sydney and 18km (20min) from Katoomba.