Carlon Head and Tarros Ladder: two exciting Narrow Neck passes

I’ve been looking forward for a while to tackling the somewhat daunting Carlon Head, but it’s not a route that I was too keen to undertake on my own: it’s described as both “exciting” and “very exposed and quite dangerous”. So I jumped (very much figuratively) at the opportunity to join Bob on a loop bushwalk that combines Carlon Head and Tarros Ladder. Our small group of six bushwalkers, led by Bob, set out from Dunphys Campground on a somewhat overcast but cool morning along the Bellbird Ridge Management Trail.

It’s easy walking along the firetrail, with Carlon Head directly in front of us.

Up Carlon Head

The fun begins where the Bellbird Ridge Management Trail meets the Medlow Gap Management Trail; an obvious but unsignposted trail continues directly ahead, and soon meets a sign warning of impending danger. “Warning! The historic bolts, chains and handholds on the Carlons Head Track [sic] are unsafe. Do not use for abseiling or rockclimbing. Remote area. Steep rugged terrain.”

Before getting to the chains, there’s a steep ascent up the base of the bluff, along a rough but distinct track.

As we gain altitude, there are some nice views through the trees, before the rocky bluff is reached.

The route from here is initially not obvious; the chained route starts on the northern, or left, side of the rocky outcrop, where a chain provides some assistance up the first boulder.

There are some great views from the top of this first, short climb.

There’s a short walk to reach the next scramble.

This second chain is also easy, past an old sign that probably warned of impending doom.

The third chain, or set of chains and bolts, is the longest and most exposed climb, going straight up and then around the top of a vertical rock face.

Although we’re still not at the top, there are some spectacular views across the Wild Dog Mountains and back down Carlon Head towards Mount Jenolan.

The fourth and final pitch I found the most challenging, although it has far less exposure. The first couple of metres is quite awkward, with few good footholds, and requires some upper body strength (which I am clearly lacking!) to haul oneself up the rock face.

We all make it successfully to the top of Carlon Head, where we have a short break while enjoying the expansive views. The historic Carlon Head pass was named by Myles Dunphy, after the Carlon family who lived in the Megalong Valley below the bluff. The route was discovered in 1932 by Harry Whaite and members of the Warrigal Club – It was said to have been negotiated by accident, with the Warrigal Club members thinking they were at Clear Hill. A series of chains, spikes and footholds were installed in June 1941 by John Manson, and as a result this route was also called Mansons Ladders.

The rest of Carlon Head is much less nerve-wracking, with a rough but distinct bushwalking track following the middle of the spur back to the Narrow Neck firetrail. Towards the end there are some nice views to the south towards Mount Mouin.

Along Narrow Neck

We emerge on the Narrow Neck Plateau Trail just south of Bushwalkers Hill, the highest point along Narrow Neck at 1,072m above sea level, where there is a tall fire tower and a trig station (Narrow Neck Trig).

The Narrow Neck Plateau Trail (also called Glenraphael Drive) was built for firefighting purposes in 1957-58 after bushfires devastated the Blue Mountains; it mostly follows the top of the narrow “neck” (the road was slightly re-aligned from the original bushwalking trail).

While firetrails generally don’t offer the most interesting walking, there are some great views from the road. To the right (west) is Glenraphael Head, and the Jenolan ranges in the distance. Not visible from the trail, in the gully below Glenraphael Head, is Glenraphael Falls (formed by Breakfast Creek plunging over the cliff-line).

Towards the end of Narrow Neck there are views to the east and west, including the distant cliffs on the other side of the Jamison Valley.

To the south-east is Lake Burragorang; Narrow Neck is one of the places in the Blue Mountains from which you can see this man-made reservoir (the best Lake Burragorang views are from McMahons Point).

We’re soon at the end of Narrow Neck, where we stop for lunch on a rock platform with sweeping views. Frank Duncan described the view more eloquently than I can, when he and his party of three bushwalkers stopped here briefly in 1928 on their way to try and find a route from Katoomba to the Coxs River via Narrow Neck.

A short time found us at the very end of Clear Hill, perched up in the air with cliffs on three sides of us, and a fine clear view, one of the best I have seen in New South Wales, of bush-clad ridges in every direction. Tortuous valleys at out feet wound away in the distance, but most striking of all was the feeling of airy lightness and detachment, and freedom from the petty cares of everyday life.

Sydney Bushwalker, First descent of Clear Hill

I take the opportunity for a short off-track stroll to the top of Clear Hill (originally called Clear Head); it looks a lot more clear in the earlier photos from around 1929-35 (left) and 1954.

Clearly (no pun intended) no-one has done much clearing of Clear Hill for a while, and the hill is covered in heath and taller eucalyptus trees. There are still some nice views of the track snaking up the ridge, and the Wild Dog Mountains to the south. But it’s not really worth the detour for the views.

Down Tarros Ladder (Duncans Pass)

After our lunch break, we leave Narrow Neck via Duncans Pass, which was “discovered” in June 1928 by bushwalkers Frank Duncan, Ern Austen and Jack Debert – but probably used in the late 1800s by oil shale prospectors, and by the Gundungara Aboriginal people before them. The distinct track passes a sign welcoming (or warning?) us that we’re entering the Kanangra Boyd Wilderness Area (an area which spans both Kanangra-Boyd National Park and Blue Mountains National Park).

A small pagoda next to the track provides a nice vantage point for some photos of the Wild Dog Mountains (photo of me perched on the rock is from Irina Sorokina).

The descent starts with a steel ladder at the bottom of a narrow slot in the rocks…

…and continues past a few large overhangs, and some more sweeping views of Mount Mouin and the Wild Dogs.

There’s another couple of narrow slots; at the top of the second and more narrow slot is a metal plaque commemorating Walter Tarr (1879-1969), who walked this route so many times that he was was dubbed the “Duke of Clear Hill”.

Just after this last slot is Tarros Ladder (originally spelled Taros Ladder): the original ladders (which were described as flimsy) were constructed in 1933 from saplings and fencing wire by Walter Tarr, but were destroyed by bushfires in 1939. They were replaced by iron spikes in November 1940.

Although the spikes look little a daunting, it’s a much easier pass to negotiate than Carlon Head. It’s one of the most popular Narrow Neck passes, providing access from Katoomba to Medlow Gap, and onward to Kanangra Walls for bushwalkers doing the K2K walk. (It is possible to avoid the spikes by taking what is called the Wallaby Pass or Wallaby Track around this last rock outcrop – but as Dave Noble eloquently explains in his blog, Duncans Pass is the name of the whole pass from Clear Hill down, which includes Tarros Ladder.)

Looking back at my early bushwalking photos, it’s been almost exactly 30 years since I last climbed up Tarros Ladder as a teenager, on a two-day loop bushwalk over Mount Solitary, along the Cedarland Ridge Trail though the Kedumba Valley and back via Narrow Neck. (Unfortunately, I seem to have aged much more than the eucalyptus tree in the middle of Tarros Ladder!)

The bushwalking track continues to descend the ridge to Little Cedar Gap, where there is an electricity pylon, and the junction with the Cedarland Ridge Firetrail (which after a few kilometres enters the restricted Warragamba catchment area).

From the pylon, you could head directly down the steep slope as a shortcut to get to the Medlow Gap Management Trail. We stay on the bushwalking track, which follows the ridge and traverses the rocky Mount Debert – named after Jack Debert, who was the first president of the Sydney Bush Walkers club. In 1929 it was originally and officially called Debert Knob, but Debert apparently felt that some people were implying sexual connotations to this description…

The trail continues along the undulating ridge, with Mount Mouin directly ahead. Part of the Wild Dog Mountains, Mount Mouin is the only major peak not named after native dogs (being Mt Warrigal, Mt Merrimerrigal and Mt Dingo). It’s said that these dog-related names came from one of the ridges which radiated out from a major peak being known as a “black dog of a ridge”, which inspired the dog-naming-theme of the Wild Dog Mountains..

A steep descent at the end of the ridge brings us to Medlow Gap, and the junction with the Medlow Gap Management Trail, our last section of the walk.

The home stretch along the Medlow Gap Management Trail

The rest of our Carlon Head – Tarros Ladder bushwalk is along firetrails, ands is easy walking, despite the day getting a bit warmer than forecast. Oddly, a sign states the distance back to Dunphys Campground is 9.5km – this is wrong by a pretty big amount, with the actual distance being about 7km.

We briefly stop at Breakfast Creek (which runs west from Glenraphael Swamp on Narrow Neck Plateau to the Coxs River) where I replenish my water supply. There’s a small campground near the creek. There’s a decent flow today after recent rain, but it does stop flowing in dry periods.

A bit further along there are some nice views of Narrow Neck to the east.

Our last brief stop is at Sliprail Creek, which also starts on Narrow Neck before flowing into Breakfast Creek. The creek gets its name from Edward Moore, who owned land in the Megalong Valley, and erected sliprails along the creek to prevent his stock from straying. It looks like there are two creeks flowing across the firetrail; heavy rain in early 2013 resulted in a landslide off Narrow Neck, which cut a wide path all the way down into the valley.

We’re soon out of the “Special Area” (a bushwalking-only zone to protect the Warragamba catchment – which is ludicrous, when the highly polluted Coxs River provides about 31% of the Lake Burragorang intake) and back at Dunphys Campground.

This loop walk is a great way to visit Carlon Head and Tarros Ladder – two of the historic Narrow Neck passes. It would be possible to avoid the firetrail section from Medlow Gap by taking the Blue Dog Ridge Trail and Black Horse Ridge Pad to Breakfast Creek, and then following Carlon Creek along the Carlon Creek Track – but that would make it either a very long day, or an overnight walk.

 0.0km Dunphys Campground
 1.5km Junction of Bellbird Ridge Management Trail & Medlow Gap Mgt Trail
 3.3km Bushwalkers Hill
 6.8km End of Narrow Neck
       + 0.5km to top of Clear Hill
 7.8km Tarros Ladder (bottom)
 9.8km Medlow Gap (junction with Medlow Gap Management Trail)
15.4km Bellbird Ridge Management Trail
16.7km Dunphys Campground

Getting to Carlon Head and Tarros Ladder

The easiest starting point for Carlon Head and for this loop walk is from Dunphys Campground, which is at the end of Megalong Road. It’s about 23km from Blackheath (35min drive), with the last 5km section of road being unsealed and narrow and steep in places, but suitable for all vehicles. It’s highly recommended you do this walk anti-clockwise; descending Carlon Head is much more challenging.

You could also start at Katoomba, but the long walk down Narrow Neck from the carpark would add about 14km to this walk – making it a very long day walk, or a 2-day bushwalk.

More information

• David Noble blog – Dunphys and Duncans Passes – Narrow Neck
• Michael Keats, Brian Fox & Yuri Bolotin – Narrow Neck: Walks, Passes, People, Places
• Frank Duncan in The Bushwalker (April 1964, re-printed from 1934) – The First Descent of Clear Hill
• Bushwalk Australia – Which one is Duncans Pass?
• National Parks (NPWS) – Dunphys campground (information and bookings)