A large rock outcrop in Wollemi National Park, Rock Island was named by Rodney Falconer, David Blackwell and Dr Haydn Washington – the original three people who proposed the Gardens of Stone National Park – in November 1984. Aerial photography in April 1944 showed the entire area appearing as a single rock, surrounded on three sides by tributaries of Deanes Creek:
This name was given when spotted from the air making a flight / air survey of the areas rich with Pagodas. Rock Island was extremely distinctive with low heath type vegetation, which was laid out with the most distinctive top surface contours of the island just like a “contour” topographical model.
David Blackwell, May 2010 in Bush Explorers Encyclopedia
A route traversing Rock Island (and the adjacent “Little Rock Island”) was pioneered in 2011 by Brian Fox, and today’s bushwalk plans to roughly follow this. Led by Anton and joined by Susan, Helen and Xanthe, we set off in high spirits – despite it being a time of day when I’d usually still be in bed – from the end of the Old Coach Road.
We’re only on the Tiger Snake Canyon walking track for a few minutes, before we head off in a southerly direction through the scrub. Despite a few thick sections of re-growth from bushfires a few years ago, progress is relatively quick as we descend a wide gully.
Out first stop as we descend the wide gully is an enormous overhang, at the base of two tall pagodas.
As we get closer to Deanes Creek, the scrub is replaced with taller trees and a sea of ferns. We reach the bottom of the valley and follow Deanes Creek, with a dry waterfall providing a good indication of the height of the cliffs above us.
It’s slightly easier to walk through the ferns then the ridge-top scrub… but you never quite know what’s underfoot, necessitating an unhurried and careful pace!
We’re now in a semi-rainforest environment dominated by ferns and tall coachwood trees: most of the trees are vertical, but a a few fallen giants present obstacles we need to climb over – or under.
This section is the trickiest in terms of navigation, with a large rockfall and some thick scrub that need to be negotiated; we have to backtrack a short way after encountering a steep drop, before finding a way through the gully. (The trick is to stay as close as possible to the cliffs on the northern side.)
The valley soon opens again, and there are some large rock overhangs and shelters to explore.
There are some nice views of distant pagodas, a circular shaft and lots of slots that Brian Fox describes more eloquently than me: “a complex geomorphologic area with lots of bifurcating slots as well as slots making junctions, thus creating an absolute wonderland”.
Unlike the pioneers of the route to Rock Island that we are roughly following, we have the benefit of knowing which of the many slots and junctions will get us above the cliff-line. We locate the wide crack that runs across the entire length of Little Rock Island, and we’re soon clambering up to the top of the smaller rock outcrop.
There are some great views towards the south over the rugged pagoda country, the steep cliffs carved out by Deanes Creek and the ferns reaching for the sky in the valley directly below.
It doesn’t take long to traverse Little Rock Island; at the northern end is a great view across a deep chasm of Rock Island. From here, it seems unlikely that there is a relatively easy route to the top of these cliffs, almost directly in front of us. (Rock Island is no longer as bare as it was when photographed in 1944, and is now covered with with Allocasuarina nana – a low spreading shrub.)
After a short break admiring the view, we head back to the northern end of the same slot we ascended, which provides a quick and painless descent from Little Rock Island.
The narrow slot opens up at the bottom, as we cross the western end of the chasm between Little Rock Island and Rock Island. We cross a dense forest of almost head-head high fern, and we head north towards the southern end of Rock Island.
The next section is arguably the most picturesque, as the ferns give way to what Brian Fox describes as “an enclosed valley with some of the largest eucalypts I have seen anywhere”. They tower above the cliffs on both sides of the valley.
Brian called this “The Place that Time Forgot”: it’s an incredible landscape of towering ferns and rainforest trees, framed by sandstone cliffs on all sides.
The valley gets increasingly narrow, until only Coachwood trees survive as they find sunlight above the top of the cliffs.
We continue along the base of the cliff-line, about a third of the way along the length of Rock Island.
Another slightly improbable slot provides access to the top of Rock Island: barely half a metre wide, a cleft in the rock provides a narrow but perfect staircase up to the top.
From the top of the slot, there’s a new view back towards The Place that Time Forgot and into the narrow cleft.
It’s an easy walk up to the top of Rock Island, through some patches of tall grass and some low shrubs.
Once we’re on top, we head to the highest point at the southern end of the rock outcrop, where there is 360-degree panoramic view over the rugged landscape.
To the east and south-east are deep valleys bounded by vertical cliff faces, which have been eroded over thousands of years by Deanes Creek.
To the north is Newnes and the peaks at the northern end of Wollemi National Park: Donkey Mountain, Pantoneys Crown and Mount Iris.
The top of Rock Island is covered in both pagodas and smaller – but equally photogenic – ironstone formations. These are created when ironstone plates occur in sandstone, and the sandstone is weathered away to leave just the ironstone.
The many pagodas also prove Irresistible for a group photo!
From here it’s an easy and very pleasant walk across the length of Rock Island, stopping a few times to take more photos.
A tall but very easily climbed pagoda at the northern end of Rock Island provides the perfect spot for a late lunch – and another great vantage point for views of Deanes Creek.
It’s almost 2pm by now, and time for us find our route back down to the valley; we head down to the top of the cliffs on the northern side of Rock Island.
There are two options for the descent: in Brian Fox’s route there is a gully at 439 190; we found an equally suitable exit gully at 442 191 that provided a very easy and scramble-free way descent.
The benefit of this alternate exit gully – which is a little further to the east – is that the route follows the base of a quite spectacular cliff line.
Within two of the many shallow shelters at the bottom of the cliffs are Aboriginal hand stencils.
The impressive cliffs are over 300m in length, with some interesting rock formations and a deep overhang at the western end.
Just before the bottom of the alternate exit gully is a beautiful waterfall and a shallow pool, surrounded by dense ferns.
The going gets a little bit tougher from here; we need to get to the top of the cliffs on the opposite side of a small gully. While the gully is small, the vegetation gets increasingly thick, and we battle vines and ferns as we cross the creek (a tributary of Deanes Creek) and make our way up the opposite side.
We’re glad to reach the base of the small cliffs and the “slot” that provides an easy way to the top.
Once above this cliff-line, there’s a small scramble before a relatively easy walk up to the top of the ridge. A few vantage points provide a last look back towards Rock Island and Deanes Creek.
We reach the Tiger Snake Canyon Track near the top of the ridge, which makes it a very easy last kilometre back to the car.
Allow a full day for this walk, although if you have the coordinates for the slots and gullies that take you up and down Rock Island and Little Rock Island (and don’t have quite as many photo stops as we did) you could complete this loop in 5-6 hours. While the length as shown on AllTrails is 7.8km, the actual distance walked is about 14km.
Getting to Rock Island
It’s relatively easy to access this bushwalk; but there is a relatively long drive on unsealed roads (suitable for all cars unless there’s been heavy rain)…
If coming from Sydney turn off Bells Line of Road at Clarence (just before the Zig Zag Railway) and take the Old Bells Line of Road. After 8.6km turn right onto Glow Worm Tunnel Road and continue along this for 20.1km. Turn right onto Old Coach Road and follow this for 4.1km to a locked gate, where there is a small carpark – this provides an alternate access point for the Glow Worm Tunnel, so it can get a little busy. It’s about 33km (45min) from Bells Line of Road, all on unsealed roads.
From Lithgow, you can take teh unsealed State Mine Road – which eventually becomes Glow Worm Tunnel Road – making it a 35km (45min) drive.
More information
- Michael Keats and Brian Fox – Gardens of Stone and Beyond: Book 3 (Walk 17)
- Upper Blue Mountains Bushwalking Club – Rock Island – 13 April 2013
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