A strenuous descent to the Grose River via Browns Ridge

Despite being only about an hour from Sydney, this partly off-track walk descends to a very remote stretch of the lower Grose River. The nearest bushwalking trail to the Grose River is about 8km downstream (the Grose River Walking Track off the Faulconbridge Ridge Fire Trail) or 26km upstream near the Blue Gum Forest. This part of the Grose Wilderness is also called the Devils Wilderness, a rugged and isolated area named by explorer George Caley in 1804 due to its “due to its bewildering, intricate, and dangerous nature” when he travelled through it on his attempt to reach Mount Banks.

The route starts along the Browns Ridge Fire Trail, which branches off the car-accessible Paterson Ridge Fire Trail.

It’s initially easy walking and we make good progress; there are a couple of obstacles but the Browns Ridge Fire Trail seems to be in better condition than it was in 2004, when Michael Keats reported a lot of fallen trees. Along the Browns Ridge Trail is a somewhat mysterious “Gillies Hand Tool Line” sign, which I later discover was related to Nic Gellie, a fire ecologist, who created a fire break here (a “hand tool line” is where a firebreak is created by hand tools such as rakes etc).

That handtool line was instigated by me as fire management officer at Blue Mountains District to control the 1994 Bell Range fire. It was used again in 2019-2020 to control the Mount Wilson Backburn Escape.”

The firetail along Browns Ridge gradually becomes a narrower bushwalking track, but remains easy walking.

The fun begins around GR 7293 8365, where the trail we are on continues heading south-west, to a small vantage point. A rope provides access to a partly collapsed overhang, which is likely the Bass Fishermans Track providing an informal route down to the Grose River.

But that’s not the route we are taking – we continue along the ridge for a short distance, before descending the steep gully towards Browns Creek.

The slope becomes increasingly steep but there are no cliff-lines, and we manage to negotiate a route down to the bottom of the gully.

After a short break, we resume our journey, heading down Browns Creek to where it flows into the Grose River.

Browns Creek is initially dry – probably because it’s flowing under a bed of rocks – but we soon encounter some small cascades.

Just after these cascades is the first and only real obstacle we encounter, where the creek drops over a wide ledge. We carefully skirt around edge of the wide platform and find a narrow ledge that allows us to drop back down into the creek.

There are more small cascades and lots of boulder-hopping, but we mainly walk down the rocky creek bed.

It’s one of the most pleasant sections of the walk, with easy rock-hopping and a few more small cascades.

Towards the bottom of the gully, the terrain gets steeper and more rainforest-like, with tall Coachwood (Ceratopetalum apetalum) and Turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera) trees and Bird’s Nest Ferns (Asplenium australasicum) growing on many of the boulders.

We traverse the gully above the creek, which provides a slightly easier path and avoids the increasingly rocky creek bed.

The Grose River is finally in site, with Browns Creek flowing into the river just below a deep and picturesque pool.

There is no sign here of the historic Engineers Track, an ambitious project to create a bridle track up the Grose River from the Nepean River near Yarramundi to Hartley Vale as a possible route for a railway line. Some remnants of the track remain along the Grose Gorge, but not here, where it was likely washed away over many decades. We cross the Grose River, with the opposite side offering what seems to be an easier route; a small overhang appears to be an old camping site (Keated noted in 2004 it was currently in use, with clothing, candles, firewood and a range of cooking utensils – but no signs of the tenant).

A series of ledges provides fairly easy walking above the river.

We continue upstream, past multiple picturesque pools – and secluded swimming holes.

We don’t see a single other person all day; it’s fairly likely that we have a 30km stretch of this magnificent and remote river to ourselves.

We return the same way; with a bit more time, alternative exit routes would have been further downstream via the Fishermans Track or via Wilderness Ridge. Along the rock platform we spot a sleeping Diamond Python, who is very relaxed about being photographed.

So, it’s back across the Grose River…

…back up Browns Creek,

and a steep scramble up to Browns Ridge.

Although we haven’t found any trace of the Engineers Track (which Keats noted in 2004 was “near perfect” further upstream near the Old Fishermans Track), it’s been a fun adventure exploring a very remote section of the Grose Gorge.

Getting to the Grose River via Browns Ridge

A number of routes down to the Grose River can be reached via the Browns Ridge Firetrail, which starts 2km along Patersons Range Trail from Bells Line of Road (unsealed but 2WD accessible). From the end of the firetrail / bushwalking track, either continue to the end of the ridge and find a route down the side of the gully to Browns Creek, or head down the western side of Browns Ridge.

More information

• Info Blue Mountains – The Engineer’s Track
• Michael Keats – Day Walks in the Lower Grose River and Tributaries
  • Walk 8: Old Fishermans Track with an ascent up Wilderness Ridge
  • Walk 9: Old Fishermans Track to Browns Creek