I’m keen to see if this bushwalk described by Jim Smith in his iconic book “How to See the Blue Mountains” still exists – of the seven bushwalks on the Shipley Plateau published by Jim, the Bridle Track is the only on that is not off-limits due to private property. Although the trail isn’t signposted, it’s easy to find the start near the Shipley Rural Fire Brigade on Shipley Road. There doesn’t appear to be any documented history of the Bridal Trail, but it would have provided a shortcut for walkers and horse-riders across Blackheath Glen to the Kanimbla Valley.
It’s pleasant walking along the bushwalking track, but there’s not much to see until just after the track starts to drop towards a gap in the cliff-line. Arthurs Lookout appears almost out of nowhere, a narrow ledge that juts out over the edge of the cliffs and provides a great view over Blackheath Glen and towards the cliffs of Mount Victoria.
From this vantage point the Bridle Track starts to descend more steeply, but with a few zig-zags as the gradient needed to allow for horses to make the descent (or ascent). There are a few more glimpses of the cliffs on the opposite side of the valley.
As it nears the bottom of Blackheath Glen, a sea of dense ferns replaces the open eucalyptus forest. The track is marked by a few pink ribbons, and becomes a lot more distinct.
At the bottom of Blackheath Glen is Blackheath Creek, which originates not far upstream from here and eventually flows into the Coxs River.
The Bridle Track crosses the shallow creek, after which it becomes very overgrown. An obvious trail can sometimes be seen, but I’m often relying solely on my map to ensure I’m going the right way.
There are a few white blobs marking the route, which seem slightly more obvious when walking back in the opposite direction.
The track gets more distict as it ascends from Blackheath Creek, and soon arrives at an informal camping area on Kanimbla Road.
You could do this as one-way bushwalk in either direction with a car-shuffle, which would make it a very short walk – even with slow progress through the overgrown section the return walk can be done in about an hour.
Getting to the Shipley Bridle Track
There is plenty of parking at both ends of the Bridle Track: along Shipley Road there is parking at the Shipley Rural Fire Brigade, with the trail starting at the southern end of the carpark. At the lower trailhead on Kanimbla Road there is parking just off the road at the camping area. It’s a 2.8km (4min) drive from Blackheath to the Shipley Road trailhead and 8km (10min) to the Kanimbla Road trailhead (and about 5.3km along the road if you do this as a loop walk).
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