The Corn Trail

The Corn Trail is a recently renovated historic-interest bushwalk in the Monga National Park, inland from Batemans Bay. I'd actually never heard of it (or of Monga National Park), but some of my bushwalking companions had, and were keen to check it out. It's 12 to 15 km long, depending on which authority and/or GPS device you trust, and involves an ascent or descent of about 650m.

From the National Parks website:

Take a journey back in time and follow a route that has been used for thousands of years. Popular today with bushwalkers and horse riding groups, Corn Trail walking track was originally used by Aboriginals on their seasonal travels between the coast and the tablelands, then later by European settlers on pack horses carrying supplies.

This historic trail takes you downhill from high mountain ridges to deep rainforest-filled valleys. You'll pass the gently flowing Buckenbowra River, wander through warm temperate rainforest and walk through eucalypt forests. You’ll also catch glimpses of Mount Budawang and the sandstone peaks of Pigeon House and Castle Mountain further north.

It’s a difficult walk, so you’ll need to come prepared, but the scenery is worth it. A carpark at the bottom allows you to do a car shuffle and have a vehicle and supplies waiting for you at the end.

It's not that super-difficult, especially if you do it from north to south (ie downhill). But it was more substantial than we'd expected, and we even met a couple of people with a full backpack, doing the uphill direction to practice for a big Himalayan excursion to come. They told us there was a nice surprise to come.

The surprise was a beautiful patch of rainforest, a total contrast to the earlier vegetation types we'd passed through.