When you visit the small township, south west of Wagga Wagga called “The Rock” there is one feature nearby that really gets your attention, actually, it should have got your attention a long time before you even arrived at The Rock and that is the huge geological feature called “The Rock”, pretty original name eh?
It is simply a stunning feature that you can see for quite a distance away, but it is not until you are standing in the carpark and picnic area below that you fully start to comprehend just how large this feature actually is. We were on a trip down this way and had decided that we would take the time to climb to the top and enjoy the views. There is a very well formed walking track that gets you right on top, which, weirdly, are the worst views, the best views are on the way up from many vantage points.
We made ready with water and munchies and started our walk at around 8:43am, the first 24 minutes or so of the walk are reasonably flat / undulating as you skirt around the eastern side of The Rock, a wide, well-maintained track will get you to the start of the climb to the top. There is not much shade at all on this section, so wear a hat and sun screen.
At this point, the track takes a sharp turn to the right and starts to get steeper and steeper as you walk directly towards The Rock, it is also at this point, that the track is littered with lots of rocks, making for uncomfortable walking, though there seems to be a smoother narrow track in many places on the sides of the main track.
After a short while of huffing and puffing upwards, you meet the first of the many zigs and zags that will eventually lead you up to the back of the highest point of The Rock. It took us 25 minutes with plenty of stops for water and catching of breath before we topped that section. As you pause to recover from that climb up, towering above on your right is the sheer cliffs of the highest point, dropping away to your left, is the spine of the mountain range and amazing views, just stunning views.
Enjoy the views to the south in all directions, at the time we were here, the canola was in full flower making for a stunning patchwork of yellow and green that disappears into the distance. After 5 minutes of enjoying the views and rehydrating, it is time to push on. The walking track now slowly climbs up the western side of The Rock, this is an easy walk to start with and again, there are a couple of places where you get more amazing views to the west.
After a short time, you get to a bit of a climb, nothing hard or high, but at the top of this section, a few people lose the trail, the track clearly goes left, and by all means, go left for an amazing vantage point, then back track to that little climb and skirt around a boulder to then continue climbing up on the easy track, but now heading back south on the zag section of this long zig zag.
The track starts to climb up quickly, but nothing too demanding, it is convenient that where you feel the need to stop, there is always a stunning vista to be viewed to the south and west of your vantage point.
With stops along the way, from the top of your initial climb where you got your first amazing views, it will take you around 20 minutes or so to get to the very top where the views are quite closed in with trees and shrubs. If you decide to walk / scramble across the top of The Rock, you will find vantage points with great views, and, you can say you have climbed The Rock.
The trip down is quite a bit quicker but will still take a while, when you get back to the picnic area you will enjoy sitting down and having something cold.
Image Gallery
