Walk: Blue Gum Swamp Creek, Winmalee

This walk is both geological and botanical. When the Lapstone Structural Complex was created, its steep, east-facing monoclinal scarp was mirrored in more subdued fashion by a series of en-echelon west-facing faults. These caused temporary damming of creeks, and creation of wetlands like Burralow Swamp and Mountain Lagoon. In this era of late tectonic activity the Grose Fault rose and temporarily dammed Blue Gum Creek leading to a buildup of alluvium and the creation of a swampy, flat floored valley with high water tables. Mountain Blue Gums Eucalyptus deanei flourish in this environment creating a beautiful tall forest shading numerous flowering shrubs. Highlights are the forest of tall Mountain Blue Gums and a climb out from the valley to a lookout over the beautiful lower Grose Valley.

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Date: Sunday 5 May
Time: 9:45 for 10 am
Length: 12 km (about 5 h)
Grade: moderate – entirely on service trails and well-maintained tracks; 190 m uphill total with one long climb of 150 m over 1 km
Meet: start of Blue Gum Swamp Track, White Cross Road
Bring: camera, plant i.d. book(s), sunblock, drink, lunch, snack, wet weather gear if necessary, some downhill sections are steep and gravelly and a walking pole may be helpful
Weather: May is one of Sydney's wettest months, but statistical chances of cancellation are low

How to get there

Drive takes about 1 h 20 min from North Shore. Drive to Richmond (M2–M7–Richmond Road best). Take Castlereagh Road out of Richmond and turn right after 4 km onto Springwood Road, crossing the Nepean at Yarramundi. Climb the 'Hawkesbury hairpins', past the Hawkesbury Lookout, then through much of suburban Winmalee before turning right onto White Cross Road at traffic lights on a left hand curve. Drive past the shopping centre to the trackhead at the road's end, about 1 km. Mainly kerbside parking. There are toilets in the shopping centre next to Coles should you need them.