Blue Mountains mtb rides
Faulconbridge Point - Grose Road
This ride is well suited to beginner and intermediate level riders. Although there are hills, most of the track is reasonably level, and the surface is mainly smooth, making for a fairly easy ride. The waterbars returned late 2003, adding considerably to the fun factor for more experienced riders. There's also a number of old maintenance tracks that are reverting to singletrack. Faulconbridge Point is quite popular with bushwalkers, family and school groups. A recent ride with a group of beginners took around 40 minutes riding from the gate to the lookout, plus stoppage time for us all to catch our breaths and yak (around another 30 minutes). We took it quite steadily, so you could do it faster if you are in a hurry.
Getting there
By train, it's easiest to get off at Faulconbridge station, cross over the highway to the bikepath, and ride back towards Sydney. The highway's quite narrow in spots along here - which is why I recommend the bikepath. Ride down for about 1 kilometre, and you'll come to the second set of traffic lights at Faulconbridge Primary School, on the corner of Grose Road. Turn left here and stay on Grose Road - straight ahead when you reach the roundabout - and you'll pass Springwood High School on your right. About 4 kms from the station, Grose Road becomes dirt, and after another km or so, cars are blocked by a gate.
If you get off the train at Springwood, it's about 1.5 km of steady climbing to the turnoff, but it's not too bad. Make your way to the highway and ride west towards Katoomba until you come to the lights at Grose Road, and turn right.
Car drivers often prefer to drive out to the gate. Follow the Great Western Highway to the lights mentioned above and turn into Grose Road. Follow Grose Road, till you reach the locked gate. Don't forget to remove or hide valuables.
The track
There's about 7 kms from the start of the dirt to the lookout - just stay on the main trail. Most of the track is reasonably flat or undulating, with only a few larger hills. The return of the waterbars means there's lots of chances to get airborne - or fall off! The track surface is typical Blue Mountains ridge top, mainly hard pack sand and sandstone, with occasional loose sections and deeper sand.
There are occasional views through the trees as we ride, but the lookout at the end is what we've come for. When you reach the lookout it's time to sit back and take in the spectacular views - you can see across the Grose Valley to the Bells Line of Road area, and down to the Hawkesbury plains past the cliffs of Grose Head South. To the north west, the Grose River continues to carve its canyon through the Mountains. I reckon the Grose Valley (and indeed, many valleys in the mountains) would give the Grand Canyon a run for its money - but we have trees!
If you're really keen, you can hide your bikes and hike down to the Grose River and back. I'm not that keen... Take care near the cliff edges, there's no fence and it's a hell of a long drop till you stop.
Return the way you came.
huzzah! the return of the waterbars means this ride goes back up the rankings -
3 fat hippies
| Distance | ~22 km return to Faulconbridge station |
| Difficulty | Easy/Medium. Some hills - beginners may do some short stretches of walking. Surface generally smooth. Good for beginners. Technical difficulty low. |
| Type | Normal to narrow fire trail |
| Time | Varies - from one and a half hours to all day |
| Trains | Springwood - Faulconbridge - timetable |
| Interest | Faulconbridge Point Lookout, spectacular views of Grose Valley and Grose River, Norman Lindsay's art gallery - turn east into Chapman Pde at high school |
| Issues | popular with walkers and family groups - ride carefully! Don't fall off jumping waterbars. |
| Ridden | 2006 |
| Map | Penrith topographical |
another fAt hIpPy production
