This is the jewel in the crown of the Conondale NP. The area is famous for its stunning beauty, criss-crossed by the Conondale Range Great Walk. You only have to Google the following sites: Booloumba Creek Day Use Area, Booloumba Falls, Peters Creek and Artists Cascades, to see what the fuss is about.
This post describes just a 22km optional diversion from the Sunday Creek Road route. This diversion only adds 8km to the Sunday Creek route, however, it is worth noting that this route contains an extra 250Vm of elevation gain over those extra 8km. It is probably a route that would be best considered riding in reverse from Jimna for a larger percentage of descending. Even when heading in the easier direction, there are still a few steep uphill slogs that will have you gasping for breath.
The following notes are written, in the same way as all previous route posts i.e. if heading towards Jimna.
From Kenilworth, you’ll traverse the same easy-6km out of town to the south as if riding the Sunday Creek Road route. The turn off to Booloumba Creek is well signed just a little further south of Sunday Creek Rd, with the Fig Tree Walk area in between. You’re likely to have a couple of creek crossings very early that may require carrying your bike. These crossing are between the main road and the Booloumba Creek camping areas. Often, low clearance vehicles are parked here and day-trippers tip-toe into the day use area and beyond.
Braden Rd Climb (Strava), starting from the Booloumba Creek camping area, gives no time to warm up, with the first 2km @ 13.7% gradient. It's a tough start to riding in the Conondales, but you can't help to appreciate the scenery. There is a chance for respite at the Booloumba lookout after about 1.7km, overlooking Mt Allen to the north.
After just a few hundred metres past the lookout, the gradient does plateau for a bit, but the general trend for the day is climbing, with another consistent 2km climb at 6% soon following.
Further on, the road is referred to as Funnels Hut Rd. You'll be in awe of the massive palms and eucalypts towering above you. Steep gradients exist on either side of a few mountain creeks that flow across (under) Funnels Hut Road. You’ll cross over concrete slab bridges at Booloumba, Bundaroo and Peters Creek all high up (elevation 500m+) in the forest. You are able to overlook (draw lines) any automatic routing issues you might have on RWGPS here as the bridges are very much intact. You'll face some steep pinches on either side of these bridges, however, usually only for a few hundred metres at a time.
You might be encouraged to take a short side trip on foot to Peters Creek Cascades, well worth a look. From here it is another climb of about 1.8km up to the T-junction this track makes with Sunday Creek Road, 21km from Jimna. Also worth noting, this turn off is very well signed if you're planning to ride this in the opposite direction. It is well worth the effort to get into this part of the Conondales if you are able to build it into your routes.
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