Posted: 14 January 2004 at 7:06 pm by Davey
Article note: Retrace the trip to historic Hill End as it was in 2004. Starting at Sofala and travelling on the dirt to Hill End, then down into the Turon Valley via the Bridle Track.
Hill End is a great place to travel to, the scenery and landscape is sensational, the quiet and private state of being is a spectacular get away and its historic origins can be traced back to the mid 1800's. From a four wheel drive perspective Hill End offers some nice little tracks that take you to some special scenic points and it offers what can be classed as a great track that starts at Hill End and takes you to Bathurst - the Bridle Track. My journey starts from the intersection of Sofala Rd and Hill End Rd and is plotted through to Hill End and then through to the end of the Bridle Track.
Hill End Rd is mostly an unsealed road with some sealed section (these are increasing slowly to accomodate tourism in Hill End). If you have a brand new vehicle and dont want stone chips on your duco I would recommend not going to Hill End as the following photos illustrate there is a lot of gravel to travel through.
Hill End Rd can be travelled by any kind of vehicle though having a 4wd is a distinct advantage.
It takes about half an hour to fourty five minutes to reach Hill End from the start of Hill End Rd. You know your there when you reach the following sign.
There are three camp sites to choose from in the town of Hill End. The most popular choice is the Villiage Camping ground which offers power, toilets and showers. Its situated almost in the heart of town aswell.
The town has an abundance of things to do and see, Merlins Lookout is a great place to start, it looks over the "Golden Mile" which produced the largest chunk of gold to this date.
If you get up early enough sunrise at Merlins Lookout is spectacular.
Some of the cloud formations look as though they are embossed in the country sky.
The track to Merlins Lookout ends in a cul de sac manner - ample room to make a U-Turn and head back when your finished enjoying the scenery.
Bald Hill is another lookout that is a must see, it again has spectacular scenic views of the town and surrounding country side.
The Bald Hill Mine is also a well known tourist attraction - its a mine shaft that has been preserved since the 1870's and depicts how life as a miner would have been.
Mines are scattered all around the township, some are not fenced or sealed so beware and keep a look out as you do have the chance of falling into an open mine shaft.
A walk through the township itself offers you a glimpse of history.
Plaques like the following are scattered all through the town, each one tells a story of what happend/resided in the area where you are standing.
And of course there are the buildings that are heritage listed. This one was the original mining registrars office.
Heading to Bathurst via the Bridle Track was the highlight of the journey. The begining (or end depending on which way you look at it) of the Bridle Track.
The Bridle track is scenic very scenic.
There is no fencing and its pretty much a one lane track. Make a mistake and your over the edge which at some points hits a 300m drop straight down!
The track is windy and at some points quite rocky - the sharp rocks can wreak havok with your tyres sidewalls, care should be taken.
The views of the country side makes this track worthwhile.
If you look carefully towards the right about 20 minutes into the Bridle Track you come up to the closed off section of the original Bridle Track that the gold miners of the 1800's used to get to Hill End. Travel is too rough and dangerous to go through there, but you can walk through it at the top of Hawkins Hill Lookout.
Travelling along the track you come across a section where its cut through a huge mass of stone in the ground.
More spectacular river scenery courtesy of the Macquarie river.
At this point there was about a 300m drop straight down into the Macquarie River with a hill straight up on the other side, the track becomes just one lane so care must be taken around this part. Thankfully no one was coming the opposite way at this section - reversing back to make way would be tough!
The track doesnt get much wider than this in alot of the sections - there are many blind corners.
You pass through a few more causeways and picture perfect countryside for the next hour
Then about two hours later you come to the end of the Bridle Track, soon after this you get back to the more familiar bitumen travel.
The begining of the end?!?
Travelling the track takes between two and a half to three hours, you pass through numerous camp sites and see some spectacular scenery - the Bridle Track is a must for anyone who has a 4wd or is game to tackle it in thier passenger car!