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Wentworth Falls to Glenbrook via Woodford
I wanted to ride down the Queen Elizabeth Drive, Ingar Fire Trail, up the Murphy's Fire Trail and down the Oaks Trail.
Is this feasible? Is crossing between Ingar Fire Trail near the Picnic Ground over to the Murphy's side OK even if I have to hike-a-bike.
Am I going to get lost? It looks reasonably straight forward
Does anyone want to come?
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Ingar is BORING BORING BORING fire road! Don't do it to yourself, DO NOT TAKE IT. Everyone know's the funnest way from Wentworth Falls to Woodford is via The Andersons.
Take King Tablelands Road down - about 10kms on the left is the turn to The Andersons trail. Follow all the way to the bottom of Murphy's Creek. Cross the creek (twice) then climb up and out the other side. After the gate at the top of the hill you need to take the main fire trail LEFT into Woodford - going right will take you to the camp ground and a dead end. There's a bit of wiggle through the streets of Woodford to the start of The Oaks, nothing major.
This is the way to go:
There is no Hike-a-bike. Be careful to not go too far past the turn for Ando's. You'll be entering SCA land and there's some serious fines for being there. $11,000 last I heard?
Have fun
This man speaks the truth. Andersons has what you are looking for, Ingar does not.
Except for the SCA fine bit. You can ride tablelands road to the end where there is a lookout. This adds alot of extra K's and the return trip is not much fun. It's only if you leave tablelands rd into SCA land that you can get in trouble. But I'm sure this will be signposted.
The turn off for Andersons can be easily missed if you haven't been before. Best to take someone with you on this ride. Nominate your preference for time and date for a social ride.
Riding Ingar does suck. I've done it that way once myself. Andersons is the better way to go.
I prefer to do this ride on a cool day as I struggle to get up Murpheys and usually end up hiking it and on a hot day. This is just a killer!
Also, don't do this ride after a lot of rain as the creeks will be high and harder to cross.
Good point about the creeks Tim.....
Ingar is definately the most boring fire trail in the mountains... it barely turns, is seemingly the same gradient all the way, is smooth and the scenery doesn't change. It has a really steep ending that is boring and the first few hundred metres are the best bit but they are just standard Blue Mountains fire trail, and better only because they aren't as crap. Essentially the drop in height that requires the massive climb back up from the creek is just not worth it. Ingar's only purpose is for people doing insane training rides.. down Ando's up Ingar just for the kms.
Don't know about smooth, Ingar's has usually been riddled with washboard corrugations the times that I've done it! It does have the rock platform with aboriginal carvings (and great views) near the (WF end) start and the dam and picnic area is quite a nice spot, but otherwise I pretty much agree. And it's open to cars, whereas Ando's is pretty much guaranteed no vehicles. Just have to watch the first fork (go right, I think) after the entry gate on Ando's. And make sure you've got a reasonable set of brake pads in for the descent to Murphy's Ck. I started to run out of brakes on this descent once, and it ain't much fun that way. Probably not good to dunk screaming hot rotors in the creek straight away either.
Woah! it looks like it can be up to as much as $44,000 http://www.sca.nsw.gov.au/the-catchments/access-... But yeah it will be signposted so you'll be pretty much safe there.
Good point on the creeks.
I have only ever ridden up Ingar to get to the top of King Tablelands Road and Ando's, every time I've ridden it it has been rutted to hell, and it is open to vehicles. I have had one or two close misses in the past. So best to avoid Ingar altogther IMHO.
When I first moved up here, in a fit of lunacy I rode up Ingars after riding down Ando's and up the other side
By the time I reached the top of the endless Ingar's I was hallucinating
That was the only positive in the ride back up
It wasn't hallucination it was the riding over the ruts that shook your eyeballs out of their sockets.
The climb from the creek up to the first gate is a lot of fun/hell tho
Hey Andy, ask Mark what i think of Ingar, i wanted to kill the day mark, jeff and i rode it, never again...Ever!
Ingar is the MTB equivalent of water-boarding. There is an out and back down to Aeroplane Hills on the left heading towards Woodford. Has some nice water bar jumps at the start and then it's pretty much just as boring as Ingar main, only overgrown.
From the NPWS site
Blue Mountains National Park
Fires, floods and park closures
Last update: 11/12/2012 1:10PM
Fires
As a safety precaution, Kings Tableland Road, Wentworth Falls has been closed at the park boundary. There is no access to McMahons Lookout.
(Not sure how this affects Ando's as I haven't been down there)
Also just for you Todd,
Ingar camping areas - Ingar campground
Vehicle access along Ingar Road may be closed at the end of Queen Elizabeth Drive while private property development works are underway.
NPWS requests that visitors respect private property closures.
Ingar Camping Area will remain open to walkers who access around the private property. Walking distance approx. 13kms.
For further information contact the NPWS Heritage Centre, phone 02 4787 8877; open seven days 9.00 am to 4.30 pm.
Thanks guys!!!
Nothing like a completely unanimous opinion
I still might try the ride on Sunday early unless it rains or too hot but I'll go Andersons
Haven't ridden out to Faulconbridge Point so I might use that for a warm up tmrw
Phil
Thanks for answering my question
I did notice yr graphic.
If we meet somewhere in the wide world I'll have to check it out.
I gather you wear (or have it mounted on the bike) a GPS device which you plug into the computer
Colin
If you don't know already there's some fun single track to be had at the end of TheOaks. It's easy to miss though if you don't know about it.
Just in case you don't know, here's the directions:
You'll get to a big clearing on The Oaks, this is a helipad, after this there will be a long fast downhill section (watch out for the corner). At the bottom of the down hill is a gate and an information board area. It's here where you enter the single track. Don't continue on the fire road, instead keep to the far left by the info boards and you will see a trail that runs parallel to the main road. This is it.
Enjoy
Hi Colin. Bike computers with built in GPS are fairly common now days.
Garmin is probably the most popular brand.
Handy little gadgets but some times you get caught up in the numbers and forget to enjoy the ride. Especially when used with strava.com
And if it's not on Strava, it didn't happen
I want that line on a shirt