Summary

This circuit heads south from Pine Island on tracks and off-track through grassland, past Stranger Pond and over the top of Mt Stranger. It returns by the Murrumbidgee Discovery Track. The most difficult part is getting through or over three fences. Ankle-high or knee-high gaiters are recommended to avoid grass seeds in your socks.

  • 6.2 km; 1 hour 40 minutes plus breaks
  • Views to the Brindabellas
  • Stranger Pond
  • Murrumbidgee River

View to the Brindabellas from the top of Mt Stranger

Route

Start at Pine Island carpark, Tuggeranong. Walk back the way you drove in, crossing the cattle grid. Thirty metres after the grid, veer right onto the Bicentennial National Trail. The trail is not signposted but has a red and yellow triangular marker. Follow the trail for 400 metres to Stranger Pond. Cross the Stranger Pond weir. Ten metres past the end of the weir, leave the Bicentennial National Trail by turning sharp left onto a narrower gravel footpath, which allows you to follow the edge of the pond. After 200 metres i.e. about 50 metres before you reach houses, a grassy slope will open up on your right. Head up the grassy slope and veer left onto the management trail covered in grey gravel which runs along the back of the houses. Follow this for about 800 metres, ignoring the turnoff that joins the Bicentennial National Trail.

You can now see Mt Stranger rising on your right. Find a way through the fence – we found a wombat-sized hole and crawled through – and head uphill through knee-high grass and scattered rocks. We think this is a more pleasant approach to the summit than following any track to the top, even though it involves negotiating two fences.

From the summit, which is marked by a trig, continue south for about 900 metres, following a spur and descending parallel to the houses, towards Woodcock Drive. Cross a fence line by climbing over a gate to join the wide grassy verge of Woodcock Drive.

Continue southwest then south with Woodcock Drive on your left, briefly joining a bike path to cross a gully. Do not follow the bike path into the underpass under Woodock Drive – instead look for informal tracks that curve to the right, and cross another gully to a gap in the fence marked by a Parks and Conservation Service post with a ‘no dogs’ symbol. This is your turning point – from here on you will be heading back towards the start of the walk.

From this sign, head northwest on a grassy track, keeping to the right of the fenceline. The walking is pleasant and the noise of the traffic on Woodcock Drive will gradually give way to the sound of frogs in the creek on your right.

Continue on this track about 750 metres till you see a seat where your track meets the riverside Murrumbidgee Discovery Track. Turn right onto the Murrumbidgee Track and follow it for 1 km till the track ends at the bitumen of Pine Island Road. While you could follow this road back to Pine Island, it is more pleasant to veer left and follow the mown grass of the picnic area which parallels the road. Where the grass ends, the Murrumbidgee Discovery Track resumes and leads you back to Pine Island carpark.

Downloadable files

Download the route in KML format here. Open Google Earth on your computer and drag the KML file onto it.  Or download the route in GPX format to load to your GPS.

Map of the route

ACT Parks sign with no dogs symbol marks the point at which the route turns back north

Pleasant walking track linking Woodcock Drive and Murrumbidgee Discovery Track