On 21 July it will be 90 years since the Federation of Bushwalking Clubs (now Bushwalking NSW) held its inaugural meeting. Soon after, on 2 September, we’ll see the 90th anniversary of the reservation of the iconic Blue Gum Forest, in the Grose Valley, following a campaign by bushwalkers.
The two events are not unrelated. The success of the collective action by the walkers had encouraged them to form the umbrella group which would assist Myles Dunphy and others in their campaigns to create national parks. Blue Gum Forest was the kernel of today’s Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, and is the cradle of the modern conservation movement in NSW. You can read more about this in Andy Macqueen’s book “Back from the Brink: Blue Gum Forest and the Grose Wilderness”, which is available at Blue Mountains bookshops and here.
Celebratory campout
The saving of Blue Gum Forest will be celebrated on the weekend of 3-4 September 2022 by a campout in the Grose Valley, at The Meadow (near Acacia Flat). Attendance will be limited to members of clubs affiliated with Bushwalking NSW, and their families.
The agenda will include a ceremony at the forest on Saturday afternoon and a communal campfire in the evening. On Sunday morning some interpretive ambles will be on offer, the topics including birds, plants and geology.
The activity is being organised by volunteers, with the support of NPWS. Participants will have to make their own way in and out of the valley. Numbers will be capped at 80. Registration is essential and will be on a first-in-first-served basis. All participants:
- Must be a member of a bushwalking club, or accompany such a person as a member of their family.
- Will preferably be in a party organised under the rules of that club.
- Must be experienced and self-reliant overnight walkers, or in the care of such a person. The access tracks are steep and involve 600 metres of vertical descent/ascent.
- Are expected to car-pool, to limit traffic congestion at the track-heads.
- Be packed up and making their way out of the valley by noon on Sunday.
Further details, including advice concerning track conditions (and closures if any) will be sent to registrants prior to the weekend.
For all enquiries please email Monica Nugent at monica.nugent@environment.nsw.gov.au
Every person, including family members, must be registered. REGISTER HERE.
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