MOUNT WILSON – 28 December 2025
I was supposed to go on Nicole’s Wollangambe 4 trip but when she told me that the last time she did it, it took 9hrs – I figured with me on the trip it might take them 11hrs (I am very cautious and am slower than most, and it’s a big climb out at the end of the day). Also, there’s a 500m swim in this section of the river, and that wasn’t appealing, so, I pulled out. I’m not sure that’s ever happened before, sorry Nicole! So, what to do with my day?
On Boxing Day (the 26th December for those in the US), we had used an old fire trail called the Bogey Hole Track to access October Creek. At the time I wondered where it went and what was a “Bogey Hole”, I had visions of a lovely swimming hole that you could drive to before the fire trail was gated. Not wanting to be wandering around in the bush by myself I snagged Cheryl who had a few hours to spare, so off we went.
I tried to find the history of the name, as it applied to the Mount Wilson area, but no success. However, based on other uses of the name, ‘Bogey Hole’ came into regular usage sometime after one was built by colonists back in the 1800s, and is said to come from the Dharawal word meaning ‘to bathe’. So, we off looking for a bathing hole!
Our “death photo”, if anything happened to us, my phone would show that we were excited about the trip LOL.
We started the walk at around 8.45am and were soon down to the spot where Nicole had left the track on the way to a tributary of October creek. But we continued on along the fire trail.
When on the walk with Nicole, I’d looked at the cliffs opposite to us and envisaged this trail (very well maintained) would go to the swimming hole. So, would it?
I also thought there might be a nice creek to walk down at the base of this cliff, but the vegetation didn’t look friendly so we continued on the fire trail.
It then started to go up and I didn’t want to do much climbing and I didn’t think there’d be a water hole on the top, it would have to be down where we were. So, we turned around, what next?
Off the fire trail was a bit swampy (snake country), and I didn’t think Cheryl would be keen but she bravely headed into the swamp.
We managed to keep our feet dry until a small water crossing, Cheryl made it across with dry feet, sadly I didn’t take the same route and came out with wet socks.
There were wombat tracks taking us to the base of the cliff line and the vegetation was quite friendly so we headed over to see what the creek looked like.
And here’s the creek, didn’t look like an attractive swimming hole, but who knows what it would have looked like in the 1950s or 1960s when the fire trail was open. There was a 50/50 chance that this was the bathing site we were looking for, so we decided to turn around and head out.
As we headed to the top of the hill near the cliff face, we came across the remnants of an old fire trail, so we decided to check it out and see where we ended up.
We came to what (after a lot of rain), might be a hole that you could bath in (if you used your imagination). The track continued onward and so we decided to follow it.
And, what do you know, we ended up at a spot that I’d walked through on the 26th with Nicole! A nice campsite with a small overhang if you wanted shelter from the rain. Probably about 2k from where we’d parked our cars. Unbeknown to me, we were on the track that Nicole had used (doh!) tells you how much I pay attention to where I’m going!
We turned around and headed back to the cars, with a short stop to admire the view, we followed the track all the way to where Nicole had crossed the swamp – as I said, just goes to show how much I pay attention!
We were back at the cars at 10am, a nice fitness walk for us (with a decent hill at the end) but we’re still not sure why the track is marked as the Bogey Hole Track. If anyone knows why it’s named as such, let me know. At least now I know where the fire trail goes – straight up the hill to where we turned around and eventually to DuFaurs Rock, interesting but don’t need to go up that hill unnecessarily.
Thanks Cheryl, wouldn’t have done the walk that we did without you, and we didn’t see any snakes in that swamp!
Yes it could be a decent camping spot for future something ?
Who knows ?
Yeah, but a bite of a hike from the road, mind you, would be a good base for exploring around.
Sound like a great trip still! Sorry you did not find a great pool to swim in, but the scenery and views look beautiful!
Thanks Jenny!