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‘Yep. You should be alright,’ they said, eyeing off my touring bike. ‘You could get past on that.’ Well, the road was closed, and had been for years, judging by the state of it. A quiet descent into the lonely valley in the Blue Mountains. Not a soul was there, and I was happy.

Bowens Creek Road

The main roads in the Blue Mountains are not that great – cars scooting along around sharp corners and not much room for cyclists. My plan was to leave the busy Bells Line Of Road asap, and I headed off to the road to Mt Wilson, past the ‘Cathedral of Ferns’ and a few lovely lookouts.

Cathedral of Ferns

Wynnes Lookout

The closed road connects Mt Irvine to Bilpin. It is closed due to a crumbly bridge at the bottom of a long descent, and due to numerous places where the road has caved away and slipped down the steep valley slope. There were lots of big rocks and bumps, and it wasn’t much wider than a walking trail. And there were numerous trees that had fallen across the road. It was a lot of fun!

Bridge Bowens Creek

Bowens Creek Road

Bowens Creek Road

Bowens Creek Road

Returning to the main road, I had to leave as quickly as possible. It was the end of the Australia Day long weekend, and the mad drivers were building. So, I did my little detour through Mountain Lagoon, and remained in peace until just before Richmond. A lovely way to spend a Sunday in the Blue Mountains.