Valley of the Dinosaurs
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| | Difficulty:1A (v1a1) Raps:0
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Best season: | Winter (avg for this region)
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-33.1158, 150.0563
-33.1123, 150.0523
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Introduction
A lovely bushwalk through a cliff-lined gorge with a prehistoric feel. There is a mini-canyon / slot to enter the valley from the south-west. It makes for a great day when combined with the Grotto, Ultimate Slot and other features on Genowlan Mountain.
Approach
Low clearance vehicles will need to park near the Glen Davis Rd at the bottom of the hill, while high clearance vehicles should be able to drive on to the plateau. There is a large open pull-off at the top of the Grotto.
Approach to the top: To descend from the top, walk up the fire trail towards Genowlan Trig, when you're in roughly the right place, you'll find 4 cairned trails leaving the fire trail over about 100m - if only the cairn builder wrote their name and local experience on the cairn so you know which one to trust! The south western entrance is the best, through a narrow cleft in the rock. The southern entrance has a scramble through a boulder jumble.
Approach to the bottom: You can also walk-up the valley from the bottom. From the parking area, walk down the fire trail to the Ultimate Slot drainage, at this point, for fun, you should visit the bottom of the Ultimate Slot and the bottom of the Grotto. To continue to Valley of the Dinosaurs, a few metres on the northern side of the Ultimate Slot drainage, you'll find a cairned trail (this is ~100m further north than the Ultimate Slot track, and ~50m north of the Grotto track), the track goes up ~20m to a cliff, then turns left and contours into the Valley of the Dinosaurs. There is also a rough footpad from the fire trail leading up the creek line of the Valley of the Dinosaurs.
Descent
Follow the track through the ferns.
Exit
The opposite option to the approach.
If you've exited at the bottom, it's worth visiting the bottom of the Grotto and the Ultimate Slot on the way past.
Red tape
Beta sites
Dingo Gap : Photos and satellite map- Bush Explorers : Location and history
Trip reports and media
- YouTube.com : Richard Pattison, Valley of the Dinosaurs movie
Background
Originally named Hidden Valley by Dr Haydn Washington in November 1984, since renamed to Valley of the Dinosaurs in 2001 by Bruce Mullaney of the Central West Bushwalking Club.