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One time Yalwal boasted a school, a post office, general stores, a blacksmiths, a fruiterer, a butcher, several banks and the Pioneer Hotel. Today the historic Yalwal cemetery is all that remains. Much of the old township was destroyed in the 1939 bushfires and then the town site was finally flooded with the opening of the Danjera Creek Dam in 1972.
Yalwal was, of course, a gold-mining town. Gold was first reported in the 1850s,
which is supported by the earliest grave in the cemetery dated 1854. Yalwal
is just a few hours from Sydney, Canberra or Wollongong and its popularity has
just as much to do with being so close to large population centres as with its
history.
Close to Sydney, fascinating history and exciting four-wheel drive touring
makes Yalwal an
excellent weekend destination.
BEST TIME OF YEAR
Touring in the area can be good year round but it is wise to avoid the area
during or after rainy periods. Along many of the tracks there are limestone
outcrops and muddy bog holes do develop. During spring the wildflowers are prolific
in the coastal heathlands.
ACCESS
Access to the area is relatively easy. Route notes for the area commence in
Ulladulla and conclude in Nowra. Both are on the Princes Highway.
ENTRY FEES AND PERMITS
No permits are required to travel along those tracks for which there are route
notes. Permits are, however, required to explore the Tianjara Fire Trail. For
more details phone 02 4423 9812.
ACCOMMODATION
There is no accommodation atYalwal however Coolendel Rustic camping area (ph
02 4421 4586) at Coolendel has log cabins and bunkhouse accommodation and Grady's
Riverside Retreat (ph 02 4421 3282) at Burrier has cabins, and onsite vans.
Nowra and Ulladulla both have a range of accommodation.
CAMPING
There is just the one camping area along the chosen route and that is at Yalwal.The
facilities include BBQs, toilets and water. This camping area is accessible
by 2WD vehicles direct from Nowra and can be busy on holiday weekends. Its also
a popular spot for motorcyclists.
The other camping areas to consider are:
• Coolendel Rustic camping area (ph 044 21 4586) at Coolendel on the banks
of the Shoalhaven River.
• Grady's Riverside Retreat (ph 044 21 3282) on the Shoalhaven River at
Burrier, which has normal camp ground facilities including powered sites.
PREPARATION
Pack the basic recoverv equipment.
FACILITIES AND SERVICES
The route we have chosen between Ulladulla and Nowra passes no services, however,
both Ulladulla and Nowra have most services. There are no services atYalwal.
WHAT TO SEE AND DO
Touring through the area will bring you to several points of interest.
• Monument Rocks high on the escarpment have names of early
Yalwal residents carved into sandstone. Mining relics stil around Yalwal.
• Bovd Lookout offers a pano: view out to the coast and se other points
afford wonderf views.
• The head of the spectacular Falls are easilv accessible bv
• Wildflowers are plentiful in as are banksias.
FOUR-WHEEL DRIVING
This area and other surrounding areas have been popular 4WD destinations for
mam vears. However, the New
South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service have, in recent years, closed
access to what were once some of the more popular (and difficult) tracks in
the area.
There is still excellent four-wheel drive touring along this escarpment country and the historic mining town site of Yalwal is still accessible. Some of the forest areas have excellent scenery, and a visit to the area would not be complete without a visit to Tianjara Falls. The Boyd Lookout and picnic areas are also certainly worth a visit.
PERSONAL NOTES
Thanks to the above information once again provided by Gregory's 4WD Weekends.
When we got the chance to goto Yalwal only 3 weeks after our Watagans trip,
we were
excited about what we heard about the area, especially at the fact that we could
get to
do some serious four wheel driving with medium to difficult tracks.
So when we did eventually venture out, it was clear blue sky's until we got
to Nowra the
weather turned for the worse, dark black sky's coming from Batemans Bay and
forecast
was for more rain .. DAMN!!!
But being the maniac I am, against my wife's wishes I decided to venture in,
starting from
Turpentine Road:
TURPENTINE ROAD. ENTRANCE OFF THE PRINCESS HIGHWAY
Our first stop was HELL HOLE, a large quarry just off Turpentine road. To be
honest we didn't
know where we were going I wasn't really bothered with the maps, I just thought
we would drive
around as much as we can, and when the rain got really bad we would turn for
home .. but that
wasn't the case ..
THE HELL HOLE QUARRY
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HELL HOLE
At this stage we had given up at the idea of doing serious rock crawling and
pushing
the old 4Runner to it's limits, instead we thought we would make the most of
our 171km
trip down south and just explore as much as we can with the time that we had.
THE VIEW FROM HYLANDS LOOKOUT, OFF DEANS GAP ROAD
TIANJARA FALLS, OFF BRAIDWOOD ROAD
BRAIDWOOD ROAD
After 3 hrs of driving around, we didn't really encouter difficult terrain,
the above would be
the standard type of terrain you would see unless you were to go on some off
the more
difficult tracks. Since we didn't get a chance to go on these tracks due to
the waether, my
mate Matt from work know's this terrain inside out, and before we got there
he recommeded
the following trail's for some great off roading;
The above trail's can be found in greater detail using the SASSAFRAS 8927-1-N
Topographic
map.
Overall this area is a great place to explore and offers many tracks for those
who like to push the
the suspension, like I do. This time round was quite dissapointing due to the
rain and we were
only able to explore 10% of the area. Next time round we will definately look
at a 2-3 day trek.
But for now this is all I can show you guys of our adventure to Yalwal.
