Mt Airly - The Southern Ridgeline

This walk starts from the Glen Davis Rd near the intersection with Pearsons Hut Trail. There is parking for several vehicles on the side of the road.

The route runs NW up the hill through open forest to the top before turning NE and crossing a saddle for the steep climb up to Mt Airly's Southern Bastion, a high point surrounded by sheer walls and topped with wonderful pagodas.

Remarkably, Mugii Murum-ban SCA wasn't burnt in the by the 2019-20 bushfires and the Southern Ridgeline is thickly forested. Much of the pagoda landscape is camouflaged by trees. You don't know know what's there until you start exploring. This wonderful pagoda playground is worth the time it takes to investigate.

There are panoramic views from the cliff top pagodas. A maze of slots and ramps through the pagodas at the northern end is fun to explore but can be avoided by traversing under the cliffs on the western aside. Some slots are covered with thick moss protecting young orchids as they get started. Lyrebird nests can be found in many of the slots. Nankeen Kestrels roost in slots amongst the pagoadas. Just magic.

Heading north from the Bastion there is a short section of fire trail that crosses the saddle to the next outcrop. An old tramway tunnel from the oil shale mining are crosses under the saddle. That tranway can be followed from Airly Gap to here.

Just over the saddle there are 2 large pagoda outrops. The pagodas on the eastern side are easily climbed and offer extensive views over the Capertee Valley to Pantoneys Crown and the Wolgan Capertee Divide as well as the southern end of Mugii Murum-ban CSA. With views like that it is a great spot to stop for lunch. After lunch, you can explore the pagodas on the western side of the track and see the views to the west.

Exploring complete it is time to return to the cars, reversing the route taken to get to this point.

Note: It is possible to continue up and over Mt Airly and on to Airly Gap. This does presume a knowledge of the country west of Airly Gap. A car shuffle would be required to take this option.