Thredbo Valley Track

Last week I went for a ride on my new mountain bike. I chose the Thredbo Valley Track, because it is marked as "easy" on the mountain bike map. The trail leads all the way from Thredbo down to Lake Crackenback Resort, about 17 km in length. 

On my bike ride I only went as far as the Old Ranger Station, which is about 6 km from Thredbo. The ride down the valley was easy enough, with only a few short inclines, but of course the way back up the valley was a bit more of a workout. I found out that my legs are much more used to walking and also that my bike needs some adjustments to the gear selection, which unfortunately happened fairly randomly on steep inclines, causing the chain to derail several times. But what I saw of the trail was enough to spur me on to do it in its entire length, which I did this week; on foot.

Track head at the entry into the National Park near Bullocks Flat

The track would make an easy day walk in each direction, but because I had to get back home, I broke it into two separate return trips, ending up walking the entire length in each direction. On the first day I walked from Thredbo to the Ngarigo Camp Ground (9.3 km each way) and on the second day I parked my car at Ngarigo and walked to Lake Crackenback Resort and back (7.6 km each way).

The track from Thredbo to Ngarigo crosses the Thredbo River five times. The bridges are numbered beginning at the Thredbo end, with Bridge number 5 just before you get to the camp ground, and Bridge number 4 at the Old Ranger Station, to where I cycled last week. If you want to shorten your ride/walk, there is access to the main road at the Old Ranger Station. 

Bridges one, two and three are suspension bridges

Bridges four and five are arches

The section of the track between the Old Ranger Station and Ngarigo Camp Ground is the newest one and about the same grade of difficulty as the section from Thredbo to Bridge number four. Along the way I saw a group doing river sledding, which looked like fun. There are guided sledding tours available through Lake Crackenback Resort, definitely something that I will add to my list of things to do.

River sledding, I could hear their screams when they got to the next set of rapids...

Just before Ngarigo is Bridge 5, which is the last crossing of the river. After that the track remains on the eastern side (road side) of the river. The 4.6 km between Ngarigo and the Diggings camp grounds looked the most challenging to me. Here the valley gets narrower and, by my judgement, has the largest drop. It is also the section where I saw most wild life and got some great views of the river. I have to say that I did this section on my second day, which was after some heavy rainfalls, and the river was carrying a lot of water.

Rainbow and power lines over the fast flowing Thredbo river

I was being watched 

There are still some smaller bridges across difficult terrain

From the Diggings to Bullocks Flat and Lake Crackenback Resort the Thredbo Valley Track diverts away from the river through some new growth forest and grasslands, but there is the option to take the Bullocks Track, which keeps going along the river, but is more suited as a walking track than for mountain bikes, albeit I did see at least one tyre track along it. The section of the Thredbo Valley Track between the Diggings and Lake Crackenback Resort is by far the easiest one and well suited for mountain bike beginners. Both of these tracks join back together just before you get under the bridge where the Skitube crosses the river. From there it is only about 15 minutes walk to Lake Crackenback Resort where you can get food and refreshments.

Skitube crossing the river

  

Lake Crackenback Resort

I think that National Parks have done a great job building the track. With its many different access points along the way you can really section it off to your own desire and ability. I have met people along the way who just did a small section as an afternoon stroll and I have met keen mountain bikers who did the whole track up and back in one go.