Compton Hill

Sunday 1st June 2014

Compton Hill Summit

Today was going to be a day of exploration as I had not been in this immediate area before, and realistically speaking I was not expecting anything to startling. This is more or less how it turned out. I had four different short walks planned and intended to do what I could.
To reach the start is a little complicated via various forestry roads. One way is to drive out of Judbury as if heading towards the start of Snowy South and instead of making the last turn continue straight ahead on the Forest Drive until reaching the start. The other way is to head out as if going to Nevada Peak start and turn left off Russell Road and follow the Forest Drive to the start. Maps below.

Start of Compton Hill walk

I started the Compton Hill walk at 0750 at Russell Spur 5 where there was just enough space to park the car. The spur has not been driven on for a long time and was becoming overgrown. The first section was not too bad so I had high hopes, but they were soon dashed, as the track became more overgrown the further I walked.

First section of track

As I climbed there were tracks going off left and right and it was quite difficult staying on the track that I actually wanted.

Track further up the hill

After many false leads I eventually reached what I determined was the summit. I was surrounded by rather nice forest with some large trees even though there was evidence of logging in the past. There were no views here but that was expected. I intended to walk back down to Russell Road on the eastern side of Compton Hill via a faint track that I thought was there. I searched high and low for it by crisscrossing a few times but could not locate it, so I just had to scrub bash down. It was quite thick and there were many large trees down. Down towards the road was an area of mossy forest with many large tree ferns, and, about 100 metres before the road I located the old track. I eventually broke out to Russell Road and sat down for a break.

In the mossy forest

My next plan was to walk down to the Russell River via either of two tracks that I had sussed out. One was closer than the other but the furthest one appeared more defined on Google Earth, so I chose the latter. I could have walked back to the car and driven down to the track, but chose to walk. It was 2.3 kms. down the road to Russell Spur 4 where I turned right onto the Spur. All along Russell Road was evidece of past logging with massive logs on the ground and numerous large tree stumps. There were also numerous clumps of fungi all along here.

Tree beside Russell Road

As I walked along Russell Spur 4 it gradually deteriorated the further I walked but was easily negotiated, and when I reached the end of the track I had to head north to reach the river. An old overgrown track descended steeply for a while but petered out and soon I was scrub bashing again. It was quite difficult as there were many large tress down and the scrub was thick and it was fairly steep. I could hear the river roaring as I approached and finally I reached it. I thought I may have been able to rock hop either up or downstream for a while, but after slipping over after about 1 metre into the creek, I quickly canned that idea. I gingerly made it to some rocks and settled down for lunch. After lunch I climbed back uphill and walked back to the car. Even down near the river was evidence of logging. It must have been a real challenge in such steep country. I abandoned any plans for further walks today as I was quite tired when I reached the car.
Overall not a brilliant walk but I was satisfied with seeing a new area.
Distance: 12.8 kms.
Time: 5'45"
Ascent: 450 metres
Click here to download GPX track.

Beside Russell Road

Russell River

Russell River

Russell River

Snowy South and Nevada Peak from car park

Compton Hill access