The Royal Ramble

• When to go: This route can be cycled at any time of the year, but – like anywhere in Australia – can get uncomfortably hot in the peak of summer.
• Logistics: Easy access from Sydney Central station; resupply is possible if necessary from shops and restaurants around Heathcote in the middle of the route.
• Dangers and Annoyances: Sydney trains are fond of shutting down lines out of the city on weekends – check alerts ahead of time to make sure your return trip won’t be on a dreaded “train replacement bus.”
• Rideability: Sections of the Pipeline Trail are intermittently paved, but often so badly degraded that it’s much worse than a gravel road – be aware that the quality of the road surface can change very rapidly. The ride is mostly non-technical, but you may have to walk some of the steep chunky climb of the Mirang Vehicle Trail.

• The National Park campsite at Uloola Falls must be booked ahead of time online, and it gets booked out on weekends. Check availability well ahead of time.
• There are a number of cleared sites on the top of the falls at Uloola Falls, located on both sides of the stream. It’s first-in-best-dressed, so look around to see what’s free when you get there. The trees at the campsite are not hammock-friendly. Drop toilets are at the end of the fire trail above the campsite.

• There are heaps of options for provisioning around Sydney Central Station.
• You’re never too far from resupply along the route, which regularly passes through and near the towns of the Sutherland Shire, where there are shops and restaurants.
• Clean water is available from taps at train stations, including Loftus (the start/end) and Waterfall (near the mid-point), as well as the toilets at Woronora Dam.
• Outside of drought conditions, clear water (filter or disinfect before drinking) will be readily available from the stream at the campsite at Uloola Falls and along the Pipeline Track.

Day one starts at Loftus train station and quickly enters Royal National Park. After a fast, twisty pavement descent, you cross the causeway at Audley and are soon onto the vehicle-free forest trail of Lady Carrington Drive. This is the route of a historic carriageway, and there are some interesting historical artefacts like the sandstone fountain of Jersey Spring along the way. The trail follows the Hacking River for approximately 10 kilometres through some of the loveliest temperate rainforest in the Sydney area. Cabbage tree palms – one of the tallest and most majestic native Australian plants and the namesake of the Dharawal people – are everywhere.

Awaiting you at the end of Lady Carrington Drive is a long, draining pavement climb back up to the top of the escarpment. When you finally top out, however, it’s an easy 6-kilometre ride on a well-graded firetrail to Uloola Falls and the wonderful campground there. You’ll need to carry your bike approximately 250 metres down a series of rough rock steps to reach the campsite. Find the track on the other side of the stream to walk down to the bottom of the falls.

In the morning, you retrace your steps, carrying your bike back up to the firetrail and then back to the train line at Waterfall Station (which is a bailout point if you need one). On the other side of the train line, the route crosses into Heathcote National Park, following the 108 firetrail to the turnoff to Woronora Dam. The dam is heritage-listed and lies about 8 kilometres down a quiet paved road. Behind it is a massive water catchment that supplies much of the potable water to the area south of Sydney. You can have a ride along the top of the wall and marvel at the giant channel gouged in the nearby bedrock to construct the spillway.

Backtracking a short distance brings you to the Pipeline Track, where the water pipe that transports water from the dam to surrounding communities passes. A maintenance trail, it was paved at one point but is now much-eroded and broken down. If you attempted to drive a rental car on it, you would 100% void your warranty, so exercise caution, as the surface changes frequently.

The Pipeline Track descends, meandering past some pretty rock pools until reaching the turnoff to the much rougher Mirang Vehicle trail, where it climbs once again. If desired, detour a short distance past the turnoff to the swimming hole of Mirang Pool, which is delicious on a hot day. A tiring, chunky climb of the Mirang Vehicle Trail brings you to quiet suburban streets; cross the highway at Heathcote Station, and you’re onto quiet paths once again. Skirt the houses of suburbia and head north on Goarra Ridge firetrail. From here, it’s 5 kilometres of cruisy gravel riding almost all the way back to Loftus station – you made it!