Lately I’ve been feeling I am terribly unfit. I’m stuck in that terrible zone where I know I need to exercise but think I’ll really struggle on mountains I used to – well, struggle on (but just a bit). Cue a lot of neighbourhood walks and walks around beautiful Lake Ginninderra. But my map of all the mountains in Canberra which I’ve been slooowly marking off stares back at me, and I know there’s one I haven’t done yet which seems like it might fit my criteria of a) short b) not high c) close to my house.
We’re on our way to Macgregor in north-west Canberra. Macgregor’s got plenty of green space and right in the middle of it is Mt Goodwin, standing at just over 600m.
We reach the nature reserve but it’s surrounded by plenty of streets – and entrances to it – and so we’re not quite sure where we should start. After driving down Beaney and Beeston Streets we settle on an entrance off Batlow Crescent (there’s also an entrance of Barrett St for good measure).
Canberra Nature Parks (which house mountains like Mt Ainslie, Mt Painter, Mt Taylor and Mt Majura) are known for the many different tracks you can take in each, and Mt Goodwin is no exception – particularly for its size. Within 50 metres of setting off we’re at a crossroads. This sort of choice usually concerns me (I’ve got a knack for taking one that leads me back to where I started within 5 minutes) but in such a small area there’s no way you can get lost, and after a while it’s quite fun to just keep taking random paths and seeing where we end up.
The grasses here are high and dry.
Yet knowing how way leads onto way, I doubted if I should ever come back… not so true in this case!
Even in the middle of the day it’s incredibly picturesque, with the yellow grasses, large gums and views out to new developments and further to the Brindabellas.
While the paths could do with a little maintenance they are plentiful, and while it’s not dead flat it’s a very easy to walk. The many paths and directions mean you can make the walk as long or as short as you like. I think it’d be great to do some interval training here (if that’s your thing) or simply let your kids explore.
Perfect sunset spot?
Alternate perfect sunset spot
We’re done in about 25 minutes having explored most of the paths and reached the trig (kind of – the grass really is quite long!). While it’s 600m the surrounding streets are also of a significant elevation so it remains a very easy walk with some spectacular views – I reckon I’ve found my sunset go-to place.
Date: Sunday, 14 December 2014
Cost: Free
Value for effort: High
Worthwhile factor: Highly worthwhile
Want more? There’s very little available about Mt Goodwin but Google Maps is a good start!
In The Taratory 
What do you reckon?