Glenbrook, Zig-Zag Track & Knapsack Reserve

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Route: Glenbrook, Bruce Road, Grey Street, Brook Road, Chalmers Lookout, Ross Lookout, Funicular Railway, Tramway Route, Darks Commons, Railway Reserve, Tunnel Gully, Lapstone Zig-Zag Walking Track, Knapsack Viaduct, Elizabeth Lookout, Lovers Walk, Lennox Bridge, Old Mitchells Pass, Knapsack Reserve, Glenbrook

Date: 08/05/2022
From: Glenbrook

Parking: N/A
Start Point: Glenbrook Station
Finish Point: Glenbrook Station
Region: Blue Mountains

Route length: 8.4km
Time taken: 02:30
Average speed: 4.3km
Ascent: 308m
Descent: 310m

Points of Interest: Chalmers Lookout, Knapsack Viaduct, Elizabeth Lookout

Due to the near-endless wet weather and flooding experienced in New South Wales, most of the tried and tested national park paths and tracks remain closed. Therefore, I've been looking for hikes in areas further that are not part of the NSW National Parks family - typically state and local reserves. Some of these have yielded some interesting hikes, such as this one from Glenbrook.

The hike follows the footsteps of the old Lapstone Zig Zag railway that used to travel between Emu Plains and Blaxland. It was the main western line for New South Wales but is now little more than a series of walking tracks after the construction of the line that exists today (parts of the line, particularly cuttings, were absorbed into the Great Western Highway).

I arrived at Glenbrook station late in the morning having caught one of the many express trains that traverse the Blue Mountains on a daily basis. After leaving the station I made the short walk along Brook Road to the first of a series of lookouts in Bluff Reserve on the north side of Glenbrook Gorge. Chalmers Lookout is named after a local RFS firefighter, Tom Chalmers, who lost his life in a bush fire in the 1960s.

Glenbrook Station on a fine winter morning

Chalmers Lookout

Glenbrook Creek and the greater Blue Mountains viewed from Chalmers Lookout

Ross Lookout is close by and gives a similar view to Chalmers. There are then a couple of unnamed locations where you can walk out to the cliff edge and these give a better view of the gorge. The final fenced lookout can be found at the terminus of an old funicular railway and, if you are lucky, you'll see Murrakoo Falls, a spectacular waterfall that only flows after wet weather.

Old electrical poles along the escarpment

Looking east through a gap in the trees

The track through Bluff Reserve

Glenbrook Gorge

Distant views of Parramatta (L) and Sydney (R)

Mount Portal above Glenbrook Gorge

The track follows the old funicular up a set of steps where you'll come across the winding house base. Be sure to find the unmarked lookouts along the cliff edge that give the best of the views of Glenbrook Gorge.

The steps follow the old funicular railway route

Remains of the winding house

Glenbrook Gorge

Glenbrook Creek

Mount Portal

The cliffs of Glenbrook Gorge

Glenbrook Gorge

From here the track makes its way along the old tramway route through Darks Common. The tram was used by the railway workers to bring material construction material for the railway, down the funicular, to the Glenbrook Tunnel. Darks Common is named after the Dark family, who you may have seen me write about before.

The old tramway route through Darks Common

A Crimson Rosella

Darks Common

The old tramway crosses Explorers Road into Explorers Road Reserve. Several paths and tracks weave through the trees here and it is popular with mountain bikers so be on the lookout. Made my way through the woods to the interesting Tunnel Gully in Railway Reserve. The gully is entirely man-made.

Tunnel Gully

Tunnel Gully

The old railway cutting

The gully emerges close to the Great Western Highway that you cross beneath via a concrete subway. On the other side are the remains of the quarry that was used to quarry stone for the Zigzag railway and a short climb is required to escape the quarry to the railway itself.

Crossing beneath the Great Western Highway

Zig-Zag quarry

Not much of the line remains today, other than the cuttings through the Blue Mountains sandstone and some of the old platforms at Lucasville Station. The walking track leads to the Sidings Lookout though there is not much to see. Instead, the track (and then a short set of steep steps) will take you down to the Knapsack Viaduct.

The Zig-Zag track follows the old railway

Above Knapsack Viaduct

The viaduct was built between 1863 and 1865 to cross the deep Knapsack Gully. It is an immense structure, given it was built entirely out of locally quarried sandstone. The viaduct survived the closure of the railway by becoming a road bridge until the construction of the Great Western Highway in 1993. The viaduct was opened to the public in 1995, forming part of the local walking tracks.

The walking track makes a steep descent underneath the viaduct - it is here you will get the true sense of scale. After crossing the creek, a long, fairly steep climb is required to get out of the gully on the opposite side.

The track passes through one of the low arches

Knapsack Viaduct

Knapsack Viaduct

Starting the climb up the opposite side of the valley

Climbing away from Knapsack Creek

At the top of the climb is Elizabeth Lookout which sits on the edge of the escarpment, overlooking the Nepean and Penrith Lakes, a former series of quarries that were filled with water and are being rehabilitated.

Elizabeth Lookout

Penrith Lakes

The path from the lookout leads into the maze of tracks in Knapsack Reserve, many of which are used as mountain biking trails. You can take your pick from the Lovers Walk, Quarry Track and Mitchells Pass, but it is well worth a visit to Lennox Bridge, which crosses Brookside Creek where the old Mitchell's Pass road crosses the watercourse.

Lennox Bridge

The heritage-listed bridge is the oldest surviving stone arch bridge on the Australian mainland, having been built in 1833 and restored in 1976 having served as the main route to the Blue Mountains for nearly 100 years.

Beneath the bridge

After visiting the bridge, I made my way back towards Glenbrook, using a myriad of tracks that criss-cross the reserve eventually leading back to the Great Western Highway at Glenbrook Oval. The main village centre of Glenbrook can be found set back from the highway on Park Street and there was ample time to grab some snacks before the train ride back to Sydney.

Old Mitchells Pass in Knapsack Reserve

Knapsack Reserve

Knapsack Reserve