Castle Cliff Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia
By
Geocaching Australia on 17-Jan-11. Waypoint TP5585
Cache Details
| Difficulty: | |
| Terrain: | |
| Type: | TrigPoint |
| Container: | Other |
| Coordinates: | S33° 45.328' E150° 17.217' (WGS 84) |
| 56H 248703E 6261649N (UTM) | |
| Elevation: | 791 m |
| Local Government Area: | Blue Mountains City |
/150.28695,-33.755467,14/400x200?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoiY2F1Z2h0YXR3b3JrIiwiYSI6ImNqa2l4ZzNzMDE5bjgzdm1sZGpuODF1Mm0ifQ.q8YMzVyzDJJlJHHV8EMjwQ)
Description
Castle Cliff TS5528
Official name of this Trig Station as per NSW Department of Lands is: Castle Cliff.
Serial number is: TS5528.
Last inspected on: December 18, 1975.
Elevation is: 986 meters.
Found along the trail to Castle Head off Glenraphael Drive on Narrow Neck Plateau near Katoomba, NSW.
Ignore Google Maps. It shows the trail as a road, which it certainly is not. It is barely a walking trail!
A trig point (also known as a Trigonometric Station) typically consists of a black disc on top of four metal legs or concrete pillar, resembling a navigation beacon. It is also accompanied by a metal disc, which is located directly below the center point of the tripod or on top of the pillar itself.
Trig points are generally located at the top of hills or points of prominence in the landscape. Many provide unique views and challenges, with some being difficult to get to.
These points were regarded as valuable to surveyors, providing reference points for measuring distance and direction, and assisting in the creation of maps.
To log a find on the Geocaching Australia website, you will need to include a picture of the trig poin. You are encouraged to leave a description of your journey in your log to help others in finding the trig point.
The original collection of trig points has been sourced from Geoscience Australia and may contain inaccuracies.
Please respect local laws and regulations when searching for trig points. If you believe that a trig point is located on private property or in a dangerous location, you may archive the cache, by clicking on Log this Cache and place an "Archived" log on the Geocaching Australia website.
If you feel that you can add to the description of this trig point or adjust the difficulty / terrain ratings, please feel free to edit this cache and amend the information suitably. Vandalism of the cache description or other information will result in your account being terminated.
Logs
Unfortunately it was still misty even though it was after midday so I couldn't fully appreciate the views.
Found a locating pin a couple of metres from the trig and also the old mast and vanes discarded 5 metres to the north. Found at 12:33 pm.
What a great walk out to this one with a well defined track. There are magnificent views from both sides of cliffs and across the valley floor.
At the end I met three bushwalkers, why would onyone come out here with no trig to find!?!
Today reminded me why I do trigs and the people who neglect them and the other GCA caches are missing out!
The walk to this one starts down Narrow Neck past the locked game (and right past the Kure Trig, which is located just before the gate) and along the excellent fire trail for about 700 metres until the somewhat obscure turn-off on a much, much narrower trail.
I marked the little trail's beginning on Google Maps so that I had the coordinates in my GPSr. I guess I would have noticed it anyhow, but it was good not to have to worry.
The trek across Narrow Neck going east leads to a great (but completely unfenced) lookout, where you have a view of the Sisters and then across to Sublime Point. A few hundred metres further south, along the edge of the cliff and then there's the trig. What a great view! But a few more metres on takes you to the very point and that's the best vista of all. We were both amazed at the angle we found on the 'Ruined Castle' and Lake Burragorang. We could see quite a lot of the water catchment area that we usually call Warrengamba Dam, and the area behind Mt. Solitary (Korowal).
Anyhow, another surprise was the discover, a few metres below the trig, of the even older trig! This was on a wooden post with simple, thin metal vanes, and seems to have been, well, dumped after the 'new' trig was erected. I took photos of everything, of course.
Castle Cliff Trig has a metal pole instead of a concrete pillar, with a top plate but no side plaque with a name, and no guy wires. It's in pretty good condition.
Special thanks to rogerw3 for rediscovering this one and for giving me tips about the trail. Otherwise I wouldn't have dared to bring Mrs. pjmpjmp along.
'Four Thumbs Up' for the spectacular views and the surprise 'ancient' extra trig . . .
Another Virgin Trig, I can't figure out why it has been ignored for so long!
Take care along the walking track, it is badly overgrown and in place skirts the cliff top, sometime you can;t even see the edge, but it can be only 3 feet away so great care should be taken, keep Geokids on a tight leash, one slip on the leaf litter and you are a goner.
Having said this the views along the trail and at GZ are absolutely amazing.
