Falconbridge Point

Summary:

I would have to say Falconbridge Point is the easiest Blue Mountains ride for beginners. It is longer than Winmalee at a minimum of 13.5 km return (depending on where you park), but faster flowing and generally easier. While the views along the way and the terrain are not fantastic, the Falconbridge Point lookout at the end is the highlight and make this a great track to ride. If your fitness is still a work in progress like mine was the first time I rode this track don't worry, I got out and back in just on 1 hour riding time and took a good 20 minutes at the end to take a breather and admire the view.

Great view at Falconbridge Point

Getting there:

Follow the Great Western Highway to Falconbridge, and coming from Sydney turn right into Grose Road. Keep following Grose Rd for a few km, you will pass a sign that tells you Falconbridge Point is 8km from this point. You can park here and make a 16km return ride of it, or as long as gravel road and a few potholes don't scare you - continue pretty much all the way to the park gate at the trail head.

The return ride from the park gate is 13.5km. Please be careful if you drive all the way to the park gate as the road is a little narrow and riders and walkers use it too.

Review:
Starting from the gate, you will see this is a pretty fast flowing and well maintained fire trail. You just follow the trail straight to the lookout at Falconbridge Point, there is no way you can get lost so just enjoy the ride!

The trail is sandy and rocky in a few places so be a little careful, but it is generally smooth and fast flowing. Even with my limited experience and skills I managed to ride a few sections at a good 40km/h which was great fun. I have ridden this trail a few times now and ride out and back in under an hour quite comfortably. I would say that the track difficulty is about the same in both directions, possible slightly easier on the return.

There is nothing spectacular about the ride, no single track or significant variation in the scenery. It is the fast flowing ride and the spectacular view at the end that keep me coming back here, I really do enjoy the ride. About 1.5km from the end the track the scenery opens out a bit and you ride over some large flat rocks, and then there is a bit of rocky uphill that is more overgrown than the rest of the trail. I find this section interesting, and fun to fly down on the return.

Overall, a relatively easy ride with one of the best view's I have seen in the Blue Mountains at the end. I highly recommend this as your first track as a beginner, and if you are a more advanced rider I would suggest you have to do this ride at least once just to see the awesome view at Falconbridge Point.

Map:

This map shows the ride from the date out and back. If you look at the stats and the elevation chart you will see that the elevation only varies by about 30m across this trail, which is one factor that makes it a relatively easy ride and suited to beginners.

View 2011-11-06 15:47 in a larger map

Video:
A short video of the view from the Falconbridge point lookout.