Boden's Water Race - Surface Hill Heritage Reserve, Ross Creek State Forest Circuit

Boden's Water Race - Surface Hill Heritage Reserve, Ross Creek State Forest Circuit - 11 Kms

January 27, 2022

U3A Hike No. 181

ARGYLE DAM

Hike Report by Joan

Despite the threat of the heavens opening up and “raining on our parade” along the Boden water races and Surface Hill, the Scrub Busters Six stepped up to meet the challenge! We arrived in very mild and sunny conditions at the Argyle Dam off Surface Hill Rd near the town of Smythesdale. This area is located in the Surface Hill Heritage Reserve and on into Ross Creek State Park.

Gordon gathered us together to give a bit of background information about what we could expect to see on the day as well as mentioned any dangers such as deep mine shafts, dense undergrowth and uneven rocky/fallen trees terrain. Boden’s Water Race was a network of channels dug out by hand around 1860’s by the miners. This was usually done during the summer months to be ready for the autumn/winter rains when mining was resumed and water was needed for sluicing which was the main method of gold mining in this area. Thomas Boden headed this venture and was fortunate to have control over the water rights in this area. The water races in this area are a real tribute to the men who put in a lot of hard yakka to dig the channels but also, without the technology and machinery we have nowadays, were able to achieve their goal which was to get the water to where it needed .

Having a bit of an idea of the adventure ahead we set off on our way. The water race we walked along is not one that is used by many visitors to the park which for us meant blazing our own trail. We could have easily called this the Zig Zag trail as we were continually crossing from one side of the race to the other trying our best not to stumble over fallen trees, get caught in prickly bushes or fall in the channel itself. As we followed one race we found another going off in a different direction or joining up with another race that flowed into a dam.

As we continued along the track we viewed the tall spindly trees that were a reminder that during the mining days most of the original trees would have been cut down to make way for the mining operations which is characteristic of many goldmining operations around this area. In addition to trees and dense undergrowth we were welcomed by a kaleidoscope of butterflies, a French Lily, a bunch of Hyacinth Orchids (thanks Lyn for educating us about these) and a curious little Skink who was attentive to Andrew’s Sermon on the Mount.

After enjoying a nice spot to have a cuppa and appreciate the surrounding bush we soldiered on and arrived at Bodens Race 2 which is a more popular race and one that is well signed compared to the other races we had been on. After having finished exploring half of this race we ventured off in the direction towards Surface Hill which is the location of the remnant pile of rocks,clay,stone and dirt resulting from sluicing. Well....what can one say but “Oh My Gosh!” While the races we walked along blended in with the surrounding bush, the residue from the sluicing will never blend in and therefore remain a reminder of the cost of man’s lust for gold.

Thanks to Gordon for a very interesting and adventurous hike, Andrew and Ken who kept us on the straight and narrow path and me from venturing into any caves and mines and Annette and Jan for the great company and conversation!