Steiglitz Circuit - Steiglitz Historic Park - 8km

 U3A  HIKE NO 242



HIKE REPORT BY JOAN

Though the forecast was for showers, that did not deter the hearty and seasoned U3A bushwalkers from heading to Steiglitz to uncover some of the history and terrain of the Steigitz diggings.  Steiglitz( though it should be spelt Stieglitz) was named after the Von Stieglitz family from Ireland who bought and settled the land in 1835.   They only stayed until 1853 but retained possession of the land.  With the finding of gold in 1854 an actual settlement of gold prospectors arose and continued until 1870 when the easily found gold was exhausted and as a result many people moved away. The Steiglitz Historic Park was opened in 1976 with the intention of preserving an abandoned gold mining town.  Our hike began at the original Courthouse. We wandered along the trek sighting a sign that said Maxwell St and other streets which would denote that it was a large enough settlement to warrant having actual street signs!  The fairly flattish trek started to take a turn upwards over some dried river beds  and rocky terrain .  We came to a scenic gorge with a small dam and rocky cliffs on the side...yes I was tempted but one look at Gordon and I knew this was not the day!  As we climbed through this section it was so colourful with the beautiful rich ochre rocky trail, the huge grey boulders and the beautiful green grass trees lining the upward trek.  Along the way we were able to see the remains of the diggings and wondered how people in those days managed to do what they did in the tough conditions. We came to the Crossing Picnic Area which was a good place for a cuppa  and a bit of a rest.  With the rain predicted a bit closer than earlier there was a change in plans and so we diverted on shorter route.  Luckily this route still enabled us to venture over an old wooden bridge into the area where the actual town was.  The photos on an information board showed  a  bustling town with Regent St being the heart of Steiglitz.  We were also able to see the remnants of mine shafts from the Boxing Reef which was one of the most lucrative mines here in Steiglitz that ran parallel to Regent St..  Finishing our walk up Regent St.,  we found ourselves back at the Courthouse in time to have an early lunch before heading home.  Thanks Andrew for leading this interesting walk, Geoff for keeping us on track on the trek and Gordon for ensuring we had the same number at the end as the start!! Thanks to Chris, Geoff’s brother, who thought we were such an interesting mix of bushwalkers that he joined us again for another adventure! 

PHOTOS BY ANDREW AND JOAN









 

















 



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