I started the day with having a look at Merlin’s Lookout- where a famous “ants nest” photo of all the miner’s claims were taken by a photographer. Great view down the valley and some old workings.
In the same direction is the Bald Hill Mine Entry (you can go underground on organised mine tours). I went for the short Bald Hill walking track. Again- good explanation boards of the dams and stamp battery set ups for the gold mine. Loads of erosion gullies from the water reticulation used for gold recovery.
After the walk I drove to the other side of town- to go to Split Rock lookout. It is named after the very thing-hehehehe- a huge split boulder.
I headed north to check out Golden Gulley- more erosion gullies as well as the Cornish Roasting pits- about 9km out of the village. Incredibly- 1 year after construction was completed the whole site was shut down due to uneconomic ores and squandering of money!.
I got to take a few more photos of the road between Hill End and Sofala. Its pretty scenic and the sun came out too!
The road to Glen Davis is also scenic- though not great condition and has a fair bit of road works happening.
Glen Davis is a community- not large enough to be a town-and is at the end of a dead end road. It has breath-taking sandstone cliffs surrounding it and farmlands around. Its previous claim to fame was the first place in Australia where a huge plant was set up to get oil from shale. The government put in a lot of money into this endeavour during war times but ultimately it was not sustainable and the town shrivelled.
The infrastructure was impressive though- based on the photos.
I stayed in the free (by donation) campground. -toilets and showers provided as well as a free community library/ book swop that was well stocked!
I walked around town twice to get a look at the cliffs- the second time when the sun came out during golden hour and really made the cliffs spectacular!
It was a surprisingly warm night- no socks -no beanie and only 1 sleeping bag! 🙂
