Chasing Turtles on an Inflatable Through The Colo River: 3-Day Wollemi National Park Hike

We Are Explorers acknowledges that this adventure is located on the traditional Country of the Darug and Darkinjung people who have occupied and cared for the lands, waters, and their inhabitants for thousands of years. We pay our respects to them as the Traditional Custodians and recognise that sovereignty was never ceded.

Quick Overview

The Colo River Circuit is a 29.1km loop located in Wollemi National Park, NSW. It’s a hard route that begins and ends at Mountain Lagoon.

While it’s only 30km in length, it’s best to take three days to fully enjoy the circuit – a day getting down to the river, a day spent frolicking along the river, and a final day hiking back out. There are sections of river we had to swim, so dry bags and an inflatable to float your pack are a must.

Colo River Circuit Facts

Distance: 29.1km
Duration: 3 days/2 nights
Elevation gain: 1072m
Nearest town: Bilpin

About the Colo River Circuit

The Colo River Circuit is a beautiful hike to do any time of year. We made our trip at the start of January, when the crystal-clear water within the river offered a welcome respite from the 30-35°C days.

It’s worth being aware of rainfall patterns in the region prior to a visit to the Colo River. We went after a relatively dry summer and no rainfall in the previous fortnight, so the river itself was slightly lower than usual.

A double-edged sword, it meant the river was beautifully clear and warm, but had a median depth around knee level, which meant more pushing and less floating of our packs than we would’ve liked.

Despite being so close to Sydney and the Blue Mountains, the hike itself feels very remote. In three days, and during school holidays at the start of January, we only saw one lone day hiker and a small group (who were doing a different hike) on the last night.

Read more: Waterfall & Swimming Hole Safety

History & Geography of the Colo River Circuit

A freshwater river, the Colo River starts its journey north of Lithgow and flows nearly 100km before merging into the Hawkesbury River, which itself takes another 70km before flowing out to sea.

The first 62km of the Colo is the pristine and wild section only accessible by bushwalking, while the lower part of the Colo (around 35km) runs through farmland. This upper section was saved from development in the late 1970s by the Colo Wilderness Preservation Society.

The Traditional Custodians of the land surrounding the Colo River are the Darug and Darkinjung people. The name ‘Colo’ is said to be derived from their word for koala.

While we didn’t see any koalas – or platypus, or bass that are also said to inhabit the river – we did see a million cicadas. Some of which could have been the size of a small bass.

How to Get to the Colo River Circuit

The Colo River is only 1.5 hours’ drive from the centre of Sydney.

Enter ‘Mountain Lagoon’ into your GPS and it’s a straightforward drive with a right-hand turn at Bilpin and another 15-20 minutes’ drive past some pretty farm houses. A dirt road along ‘Sams Way’ will take you the final few kilometres to the trailhead at Mountain Lagoon where you can park and leave your car.

There’s a sign saying ‘Walking Tracks – Colo Meroo and Tootie Creek’ and our car was the only one there.

Where to Stay Along the Colo River Circuit

The beauty of this hike is that there’s no shortage of stunning natural campsites to spend your nights. You also don’t have to worry about sharing it with many (or any) other groups, as the hike is typically quiet.

On night one, you’d be hard pressed to find a better beach campsite than the one you drop down on top of after hiking along the T3 Trail.

Read more: 13 Best Camping Spots Near Sydney – Campsites Near the City

Essential Gear for the Colo River Circuit

In addition to all the gear you need for a regular multi-day hike, here are some Colo River-specific essentials.

• Sunscreen (and lots of it)
• Sunglasses (I lost mine somewhere on day three… if you find them, let me know!)
• GPS and map
• Water filter for the river
• Dry bags (I had four separate dry bags within my pack to divide my gear up).
• Pack rain cover (for extra water/splash proofing)
• Inflatable something or other…

Read more: Remember to leave no trace

Now, this last point is the big one. Your inflatable could make or break your time on the river. Luckily for you, I’ve done the legwork and spent three hours finding the perfect river craft.

Look no further than the Intex Lil’ Sea Turtle Ride-On, described as being a ‘realistic sea turtle design’ and ‘highly reliable’. I can confirm that both of these things are true.

We had friends who’d previously completed this hike with the help of a giant inflatable pizza slice. This worked well but reportedly made them rather hungry. It was also much larger, and while it supported both of their packs, they would have been in trouble if something took a bite out of the deep dish crust and it burst.

The turtles are my pick as the fins worked supremely well to stabilise the load, the shell had an in-built ridge that kept water out, and they were reasonably packable and easy to carry over sections of sand.

Skill Level

Advanced

While the three sections/days of this hike are remarkably different in terms of the terrain, all three days are grueling and only recommended for advanced hikers with lots of experience.

The majority of the trail is either unmarked single track or following the course of the river itself.

We navigated with the help of GPS watches and AllTrails, and still had some moments where we lost the trail.

In addition to being a confident navigator, the terrain itself is physically demanding with over 1000m of vertical climb, mostly in the final day.

You’ll also need to be a confident swimmer.

Read more: How to Stay Safe in the Bush: The Ultimate Hiking Safety Guide

What It’s Like to Walk and Float the Colo River Circuit

While you can tackle this circuit either clockwise or anti-clockwise, we (happily) opted to float down the Colo River rather than swim against the tide, so I recommend the below order of days.

Day 1 – Mountain Lagoon to Colo River via T3 Trail

Distance: 8.8km
Moving Time: 2.5 hours
Elapsed Time: 4 hours

Splitting the hike into three days gave us plenty of time to enjoy each day. We didn’t start hiking on day one until 11am after a few cheeky pies in Bilpin.

Thankfully, after eating three pies, we eased into the hike with 4-5km of gradual downhill fire trail. We made sure to enjoy this section as the latter half of the day became steep and technical.

Once the fire trail ended, we hit 2-3km of technical single track taking us down to Tootie Creek.

Despite being a little overgrown, the trail is easy enough to follow and kindly spat us out at our campsite for the first night on the riverbed. There was a ready-built fire pit on the sand that we contributed to and serves as a nice landmark.

Day 2 – The Colo River to Colo Meroo Camping Area

Distance: 10km
Moving Time: 3.5 hours
Elapsed Time: 7 hours

Day two is what we were all there for! We simply followed the river downstream (south for the first half of the day, then north/northeast to camp). We walked for as long as we could before inflating our four ninja turtles (and testing them for the very first time).

Don’t let the frolicking images fool you though – day two was hard. We lazily left camp around 10am, which was a mistake since we copped the blaring midday heat while on the river with minimal sources of shade.

Depending on the water level, we alternated between walking over sand and carrying our gear (30%), pushing our packs and turtles through the knee-deep shallows (50%), treading water and swimming across deep sections (15%) and portaging around small rapids (5%). There are about four small rapid sections to manoeuvre.

While our moving time on day two was only 3.5 hours, we spent twice as long on the river, either floating at a snail’s pace or stuck in quicksand, that would hilariously absorb our feet up to the knee or deeper.

Keep your eye on the GPS/map as the exit from the river up to Meroo Camping Area isn’t super obvious (it goes up a large sandbank on the looker’s right as you approach). There’s a large shelter with a fire pit, as well as two drop toilets at this campsite.

Day 3 – Colo Meroo Camping Area to Mountain Lagoon via Gospers Ridge Trail Loop

Distance: 13km
Moving Time: 3.5 hours
Elapsed Time: 5.5 hours

Day three offered similar terrain to day one but in reverse, with around 800-900m of vertical elevation. We started hiking at 6:30am to avoid the midday heat, which was forecast to be 35ºC.

We slowly ascended out of the valley and followed a winding single track up Mailes Ridge.

A spiderweb stick was a must in the early morning, and there were a few sections where we had to pass our packs up and scramble over some rocky drops.

The final 5km were once again on fire trail, with the last kilometre taking us back downhill to our car at Mountain Lagoon.

Well Done – Time for a Bilpin or Hillbilly Cider!

After grinding our way up the ridge and back to the car just after midday, we were ready for a big feed at a new watering hole.

An 18-minute drive from Mountain Lagoon, we stopped in at HillBilly Cider on our way home to demolish a pizza and a cider tasting paddle while listening to Jed Zarb perform banger after banger.

FAQs Colo River

Is the Colo River tidal?

The Colo River is tidal up to about 1.5km west of the Colo Bridge on Putty Road. The tide is about four hours behind that of Sydney Harbour.

Are there fish in the Colo River?

You’ll most likely find Australian bass, Estuary perch, and Dusky flathead in the Colo River.

Can you swim in the Colo River?

Sure can! If you don’t plan on doing the circuit, there’s a jetty in Colo Park with access to go for a dip.

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