Wombeyan Caves Road
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The Wombeyan Caves Road is a New South Wales country road linking Mittagong near the Hume Highway in the east to the Goulburn-Oberon Road at the locality of Richlands in the west. The road is designated as Main Road 258.
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[edit] Route
At its eastern end, the road starts at the Old Hume Highway just west of Mittagong. Access from the north of Mittagong is via Mittagong, while access from the south is via the half interchange at the southern end of the Mittagong Bypass section of the Hume Highway. It passes through farmland and the locality of High Range as a sealed road. Further West, it changes to unsealed and continues through farmland before entering the Wombeyan Caves area. The road conditions deteriorate substantially as the road goes further west until it reaches the main Wombeyan Caves reserve camping area. West of the camping area, the road is sealed as it climbs a tight, winding section up the mountain side. At the top of that hill, the road reverts to unsealed but is wider and straighter. Close to its western end, the road is a reasonable standard sealed road.
[edit] History
The road passes through a historical 1-lane tunnel carved through the sandstone ridge in a forest area part way through the farmland section. The tunnel is around 22m long at ground level, but has a sandstone outcrop extending several metres further at its western end.
The plaque at the eastern end of the tunnel states:
"This tunnel was completed during 1899 as part of a new tourist road linking the southern highlands to Wombeyan Caves. Officially opened on 29 January 1900, the road was originally named Duprez Road in honour of Adolphe Prosper Duprez of Bowral who was the driving force behind its construction."
[edit] Road conditions
Due to the extremely poor condition of the road east of the Wombeyan Caves camping area, it is strongly recommended to access the reserve from the Goulburn-Oberon Road. Regardless of the impresssion that might be given by road maps, the road should not be considered to be a through road unless you are in a 4WD or have a lot of time. The Hume Highway and Goulburn-Oberon Road via Goulburn are a better option if you are not aiming to get to somewhere between the Wombeyan Caves camping area and Mittagong.
[edit] Future
There is a proposal to create an external Sydney Bypass, which would use the Wombeyan Caves Road, requiring completion of sealing and widening and realignment.
[edit] See Also
- Wombeyan Caves
- Mittagong
- Bowral
- Joadja
- High Range
- Richlands
- Taralga
