22 June 2014

The Uriarra Track

22 June 2014 | By TheYRA

There was an old track that went from Uriarra to Queanbeyan before Canberra was built. Sheep used to be driven to the Yarralumla Wool Shed from Uriarra, but we are not sure what traffic continued along the track to Queanbeyan (possibly via what is now the Governor General’s residence). Remnants of the track are located in the forest between the Cotter Road and Denman Street Yarralumla, which is currently a popular walking track extension of Dunrossil Drive. We wonder what other parts of the track are still around? Does anyone have further information or old maps?

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TheYRA10:18 am 26 Jun 14

Thank you for going to the effort of marking up the map. It makes it so much easier to understand how the track fits into the current landscape. We are particularly interested in the section from the current entrance to Dunrossil Drive through Yarralumla, but we are sure others in the community will value the information on the rest of the Uriarra Track.
The current ACT government’s proposal to develop the land near the Canberra Brickworks completely ignores the Uriarra Track. The track is valued by the community as a walking track that connects Yarralumla to Dunrossil Drive even now. We are hoping that any land development in the area will preserve a corridor of land – possibly in line with the old Uriarra Track – to connect proposed new parks and green open spaces with Dunrossil Drive for use by walkers and cyclists.

arescarti427:53 pm 24 Jun 14

Wrong link for the PDF, this is what i was referring to.

http://www.canberra100.com.au/storage/MapsandMakersGregWood.pdf

arescarti427:52 pm 24 Jun 14

I had a look around, and the first page of this PDF has a map which seems to show the old road from QBN to Uriarra.

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zbQLiVeTvfo0.kjfljwGSdD1c

I overlaid it on some modern satellite imagery, and below is my best guess as to where the track went.

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zbQLiVeTvfo0.kjfljwGSdD1c

The present day Uriarra road up to the Murrumbidgee seems to follow the original track very closely. Kirkpatrick street out the front of the Australian Defence College and the RSPCA also appears to follow the original alignment.

There appears to be some remnants of the track north of the Cotter Road between Curtin and Kirkpatrick street, and also north of Canberra avenue between Fyshwick and Queanbeyan.

If you look at the satellite imagery before DFO in Fyshwick was built, the old track is extremely clear. Similarly for satellite imagery before Coombs and Wright were built, there’s a piece of forestry road that lines up perfectly with both Kirkpatrick street and Uriarra road, and I’d guess was also the original track.