The disastrous floods of February 1860 inundated the Araluen Valley, destroying claims, mining equipment, washing away houses, hotels and caused the loss of many lives, including that of a policeman. It also cut off essential supplies from the coast where the only route was a pack track winding its way up the Moruya River valley with numerous river crossings. The track became impassable when the river was in flood.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Thomas Shoebridge, the owner of the Pack Saddle Store at Mudmelong, Lower Araluen, could see the advantage for his store and the community of an all-weather route. In August 1860 The Braidwood Observer and Miners’ Advocate reported, “[Shoebridge] has discovered a new line of road to the coast from Araluen, which not only answers the purpose of shortening the distance considerably, but of overcoming every difficulty which has been experienced in the way of obtaining supplies on the recurrence of the floods.”
The track from Lower Araluen runs through what is now the Deua and Monga National Parks to the Buckenbowra Valley to the east. From there it linked to coastal shipping via the new port of Nelligen on the Clyde River and the Corn Trail to the tablelands. It was a pack track which meant supplies could be brought in to the goldfields on pack horses travelling in a line of up to a dozen animals connected head to tail.
Unfortunately it seems the cost of cutting the track contributed substantially to Shoebridge going into insolvency in February 1861. However, the government could see the advantages of maintaining the route and when concerns were raised that the track required further work to make it safe for packing £1,000 was allocated for widening and repairing the track. Twenty-six men were employed to carry out the work. The Braidwood Observer reported in January 1862, “The roadway is perfectly passable and at intervals of 300 yards, proper passing places are constructed, sufficiently wide to allow a dozen or more horses to effect a transit without coming into contact- the width at these points being 10 feet and length 30 yards.” These works seems to have resulted in the form of the track as it survives today.
There was further lobbying for the track to be made into a road, to replace the hazardous and often impassable Moruya River track, but none of these approaches was successful.
By the early 1870s the Moruya River pack track was made into a dray road without the numerous river crossings, negating the need for less efficient packing on the Shoebridge Track. The Shoebridge Track remained in use as a convenient link between the Araluen and Buckenbowra valleys, both for families maintaining social contact and the movement of stock between valleys. In time, knowledge of the track’s route, and even its existence, faded from the memory of all but the local landowners and families.
Thanks to the lobbying by community group Access for All, NPWS commissioned a heritage assessment in 2004. Currently there is a change to the plan of management for Monga National Park which will allow a corridor through a section of declared wilderness, allowing the track to be used by horse riders again. The Shoebridge Track is being maintained for future generations.
