History
Bruce’s Walk was originally built as a maintenance track for power transmission lines in 1931 and designed by A. Bruce, the tracks namesake. Upon completion it was quickly promoted as a walking trail with a pamphlet circulated to advertise the walk. From World War II onward the track fell into disrepair and was forgotten.
A local man named Dick Rushton found a copy of the old pamphlet and set about clearing and marking the track and in 1980 led a party of walkers through the section between Bullaburra and Wentworth Falls and in 1983 wrote a guidebook for the track.
In 1986 Jim Smith and Wilf Hilder organised volunteers to again clear and mark the sections of the track between Bullaburra and Wentworth Falls and it was officially opened on May 26 of that year by Alderman David Lawton however this was condemned by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Mayor of the Blue Mountains City Council. Later that year the stretches of track from Wentworth Falls to Medlow Bath were also cleared by volunteers and subsequently opened.
The Track
Currently the track is patchy, largely without signposts and crosses multiple creeks, maintenance trails, roads and other single tracks. For the purpose of this FKT, and for convenience, the trail begins and ends at the Lawson and Medlow bath train stations.
East to West is the more difficult route with a net gain in elevation. While running West to East is a net loss you will still be adequately challenged. When running East to West the run begins at the Northern exit of the Lawson Train Station and ends at the Eastern exit of the Medlow Bath Train Station just west of St Albans Road. Reverse this if you wish to run the opposite direction.
Following directions using a GPX file on a device will make navigating the trail much easier due to the mass of trails and roads it crosses. While the trail does follow the power lines you, unlike the power lines, will be descending and ascending steep and technical trails, crossing creeks and scrambling up rocky slopes. In between these features there is fire trail and road you might try a steady run on (provided it isn’t too steep). When travelling East to West the route finishes on a road with just enough of a gradient to punish you after a tough couple of hours so keep some fuel in the tank
Further information
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce%27s_Walk
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/australia/new-south-wales/medlow-bath-to-wentworth-falls-via-bruce-s-walk--2
http://david-noble.net/blog/?tag=bruces-walk
https://www.beyondtracks.com/walks/blue-mountains-national-park/bruce's-walk/
Comments
Looking forward to attempting this route next weekend in a (hopefully) sub 3 hour finish 😁
Well that was much harder than originally anticipated. The concentration and gradient of vert really slowed me down and getting lost in a swamp broke the camel’s back with a finishing time of 3h57m42s.
Thank you Rachel for not only submitting this FKT as a route, but also laying down a superb time that will be incredibly difficult to beat. I look forward to reattempting this route in the coming weeks or months around my other scheduled FKTs/races.
It's a really tough route to "run"! Even on the downhills it's hard to get a flow going. Strong hiking is absolutely key.
Love seeing you have a go Asellies. When I created this FKT my hope was that it would attract lots more people like yourself.
Look forward to seeing your next attempt!
Tough trails for the first half with lots of bush bashing through thick overgrowth but worth it. A couple of creek crossings to manage and one towards the end where the feet will get wet, so just go for it! Also hard to locate the dodgy wooden ladder on one of the rock outcrops so keep a close eye on the GPX. Enjoy the struggle and the more open back section with more running :) I've got some more running to do on this one!