Posted by OK, let me start this post by saying (in case he reads this) … I’m sorry Oliver, this was just rude of me…
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| The poisonous mushroom that Oliver will soon be wishing I ate … |
You see not so long ago, I openly admitted to stealing some trail ideas from Oliver Walters.
He was pretty good about it, and in fact we’ve since become friends on Facebook and we’ve even been trying to arrange a ride together (confession here: I’m scared of this as people really don’t realise how very, very slow I am until they go riding with me).
So not so long ago, I see a post from Oliver about this Dam up near Rattlers Hill (behind Derby) which has been emptied, but looked to be just off the Rattlers Hill ride which is over on tassietrails.org and it looked to be down a pretty nice track.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then it looks like this …
Yea, Um, Oliver … Um … you were right. It’s kind of an awesome spot.
The good news is that it’s also very easy to get to from the Ratters Hill Ride, so I have added this to the route notes as a detour, but just in case you want the quick summary of how to get there, when you get to the 13.6km mark in the trail notes (where you emerge out into an open area beside a Blue Gum Plantation …) ie. here …
Turn left off the road you’re on onto the fire break around the blue gum plantation and follow it for a few hundred metres until you come to another track heading off to the left with a big red arrow painted on the tree, like this …
Head down here about and you’ll almost immediately see the dam and from there just follow your nose down to the bottom and explore to your hearts contents. You can then just retrace your steps and continue up Rattlers Hill (which would probably be quickest), or you can head up the other side of the dam and out onto Paris Dam Road, turn right and reconnect to the main trail that way.
It’s a great little diversion, well worth the visit (make sure you explore down the stream below the dam – you can walk through the dam at its base) and would make for a great rest break before tackling the last section of Rattlers Hill.
As to my Oliver guilt … um, have I said sorry enough yet?