Length: Around 2.5 km to Scout's Rock (5 km return)
Time: Allow 2-3 hours return to Scout's Rock
Difficulty: Difficult to Strenuous
Reward/Effort Rating: 6/10
What can we say about Mount Tyson? When we completed this hike in May 2021 Sarah was pretty sore are recovering from treatment for her Tendonitis. We thought, what the heck, we have wanted to do Mount Tyson for a while, it is only 5 km return, should be easy right?
Wrong, we were very wrong. Whilst shorter in distance than a lot of the hikes that we do, this is a very steep and relentless walk. Did I mention that the walk was steep, very steep and persistently steep.
Notwithstanding that the track is steep (which we have already established), it is very rewarding with views out across the town of Tully and across to the ocean. We are suckers for a good ocean view. On a clear day (which this was not) the views would be absolutely breathtaking. We will be sure to come back and do this one again when the weather clears up!
Track notes - what you need to know
The trail starts at the end of Brannigan Street. We (Rochelle) admittedly just googled "Mount Tyson" when we first arrived into Tully and unfortunately Google Maps did lead us in the wrong direction. Don't make the same mistake that we did, if you rely on Google Maps, maybe plug in Brannigan Street, or even more specifically 41 Brannigan Street as this will take you right to the end of the cul-de-sac where the walk starts from.
The start of the track is well signed so you will know if you are in the right place:
Continue on the grass up towards you right and past the water tank (pass the tank on your right) there will be more handy signs to signal the track.
The trail is very well marked with yellow arrows and well trafficked so easy to follow. As we may have already mentioned, the track is steep. The mountain is 687 metres tall and you have to gain that in 2.5 km- you do the math. Don't be scared off , we saw people of various fitness levels tacking this one, you might just need to allow for a little more time.
At around 1.9 km you will arrive at the first opportunity for stunning views (on a clear day). This is Flat Rock. The elevation at this point is around 570 metres.
If you continue upwards past this point, after another 600 metres you will reach Scout's Rock. Unfortunately when we reached this point it was a complete whitewash due to the rain. The rock itself wasn't the most impressive formation we have see, but we took a picture of it anyway. On a clear day we wonder what else we may have been able to see from this point.
Here is where it gets interesting. Whilst the trail officially ends at Scout's Rock (the summit), it is possible to keep going to another advantage point with views back across to Scout's Rock. We understand that not many people continue past this point and the trail that continues is neither marked, nor well worn so very difficult to follow.
From what we could see (poking around Scout's Rock for a good 15 minutes) the trail was almost impossible to pick up. We think we worked it out, however, we could not be sure. Given the weather (it was raining at the top) and the reality that there would be no views from continuing past this point (as you can see from the above picture) we decided to turn back with a commitment to come back in the future to continue past this point on another one of our "off track adventures" which have always gone so well in the past.
Given that the appears to be no defined trail past Scout's Rock if you are planning on walking beyond this point make sure you let someone know what you are doing as it would likely be a trap for young players and an ideal opportunity to get lost.
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