36. Mitchells Road (Old Western Road)

36. Mitchells Road (Old Western Road)

Location:Commences 1.3 km east of Mt Lambie via Rydal – follow ‘Sydney’ Road for approximately 1km , then
left turn and follow east along a dirt road (named Old Western Road) to upper arm of Lake Lyall – (then need to return to ‘Sydney’ Road/Rydal-
Hampton Road). Turn left into Rydal-Hampton Road and proceed for 4 km then turn left at Magpie Hollow Road [also called Rydal – Sodwalls – Tarana Road] and cross the weir.
About 3km on take a hard left turn driving west /NW along Sir Thomas Mitchell Drive until again meeting the
upper arm of Lake Lyall on its eastern side. Return to Magpie Hollow Road, travel north-east turning left after
about 240m into Mitchells Road, following the forest track. Note a likely earlier version of the road running
parallel with the forest road. After 1.2km turn hard left along Mitchells Road to the Great Western Highway east
of Lithgow at Old Bowenfels, passing historic homesteads including Ben Avon (1845), then turn right onto the
Great Western Highway. After 1.5km turn right into a remnant section of ‘Old Forty Bends Road’. Exit hard left
onto the Great Western Highway opposite the Hassans Walls Lookout towering above (Site 42).

Altitude, Lat/Long:960m AHD; -33.4829, 150.0324 Starting point at Rydal Hotel.

Time required at site: 1-2hrs if driving along the full route

Relevance to Cox’s Road:Mitchells Road replaced both Lockyers Road and Cox’s Road and eventually became the
Great Western Highway. Much of Lockyers line of road remains in use today (See S29). Over time, Mitchells Road
too, was modified with the remnant sections being labelled various names, including Mitchells Road, The Old
Western Road, The Old Bathurst Road and Sir Thomas Mitchell Drive. Examine a copy of Wilson’s 1914 map reduced
to A3 (Figure xx) to view the geographical relation of Mitchells Road to Cox’s Road and other routes running west
of Mount York.

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