Mt Grey

Description

To get to Mt Grey follow Douglas Road from Amberley. After several kms it will turn into Crampton Bush Road. We parked at Lake Janet to split the uphill cycle, but you could just as easily park at the Mt Grey parking area which is near the end of the road, at the ford. Lake Janet is a small lake with a few picnic benches and a drop toilet just beyond a crossroads.

Start by cycling up Mt Grey Road, whenever there is a junction, take the uphill fork. After 5kms of steady ascent you will get to the antenna where the road finishes. A small single track then heads off along the ridge to the summit. The descent is back towards the antenna by 100m, then off right following orange posts. It is quite quick and narrow to begin with as you follow the ridge. But soon you enter the trees and have to negotiate the countless switchbacks. This are are extremely difficult to negotiate without putting a foot or two down. The track continues with switchbacks and narrow traversing singletrack past a nice viewpoint back to the road. Turn left to get back to lake Janet.

The legality of this route for bikes is debatable, the descent is a footpath and the ascent is permit only. But the route seems to be ridden quite frequently without incident. But if you were to ride this route and for whatever reason were asked not to, then I’d respect that decision. As a side note there are also some small custom built singletracks near Lake Janet and on the east side of the summit. But these were blocked by branches, storm damaged and generally overgrown when we visited.