Hackett Gate, Mackenzie Street, Hackett, Canberra, ACT
Hackett Gate, Mackenzie Street, Hackett, Canberra, ACT
Year round
This walk commences at the ‘Hackett Gate” car park located on MacKenzie Street in Hackett. The car park itself is located between residential houses, backs onto the base of Mount Majura and is relatively easy to find. Like most of the planned green space in Canberra there are a number of access trails to the summit that provide a number of summiting options for Mount Majura either as a circuit, return trip or with a bit of car shuffling as a point to point walk. Unlike the adjacent Mt Ainslie walk, which has a high number of tourists from the Australian War Memorial, this trail tends to be walked by the local community but still sees good numbers of users. This trail also forms part of the 145km (90 mile) Canberra Centennial Trail that takes in much of the city.
This walking track provides good views of parts of the city but not of the central city area that can be seen from Mt Ainslie. The summit of Mount Majura is home to part of the radar system for the adjacent airport and is only accessible on road by service vehicles. The advantage that this walk has over the nearby Mt Ainslie Walk is that it provides a feeling of remoteness that can have you thinking that you are out of the city. The walk itself goes through open grassy areas as well as Casuarina and Eucalyptus stands and provides good variation of experience. The trail itself is not ‘formed’ like Mt Ainslie and can be very slippery, wet and muddy in some areas particularly after heavy rains which will need to be taken into account with choice of footwear.
Parking is available at Hackett Gate” car park located on MacKenzie Street. If you arrive mid to late morning on the weekend in particular expect to park along the street, as the keen walkers will get there early.
Trail signage is located as needed to get you to the summit
Part of the trail
Path example
Wildflowers
Some of the pathways on the Mount Majura Circuit can be very wet after heavy rain
Gate just before the summit
Mt Majura Summit
View over Majura Valley
Image from Google Maps showing how to get Hacket Gate from the Civic GPO which is less than a 5km drive. The car park is only small but there is plenty of on street parking available
This walk was undertaken by the team from Australian Hiker