Black Mountain Summit Walking Track

Moderate

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A roughly 3.5km walk through dry forest to the Black Mountain Tower lookout, documented on the Parks ACT Black Mountain Nature Reserve page and the Canberra Tracks heritage trail series.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

2.68 km

Est. time

1 hr 5 min

Elevation gain

221 m

Route type

Loop

Steepest stretch: +60m over ~300m (around the 2.2km mark)

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In an emergency

Call 000 for police, fire or ambulance — Australia's emergency number works even with a weak signal, and without a SIM if any carrier has coverage.

You're in Black Mountain Nature Reserve, Canberra Nature Park, Black Mountain, Canberra, ACT. Mobile reception in this area is not guaranteed — this is exactly why the offline map and GPS position on this page work without signal.

Tell someone your plan and expected return time before you set off. A PLB is the most reliable backup where there's no reception at all.

Tracks & plans

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Species to look for on this trail

Ancient trees and rare flora confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Button WrinklewortDocumented on this trail

Rutidosis leptorhynchoides

Endangered — AUS: Endangered, ACT: Endangered, NSW: Endangered, VIC: Endangered▾

Endangered — AUS: Endangered, ACT: Endangered, NSW: Endangered, VIC: Endangered

Rutidosis leptorrhynchoides, commonly known as button wrinklewort, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is an upright, tufted, perennial herb with bright green leaves and yellow button-shaped flowers.

How to spot it

Rutidosis leptorrhynchoides is a perennial herb with a simple or multi-branched from a woody rootstock, 15–30 cm (5.9–11.8 in) high, leafy, usually stems more or less smooth except those toward the base may be more or less woolly. The leaves are mostly borne on aerial stems, narrow, linear, bright green, 15–35 mm (0.59–1.38 in) long, 0.5–1.5 mm (0.020–0.059 in) wide, margins rolled under, mostly smooth and the apex pointed. Each stem has one yellow flower, 8–15 mm (0.31–0.59 in) in diameter made

Family Asteraceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Rutidosis leptorhynchoides

Musk Hood-OrchidDocumented on this trail

Caladenia moschata

Restricted Trade Species — ACT: Restricted Trade Species▾

Restricted Trade Species — ACT: Restricted Trade Species

Caladenia moschata, commonly known as musky caps or musky caladenia, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to eastern and south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. It is a ground orchid with a single leaf and up to five flowers which are dark-coloured on the back and white on the front, sometimes tinged with pink and with a strong musky or soapy odour. The species was previously known as Caladenia gracilis.

How to spot it

Caladenia moschata is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and which grows singly or in small groups. It has a single, slightly hairy leaf 90–180 mm (4–7 in) long and 3–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide. Up to five musky or soapy-scented flowers are borne on a spike 150–300 mm (6–10 in) tall. The sepals and petals are white on the front, sometimes tinged with pink or bronze colours and their backs have greenish-brown or purplish glandular hairs. The sepals and petals spread h

Family Orchidaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Caladenia moschata

Photo via iNaturalist Australia (CC-BY-NC 4.0 (Int)), collected by emm_bee

Black Mountain Leopard OrchidDocumented on this trail

Diuris nigromontana

Restricted Trade Species — ACT: Restricted Trade Species▾

Restricted Trade Species — ACT: Restricted Trade Species

Diuris nigromontana, commonly known as Canberra donkey orchid or Black Mountain leopard orchid, is a species of orchid that is endemic to the Australian Capital Territory. It has two grass-like leaves and up to eight yellow-orange flowers with brownish marks on the labellum.

How to spot it

Diuris nigromontana is a tuberous, perennial herb with two linear leaves folded lengthwise. Between two and eight yellow-orange flowers are borne on a flowering stem up to 350 mm (14 in) tall. The dorsal sepal is tall and usually erect, more or less triangular but with a bluntly-pointed tip. The lateral sepals are crossed, but usually not turned backwards. The petals are usually erect, egg-shaped to round. The labellum has brownish marks and three lobes, the side lobes relatively large and oblon

Family Orchidaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Diuris nigromontana

Dark Midge-OrchidDocumented on this trail

Corunastylis clivicola

Restricted Trade Species — ACT: Restricted Trade Species▾

Restricted Trade Species — ACT: Restricted Trade Species

Genoplesium clivicola is species of small terrestrial orchid that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has a single thin leaf fused to the flowering stem and up to twenty five small, greenish and reddish flowers. It grows in forest and woodland in Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales.

How to spot it

Genoplesium clivicola is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single thin leaf fused to the flowering stem. Up to twenty five greenish flowers with reddish or purplish markings are arranged along a flowering stem 10–40 mm (0.4–2 in) long and reaching to a height of 80–250 mm (3–10 in). The flowers are 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide and are inverted so that the labellum is above the column rather than below it. The dorsal sepal is egg-shaped with the narrower end to

Family Orchidaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Corunastylis clivicola

Hood OrchidDocumented on this trail

Caladenia cucullata

Restricted Trade Species — ACT: Restricted Trade Species, SA: Rare▾

Restricted Trade Species — ACT: Restricted Trade Species, SA: Rare

Caladenia cucullata, commonly known as the hooded caladenia, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single, sparsely hairy leaf, and up to seven white flowers with a purplish labellum.

How to spot it

Caladenia cucullata is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single, sparsely hairy, linear leaf, 6–20 cm (2–8 in) long and 1–6 mm (0.04–0.2 in) wide. Up to seven white flowers 10–35 mm (0.4–1 in) in diameter are borne on a spike 10–35 cm (4–10 in) high. The lateral sepals and petals are 8–13 mm (0.3–0.5 in) long, 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide, narrow elliptic to egg-shaped and spread horizontally. The outer surface is covered with greenish to brownish glands, the

Family Orchidaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Caladenia cucullata

Brown BeaksDocumented on this trail

Lyperanthus suaveolens

Restricted Trade Species — ACT: Restricted Trade Species▾

Restricted Trade Species — ACT: Restricted Trade Species

Lyperanthus suaveolens, commonly called brown beaks, is a species of orchid that is endemic to the eastern states of Australia.

How to spot it

Lyperanthus suaveolens is a tuberous, perennial herb, 18–44 cm (7–20 in) high with 2 to 8 yellowish brown, brown or dark reddish brown flowers, about 3 cm (1 in) wide, from August to November. The flowers are sometimes fragrant in warm weather. The single leaf is linear to lance-shaped, 12–26 cm (5–10 in) long and up to 1.2 cm (0.5 in) wide, leathery with a dark upper and pale lower surface.

Family Orchidaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Lyperanthus suaveolens

Photo via iNaturalist Australia (CC-BY-NC 4.0 (Int)), collected by Ciaran Ernst-Russell

Blakely's Red Gum

Eucalyptus blakelyi

ACT grassy woodland species▾

ACT grassy woodland species

A medium eucalypt of the NSW and ACT tablelands that pairs with Yellow Box to form the critically endangered Yellow Box-Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodland, present on Mount Majura's lower slopes and through Black Mountain Nature Reserve.

How to spot it

Grows 20-25m tall with smooth, pale grey, cream and white patchy bark that sheds to reveal a mottled trunk. Bluish-green lance-shaped adult leaves, white flowers in groups of seven, and square-stemmed young growth.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: ACT Parks and Conservation Service; Wikipedia: Eucalyptus blakelyi

Photo: Thennicke (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Purple Donkey Orchid

Diuris punctata

Endangered — ACT: Restricted Trade Species, VIC: Endangered▾

Endangered — ACT: Restricted Trade Species, VIC: Endangered

Diuris punctata, commonly known as purple donkey orchid is a species of orchid which is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It has two grass-like leaves and up to ten purple or mauve flowers, often with darker, sometimes yellow marks. A yellow form from near Guyra is probably now extinct.

How to spot it

Diuris punctata is a tuberous, perennial herb with two linear leaves 150–300 mm (6–10 in) long, 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide and folded lengthwise. Up to ten flowers 50–60 mm (2.0–2.4 in) wide are borne on a flowering stem 300–600 mm (10–20 in) tall. The flowers are purple or mauve, often with darker, sometimes yellow marks. The dorsal sepal is more or less erect, elliptic to egg-shaped, 10–18 mm (0.4–0.7 in) long and 8–14 mm (0.3–0.6 in) wide. The lateral sepals are greenish-brown, linear to lance-

Family Orchidaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Diuris punctata

Wildlife you might see on this trail

Animals confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Varied Sittella

Daphoenositta chrysoptera

Vulnerable — ACT: Vulnerable, NSW: Vulnerable▾

Vulnerable — ACT: Vulnerable, NSW: Vulnerable

The varied sittella is a small songbird native to Australia. About 10–11 cm long, it is also known as the Australian nuthatch, orange-winged sittella and the barkpecker.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Black Mountain Nature Reserve, Canberra Nature Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 2023) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Neosittidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Daphoenositta chrysoptera

Gang-gang Cockatoo

Callocephalon fimbriatum

EPBC-listed Endangered (uplisted from Vulnerable in 2022 after the Black Summer bushfires); IUCN Vulnerable▾

EPBC-listed Endangered (uplisted from Vulnerable in 2022 after the Black Summer bushfires); IUCN Vulnerable

The gang-gang cockatoo is the faunal emblem of the Australian Capital Territory, found in cool, wet forests and woodlands of the mountains and tablelands of south-eastern Australia. It was uplisted from Vulnerable to Endangered under Australia's EPBC Act in 2022 after the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires burned a large share of its habitat.

How to spot it

A small, stocky cockatoo (32-37cm). Males have an unmistakable wispy, curled bright-red head and crest against slate-grey body plumage; females are all grey with a smaller grey crest. The call is distinctive - a creaky, grinding growl often likened to a rusty gate hinge or a cork being pulled from a bottle. Found in tall mountain forest over summer, moving to lower woodlands (including suburban Canberra) in winter.

Family Cacatuidae · Source: Wikipedia; EPBC Act conservation listing

Photo: JJ Harrison (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons