Tayan Pic

Perhaps the greatest of Sydney's mountains. Tayan Pic has a distinctive profile that can be seen for miles in every direction. The route described here is tough and should only be attempted by very fit and experienced walkers with good off track navigation skills. The return walk took me 12 hours.

Driving directions

At Capertee, turn east onto Glen Davis Road. This eventually turns into a dirt road before you reach a T- intersection with Glen Alice road. Turn left (north) and drive until you reach the township of Mount Innes. Turn right and follow Upper Nile Road for another 8km. Park to the left of the road before a cattle grid, where the bush meets the road.

Directions to the summit

1. Climb over the fence and walk uphill in a west direction. Keep to the centre of the ridge line and just keep going up.

2. At 700m elevation you come to some very large (house size) boulders. You will come to an impassable wall. Drop down to the right into a fern filled gullly. At the other side of the gully is the entrance to a steep chute between two giant rocks, filled with a kind of dry rainforest. Follow this all the way up to the top of hill 752.

3. From 752, walk NE to find another hill and some cliffs overlooking the valley to the east.

4. Continue to the north end of the hill, then folllow a chute heading NW down off the hill.

5. Walk through some pleasant open woodland here, to the east side of a huge rock wall. Traverse across the base of these cliffs.

6. Follow the ridge. At this point you come to a wall that we found was just climable. Bring some rope. There may be alternative ways around this section if you can't climb it.

7. A giant rock three stories high guards a bridge across to the actual mountain. Steer to the north side of the rock and cross the saddle.

8. The mountain gets steeper and steeper till you reach the summit. There are amazing views in every direction. Return the way you came.