Johnny Boy's Walkabout Blog

Tuesday 23 September 2025: Smiling Rock ! – M/R,X. Smiling Rock is a granite feature on the NW flank of Hospital Hill. Based on a map recce, we’ll try to approach it from Yankee Hat carpark through the Gudgenby Bush Regeneration Circuit, cross Hospital Creek and climb steeply to the feature. Around 7-8km and 350vm climb. Possible thick bush and rock scrambling on the climb.

Summary

From Garmin Connect (recorded on MAP66i handheld) – Distance: 7.90km | Climb: 495vm | Time: 2:14 moving + 3:22 of stops = 5:36 | Grading: M/R,X; M(10+).

Photographs

View photographs here. Plenty more there than embedded in trip report.

gpx file

Download the gpx file here.

Track Map

Here’s where we went:

Trip Report

Smiling Rock has been known to me as Smiley Face/Baby Face ever since I started walking out of the mouth of Middle Creek. It makes a great aiming point as one walks the undulations back to Yankee Hat car park.

Many companions doubt my sanity when I describe the face, with an orange mouth slit slanting from top left to bottom right.

Exploring it has been a monkey on my back for years. What’s up there?

JR Winston-Gregson’s 1978 thesis ‘A register of archaeological sites in the proposed Gudgenby National Park’ uses Smiling Rock as a triangulation point in his location references of two sites. The bearing from Joseph Greenfields or T Brayshaws Hut site to Smiling Rock is 155°, and from Sinclairs Hut and well site to Smiling Rock is 130°.

A recent post on Johnny Boy’s Walkabout Blog Facebook page elicited a response that I should look on theCrag. There it was, including “The whole walk in [ from Yankee Hat carpark to Smiling Rock] takes about an hour” 😂.

So I screwed up my courage, invited 3 strong and competent friends, and away we went today.

The leg from the car park to crossing Nursery Creek was on fire trails (and some lovely open woodland because I took a wrong turn at Jn 02) and took 50 minutes. We passed by Eleanor’s Grove.

And stepped across Hospital Creek upstream of a wide, swampy area.

The true right of the creek was initially pleasant going.

But the bound from crossing Nursery Creek to Smoko soon had us through quality scrub.

This leg 760m in 40 minutes. Smoko was well deserved.

The next bound, from smoko to lunch, had is rounding the rocky SW extent of the Smiling Rock area. Extra quality was added to the scrub and a scree slope had to be negotiated.

Tiring work, but we were rewarded.

Smoko to lunch was 530m taking 1 hour 25 minutes.

Views from the top of Smiling Rock were magnificent!

Lunch was a well-deserved 30 minutes, and to take in the views.

We left our perch at 1300hrs, determining that any exit in the N-ish direction, then down the scree slopes, would be better than our route up. We began by sidling around the NE extent of Smiling Rock.

Then down to the NW on long runs of scree.

In places, wombat tracks provided some assistance.

At last we were down in open going.

The descent from lunch to Nursery Creek was 1.2km in 1 hour 15 minutes.

From the creek back to the car park was a little more direct than going in, 2.2km in 40 minutes.

Huge thanks to Linda, Chris and Peter who gave me the confidence to do this trip!

The AllTrails map is here, where you can pan and zoom.

Party

4 walkers – Peter C and Linda G, Chris D, me.