Cougals East and West Peak

A really nice walk both terrain and view wise!

Starts out from the very end of Garden of Eden rd which has some limited spaces for parked vehicles. The trail follows the nearby fence-line steeply uphill before flattening out for a bit and winding its way through a large patch of very tall sugar cane. Upon arrival at a grassy vehicle track take care to turn right at a line of pine trees where there is an obscure track junction. The trail ahead goes to an old house and should be avoided as it is on private property. Soon the trail enters the national park and the associated rainforest remained flat for a while before becoming very steep just below the peak. Take care to not slip and cut yourself on the barb-wire fence which lies close to your left as you climb steeply towards the peak. Upon reaching the cliff-line just below the peak there is a cave that you can climb into and peak through a gap in the south side of the mountain. There are some good viewpoints to the left of the cliff-line but the trail goes right leading to a steep scramble through a break in the cliffline. From here the trail is followed up to East Peak where there are excellent views.

To get to West Peak locate a trail heading towards the saddle between the two peaks which can be easily followed to the base of West Peak with a bit of scrambling. The climb up West Peak is steep and quite dusty (there is a fixed rope available along the hardest section). Once you arrive at the peak you find there are no views and wonder why you went to all this effort to climb it.

A Note: Due to the pervasive red soils in this area it would be well advised to not do this walk under wet conditions. These soils become very slippery which would make the walk up to the first cliff-line of East Peak and the walk up West Peak very difficult and most likely dangerous.