We Had a Trip to Cotter Dam: Nature at its best

On Sunday, January 7, 2024, we visited the Cotter Reserve, which is located adjacent to the Cotter Dam and is one of Canberra’s newest but most popular riverside recreation and picnic areas.

So when a community leader, Monica, who has come from Israel and settled in Canberra with her husband and 9-year-old child, invited us on WhatsApp, we accepted her invitation immediately.

We agreed instantly as The Cotter Dam Discovery Trail is an excellent Bushwalk that is not far off from our residence but a short drive.

First, we reached Cotter Bend, where Monica had invited the community members of our suburb, which is 23 km from our residence. We started at 11.30 a.m. and reached there in about 25 minutes.

Now let me give you the details of the Cotter Dam, which contains campsites and picnic spots in abundance. In fact, you stop at any point and camp anywhere barring the walking trail, which forbids you to camp on walking paths or close to them.

When coming from Canberra, we took a left turn immediately once we crossed the bridge into the Cotter Reserve and saw the parking right in front of the Cotter Band.

I took pictures of the Cotter Dam Discovery Trail car park at the Cotter Reserve. I was interested in this motorcycle, so I took a picture of it. Incidentally, we saw a number of bikers on the way to the dam, as if they were still in vacation mood.

As we walked the Cotter Reserve from Canberra, we crossed the Cotter River by bridge and, as soon as we reached the car park, let me mention here that one can choose to park closer to the main trail, but our host chose Cotter Bend as she wanted to make it a get-together-like event.

After all, not many people in Australia know their neighbors and no wonder we knew almost none out of the gathering of about 40 who all live in the same suburb.

As most of the food was nonvegetarian, I picked up a banana and an apple and walked to the nearby area, where I saw different trails leading to the dam. As I said, it was your choice which trail you chose, as they all have different lengths depending on your choice.

Then I walked along the Cotter River and saw people enjoying themselves with their friends and loved ones. I took a few long shots and came back to the group, where my friends were busy eating and chatting.

We finished our shared food by 12.30, as our guide had announced that the walk would begin at 1 p.m., and we gathered around her as she briefed the kids about what they were going to watch and what they could do on the way.

There are different short and long walks located close by, or if you wish to walk at the reserve, take your choice.

At first glance, I felt The Cotter Bend in itself is a wonderful recreation venue that Monica has selected, keeping the kids and elderly in mind, ideal for picnics, swimming, fishing, bushwalking, and relaxation.

We could see all the facilities for short and longer walking tracks that all lead to the Cotter Dam and river, and as I saw people camping at the Cotter Campground, I loved it even more. I even saw people with big tubes sailing in the fast-flowing water from one end to the other.

Take, for instance, the Cotter Dam Discovery Trail. At one corner from the dam, we walked through Casuarina Sands with BBQ facilities, picnic tables, shaded areas, playground equipment, access to swimming, parking, and the way an Arabian group was partying, which almost tempted me to take their pictures, but that was not within manners, so I avoided it.

One of these walks, the Cotter Dam Discovery Trail walk, was a bit of a unique walk for us for different reasons, as Monica had involved kids aged 3–8 in the trip, and she had called an experienced bushwalker, Gloria, aged 75 but as young as 40 years old.

She was so active and agile that when she announced and called all the kids close to her and gave them a kit comprising a notebook and pencil so that they could note down their experiences.

Also, playgrounds for kids in a large spread area are one of the best places during the summer to spend some quality time, either lying idle along the river or taking a bushwalk as per our choice.

There are a couple more reasons to be at this spot, but I would suggest it’s a heritage trail that showcases the reserve area itself as well as the heritage aspects of the Cotter Dam area with all its historical points.

As we walked along, let me admit that I was walking way behind the group because I was more interested in the photos, and staying back allowed me to take pictures of the group as well.

While following her, she was telling us about everything, and even I was impressed when she said that if you can't hold a tree trunk in your arms, it means that the tree is more than 500 years old.

Kids wanted to hold that tree trunk in their arms, and when they couldn't do it, they all tried it in their own way.

No wonder this is one of Canberra’s newer walking trails and has been designed in a way that even the kids can walk with its numerous children-friendly trails.

However, the designers have made sure that all of these are based in natural bushland and describe pre-date types for hard-core walkers.

Then we headed to the trailhead and saw the signage and I was glad our guide followed the same trail by walking down the same path. The walk follows along the river bank, crossing under the bridge you drove over, and then crosses over to the other side.

It’s at this point that the interpretation signage starts, and there are plenty. There are other signs along the edge of the path which told us like who was Cotter and lots of other information, and one of them made us laugh which said Niagra fallse of Canberra.

We reached the pathway up to the main viewing platform, and while doing so, we saw kids getting excited as and when they saw different-colored and different-sized lizards. Some of them were really scary, and one native walker called them dragon lizards. I somehow managed to capture them on my phone and camera.

Finally, we reached the point of the walk, the beautiful platform that faces the new Cotter Dam wall and provides in-depth information on both the old and new Cotter Dam through signage boards.

We stayed there for about 15 minutes, as the sun was at its peak.

Everyone in the group was taking pictures of their loved ones and kids, while I handed my phone to one of the group members, who took a few pictures of mine.

From here, we returned down the same way we came, although we could head down a small set of stairs that led past the old trout hatchery, but with kids, that was too much. This stair route provides different options, if you want to cross the river again and walk down the opposite side, you can, or if you want to keep walking on the current side of the river and take a longer route.

As I checked my Fitwit, I saw I covered a total of 9800 steps, which means I walked close to 9 km on this walk. And mind you guys, this trip was programmed keeping the kids in mind, so it was the shortest and only a few kilometers long.

I believe I now have a good knowledge of the Cotter Dam and its history. Seeing all this information set out as it is on this walk is well worth the effort I put in on this fruitful day.

Walk-car park

Trailhead entry

Crossing over to the other side of the Cotter River

View of Cotter Dam with interpretation material in the foreground

On Cotter Avenue, the Honyong Walking Track is straight ahead at this point.

Walking back along the river

You can head back from this bridge if you want.

Suddenly it started raining at about 4 in the evening. I saw people rushing back to the shelter of their camps but we collected our chairs and other items and went back to the car. We drank our tea in the car before driving back home.

I would like to invite @patjewell @shiftitamanna @alegnita @disconnect and @mile16 when I talk about a free hand to contributors.

ᵀʰᵃⁿᵏ ʸᵒᵘ ᵃˡˡ ᶠᵒʳ ʳᵉᵃᵈᶦⁿᵍ ᵐʸ ʰᵘᵐᵇˡᵉ ᵉᶠᶠᵒʳᵗ