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Forty Bends Road, South Bowenfels 1 of 7 - A Road that Beckons

Forty Bends Road, where it departs the Great Western Highway

This is the sign post that germinated the idea of  Roads that Beckon.

Beth commented on my annual plan plan that it is Forty Bends Road not Forty Five Bends Road ... and she was right.   She also explained that Forty Bends Road road was once the main highway between the mountains and Lithgow, wriggling its way around the foot of the western side of the mountains.  The Great Western Highway replaced it but some of the old road remains, running beside the highway, departing at this sign post and rejoining a few kilometres down the track.

According to the wikipedea story on the Great Western Highway "In 1958 the 'Forty Bends’, where the Highway runs along the foot of Hassans Walls approaching Lithgow, were eased. The fact that this section of the Highway is on the southern side of a very high escarpment poses severe ice problems during winter, due to the lack of sunlight."

It was a warm summer day.  Let's go see what we find.

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