Mt Solitary

The Golden Stairs track quickly and steeply descends through the cliffline to the Federal Pass track. If you've got young children in the party don't let them get in front as there are a couple of potentially dangerous spots should they trip or stumble. Once on the Federal Pass track (after 20-30 minutes) head south to the Ruined Castle track which you will see signposted on your right after about an hour from the bottom of the Golden Stairs track. The Federal Pass here is actually an old light railway bed which was used late in the last century to haul kerosene shale to the base of what is now the Scenic Railway. The skips were hauled by horses from adits around the Mt Solitary and Ruined Castle area as far as the entrance to the Daylight Tunnel which runs through Narrowneck not far from the Landslide. From here they were hitched to a cable system which went via another tunnel to the base of the Scenic Railway, which was originally installed to haul oil shale and coal up the cliff face. The Federal Pass track goes through some spellbindingly beautiful rainforest on the way out to the Ruined Castle. After about 2.5km you'll come to the track up on to the Ruined Castle which is signposted on your right (J490611).