One of the great things about this race is the access to just about everywhere on the circuit that matters. There is pedestrian access down at the bottom of the circuit from the chase, round to turn one, on both sides of the track. There is access in the paddock, up behind all the pit garages, and on top of the pit area along the front straight. Up at the top of the mountain, you can get down to just above the cutting (T4) and from there, back up across the top, all the way down to Forrest Elbow (T18). I’m guessing that if you were to walk non-stop from the cutting all the way around the top and down to T18 it would be approx 45 minutes at a brisk pace, taking into account the climb back up from T5 and the climb down to T18. There’s a roadway down to to T18, but the preferred trek down is via the track adjacent to the fence line, which offers some truly brilliant photo ops. It’s mountain goat country on some parts of the walking track, but well worth it. Over the last few years the powers that be, have installed the dreaded catch fencing along a lot of the parts of the circuit across the top, but that doesn’t necessarily stop the more inventive types among us, in relation to picture taking. I’ve said it before, but I don’t think it is possible to take a bad photo at this place. You can’t get access to the inside of the track across the top of the mountain, but when you get there you’ll see why, and I don’t think there would be any great benefit in getting there anyway IMO.
The only no go areas for the great unwashed are Conrod straight from T18 down to the chase, and mountain straight up to the cutting.
We tend to move about during the race, so having your own car (I assume you’ll be having a rental) is pretty important. There is a bus going up and down all day, I’ve never used it so I can’t comment. Some stay in one spot for the whole day. I’ve never seen the point in that, but even with the increasing crowd size over the last few years, there’s still great accessibility to just about anywhere.
You won’t be walking up from the bottom. You actually have to leave the circuit and drive up to the top, but it’s no big deal, and is only a few minutes drive to get up there. They’ve started charging a one off access fee of about $5.00 (from memory) per car, which upset a few people, but again, it’s no big deal. It gets fairly warm in February in Australia, bring plenty of water, and a stash of food. The food they are selling all over the circuit is rubbish. The Bathurst CBD is about 5 minutes from the circuit, so food and drink is easily available.
Dud photo spots– None.
Best photo locations- Just about anywhere on the track, although my favorites are, just around the exit of turn 1, all the spots coming down the hill and Forrest Elbow.
Sorry for being a bit long winded, hope this helps.