Just before last Christmas Parks Victoria finally released the Greater Gariwerd Landscape Management Plan. Unfortunately in Parks Victoria’s haste to ban rock climbing across significant areas of the park they also appear to have banned scrambling and in doing so they have effectively closed three of the best adventure walks / scrambles in Victoria. Two… Continue reading Have Parks Victoria Really Banned Scrambling in the Grampians National Park?
Category: Daywalks Around Victoria
Grampians National Park: Safety Ropes, Bushwalking and Special Protection Areas
This article was added to on 10 March 2021 to include a letter from Jason Borg at Parks Victoria. Many of you are probably aware that Parks Victoria have initiated sweeping rock climbing bans across the Grampians National Park in what are called Special Protection Areas (SPAs). At Open Spaces we have received a number… Continue reading Grampians National Park: Safety Ropes, Bushwalking and Special Protection Areas
Silver Mine Walking Track
The Silver Mine Walking Track is located in the Snowy River National Park, one of Victoria’s most remote and least visited semi-alpine regions. By the time Karen and I parked our vehicle at the start of the walk at McKillops Bridge I had a fairly good idea as why so few people visit this place.… Continue reading Silver Mine Walking Track
Grampians Peaks Trail (Feb 2012 Update)
Just finished chatting with David Roberts, Ranger in Charge of the Grampians National Park. Regular readers may remember the piece we did here on the Grampians Peaks Trail in July 2010. The proposed walking trail was to link Mt Zero in the north to the town of Dunkeld in the south, covering a distance of… Continue reading Grampians Peaks Trail (Feb 2012 Update)
Problems With Falcons Lookout Walk and Ironbark Gorge Carpark
There are four official public entrances into Werribee Gorge State Park. The main entrance is via Myers Road on the eastern side of the park and is accessed via the Western Freeway from just past Bacchus Marsh. The other three entrances are located along Ironbark Road via Western Bluff, Ironbark Gorge and Ingliston Gorge Carparks.… Continue reading Problems With Falcons Lookout Walk and Ironbark Gorge Carpark
Melbourne’s Western Gorges On Sale Now
Great news. Our newest title, Melbourne’s Western Gorges, arrived in our warehouse this morning and will be in the shops from tomorrow. Authored by Glenn Tempest, this is the first in a new A5 series of walking guides to regional areas around Victoria. Melbourne’s Western Gorges covers 20 walks in the Brisbane Ranges National Park,… Continue reading Melbourne’s Western Gorges On Sale Now
Jawbone Track Repairs Finished
Last week Greg and I walked up to the top of the North and South Jawbone Peaks in the Cathedral Range State Park. I was really keen to check out the new trail work on the Jawbone Track leading up to the Farmyard. The 2009 Black Saturday bushfires really hammered this part of the range… Continue reading Jawbone Track Repairs Finished
Ninety Nine Years Around Powelltown
Each spring I set aside a day to walk the remarkable tramways that weave through the forested hills surrounding Poweltown in the upper reaches of the Yarra Ranges. In 1912 Poweltown was born when the Powell Wood Processing Company opened a large mill on the banks of the Little Yarra River. The steam train had… Continue reading Ninety Nine Years Around Powelltown
Maps, Meridians and the Whole Damm Mess
As spring quickly approaches I thought this would be a good time to go over a few navigational basics and explain how they relate to our new walking guides. In 2000 Australia changed over to GDA94 (Geocentric Datum of Australia), which was defined in 1994 and based on WGS84 (the World Geocentric System developed in… Continue reading Maps, Meridians and the Whole Damm Mess
Mt Beckworth Walking Trails
We visited Mt Blackwood Scenic Reserve last weekend to check out the local walks and finalise the relevant GPS data and details. We are featuring one of the park’s walks in our forthcoming walking guide to The Goldfields. The park has only recently reopened after the storm damage that occurred in January 2011 and Parks… Continue reading Mt Beckworth Walking Trails