Bushwalk Australia

Hey Guys

Would be interested in what you guys would consider some nice day walks around the Melbourne area. Say within an hours drive that we could head out, do the walk and come back.

Hoping to take this new hobby fairly seriously so will post reviews and photos after each walk if i can.

We are training for the overland and for most day walks we would be taking 2 kids (1 year old and 3 years old) in carriers, pram or have 1 of them walk.

So walks from 3hours -6 hours would be preferable as any longer and it could pose problems with two kids.

Thanks in advance

Warren

Get hold of a copy of John Chapman's Day Walks Melbourne. Several suitable walks for your criteria in it.

mt macedon area is good. i'm over in melbs all the time but don't have a car..ideas for places accessible on public transport??

Trains will get you to Ferntree Gully/Belgrave/Sherbrooke area. Plenty of good daywalks up there.

West of Melbourne. The Brisbane Ranges near Anakie has plenty of variety for day walks. Also to the West, Werribee Gorge is a nice walk with children.

Thansk Marwood the Melbourne Day Walks is a great suggestion lots of great looking walks (I bought that book before we had kids after seeing an excerpt in the Herald Sun) I'm hoping to do the one starting in Heidelberg soon.

The Yarra Ranges is a favourite spot, about 1.5 hours east of Melbourne around Warburton and Marysville.
This area was devastated by the recent fires but some areas were untouched, including some outstanding rainforest.
The track from Cement Creek car park to the top of Mt Donna Buang is pretty rough - watch for leeches - but a really good workout, with a nice view at the top as reward.

For a flatter trail try the 4km circuit at The Beeches off the Lady Talbot Forest Drive behind Marysville. Beautiful rainforest.
A little further out is the Cathedral range, which is surprisingly rugged. The full-day northern cathedrals circuit takes about 5 hours (start at Neds Gully car park).

Just further on the Yarra Ranges, there are a number of good walks into the mountain ash forests north from the Powelltown road. This area is unburned.

I second the walks in the Cathedral range. Though it's more of a 1.5hr drive from Melbourne.
My favourite walk in this area is the Wells Cave track to the top of Mt. Sugarloaf. The beginning of this track is on the same road used to get to the Neds Gully starting point (If accessed from Taggerty, you can also get to it from the Marysville end (mt margaret road). It is a more challenging walk that involves climbing but definitely worth it on a nice day.

The beeches walk is also very beautiful, the trees themselves are very old, and in some places the canopy is up to a thousand years old!

Nice photos Al Paton.

Really nice photos, they look so clean and sharp.

I would also recommend West of Melbourne...

Best,
William

Lerderberg Gorge is one of the best. There are also lots of other walks near there. Try www.gdt.org.au

Werribee Gorge is lots of fun, especially after rain. Lots of scrambling and clinging to ropes over the watercourse.

Otherwise the areas of Sherbrooke and the Dandenongs have many walks.

Although recently burnt out, the regrowth is very interesting around the Mt Sugarloaf and Kinglake area.

If you like, I can email you Google Earth files.

I hope that helps.

Would love the ge files

Thanks!$

Easy,... I'm jumping in the car in half an hour for a long weekend under the stars, so I'll email them through early next week.

What's your email please?

Here you go, sorry for the wait. I was up in the Alps and then have been wrapping things up at work these last few days.

I thought I had more, but they musrt have been on my old computer.

The three day walks were drawn up as walks with my eager but gravity/contour fearful girlfriend. She did each though.