Fabulous mountain views from Mount Howitt (1742m), Mount Magdala & Crosscut Saw in the Victorian Alps, with a night at Vallejo Gantner Hut.
The Victorian Alps have some of the mainland’s best mountain scenery, and the collection of peaks around Mount Howitt (1742m) are one of the area’s highlights. There are rugged peaks and cliffs, views for miles, and beautiful, atmospheric snow gum woodlands. We visited Mount Howitt, Mount Howitt West Peak, Mount Magdala (1725m) and Crosscut Saw (1708m), staying one night in comfortable Vallejo Gantner Hut for our first Australian overnighter.
A selection of my favourite hikes from four occasions walking in the state of Victoria, Australia. From easy to hard, so something for everybody.
Until Christmas 2017 I hadn’t walked anywhere in Victoria, perhaps thinking it wouldn’t be so different from NSW. I was pleasantly surprised on that first trip, so much so that we stopped by Victoria on two subsequent trips to Tasmania. We visited again recently, after four years living in NZ, looking for a proper mountain peak experience that can be difficult to find on mainland Australia. The walks we’ve done have all been enjoyable.
These walks include climbing almost 2000m high mountains from the bottom in a day, such as Mt Bogong (1986m) and Mt Feathertop (1920m). Nearby Mt Buffalo (1723m) and the further flung Grampians Range are unique and rugged landscapes that have numerous walking tracks. And the small but prominent Cathedral Range in Central Victoria offers another unique walking experience. Possibly our favourite walk so far was an overnighter to Mount Howitt. This could also be done as a long day walk.
A fun circuit walk in the small but prominent Cathedral Range, with extensive views from Sugarloaf Peak (920m), and along the rocky Razorback ridge track.
The Cathedral Range is a small but prominent mountain range in Victoria, about two hours north-east of Melbourne. It comprises a 7 kilometre ridge of upturned rock, and climbing then walking along this ridge makes for a fun day walk. A circuit at the southern end takes in the highest peak in the range – Sugarloaf Peak at 920m of elevation – and climbing this can be made a bit more adventurous by taking the Wells Cave Track option. There are extensive views from the top, and for much of the way as you walk north along the range, descending back down to the start at about half way. Continue reading “Cathedral Range Southern Circuit, Victoria”
A 1500m ascent to the summit of Mt Bogong (1986m) provides excellent alpine views and a pretty decent workout!
Mt Bogong is Victoria’s highest mountain at 1986m of elevation, and is apparently Australia’s highest freestanding mountain. There’s no road to the top, so if you want to summit the mountain and see the excellent views you have to climb it from the bottom, a satisfying 1500m ascent along a well marked track up either the Staircase Spur or Eskdale Spur. Continue reading “Mt Bogong Ascent, Victorian Alps”
There are short walks to MacKenzie Falls and the Balconies that are easily accessed off a major road through the Grampians (C222).
There are a few short walks you can do accessed on the road that runs through the middle of Grampians National Park (C222). We did a couple at the popular MacKenzie Falls, and also a short walk to the Balconies. It was hazy when we got to the Balconies and so this rather impressive area did not look its best in my photos, so I’ve included just the one. MacKenzie Falls is an impressive waterfall that is somewhat a victim of its own success. Worth the visit nevertheless, (but don’t swim too close to the waterfall because people have drowned there). Continue reading “MacKenzie Falls & The Balconies, Grampians National Park, Victoria”
This short walk to the summit of Mt Zero provides good views back to nearby Mt Stapylton, and the pleasingly shaped Flat Rock on it slower slopes. It also sits on the edge of the Wimmera Plains, and feels rather like being on a cliff edge, with an ocean of farmland stretching to the horizon.
The walk up Mt Zero (Mura Mura in Jardwadjali) starts from the same spot as the route to Mt Stapylton, and you can easily do them both in one day. The views are worth the one hour return walk, as it sits on the very northern edge of the Grampians, with miles of entirely flat farmland to the north, and the very rocky Mt Stapylton to the south.
Mt Stapylton in the Grampians has an otherworldly feel to it, with huge cliffs and weathered rocks sticking out from the otherwise featureless Wimmera Plains. It makes for a very Australian scene.
Our first time in the Grampians, and Mount Stapylton was a good introduction to this rugged national park in Central West Victoria. The scenery had a more remote feeling than the reality, and in this section of the park it looked quite arid, with plenty of weathered rock and impressive cliffs. The surrounding Wimmera Plains are flat as a pancake farmland that stretch as far as the eye can see. It’s a fairly short track but well worth it. You can also do the Mt Zero walk on the same day. Continue reading “Mount Stapylton Track, Grampians National Park, Victoria”
The short Chalwell Galleries Track winds around and between massive boulders high up in Mt Buffalo National Park.
This was our third short walk on the Mt Buffalo plateau, this one a short side trip off the main road, and a bit different than the other two (The Horn and The Hump). It wound around and between massive boulders, and required just a bit of scrambling. More info on the Parks Victoria website.
Another good short walk high up on the Mt Buffalo Plateau, The Hump (1695m) provides great views over to the Horn, and you pass a large triangular shaped hunk of rock called the Cathedral.
The Horn is an easy walk (with a bit of climbing) to the highest point of Mt Buffalo (at 1723m) for great views in all directions.
A short walk to the highest point on Mt Buffalo, The Horn (1723m) provides excellent views of the plateau to the west, and various mountains in other directions. It’s situated at the end of the road up the mountain and so is easy to find. More information on the Parks Victoria website. (We also did two other nearby short walks: The Hump-Cathedral Rock and Chalwell Galleries Tracks).
