Date of walk: 12/08/2012
Grade: medium – with hard sections along the river, where
one needs to be supple and have good balance.
Walk type: Circuit
Length: 10 km (advertised as 4.5 hrs, but more like 3.5 hrs while taking your time)
Length: 10 km (advertised as 4.5 hrs, but more like 3.5 hrs while taking your time)
Main attraction: 200 m deep gorge, exposed sub-glacial
topography, cliff-walled revealing past geological history of the central and
western Victoria.
Region/Town: Melbourne, Bacchus Marsh
Park: Werribee Gorge State Park
(Look
for the two pdf files under ‘Related Publication’ on the above web page. One is the usual map and park info sheet, and the other is
a more thorough ‘management plan’ for the park, with a list of flora and fauna
present or likely to be encountered and a more in-depth geological history of
the place. It is a nice ‘extra info’ before heading out there. Both were obtained from the above link)
Direction: From Melbourne take the Western freeway towards
Ballarat. Take the Pentland Hills road exit. At the stop, turn right to pass
under the freeway followed by a sharp left onto Pentland Hills Road. Follow the road
and having passed under the freeway (again), you will see Myer Rd on your left
(10m after the freeway). Follow the Myer road down to the Park. You can start
the circuit from either the Meikles Point picnic area, at the bottom (a much
nicer place for a picnic than the Quarry area), or at the Quarry picnic area a bit higher
up the road.
The Walk: I started the walk at the Quarry. From there you go
up straight toward the Eastern and Western viewpoints where you get a view of
the ‘Island’ (photo) a remnant of volcanic flow (hard basalt top), and also a view of
the low lying plains towards the northeast. On a clear day you can apparently
even see Melbourne (a tiny speck I would assume). It is Stringybark-Box dominant
forest with Red Stringybark, Red Box and Yellow Gum. This part of the park is
nice and sort of flat, with a fairly clear path. Further up you get to walk along the
top of the gorge, following the Werribee River, with beautiful views of the
opposite hills and flowering Acacias.
View of the the Island from the Western Point.
From there the path
descends sharply towards the river which you first follow from a distance,
before descending further onto its ‘flooding’ sections or bank (photo). This section
requires some good balance and can be slippery in wet weather (note: some
section of the circuit will be impassable following heavy rains). I certainly
had to find my balance a couple of times (I have to admit that I was quite
distracted by the beautiful faulting lines apparent on the cliffs). Along this section
you will be able to see the rare Fragrant Saltbush among many other (see “management
“ PDF file for a complete list of flora).
The Werribe River Gorge, view from top of gorge near the Blackwood Pool
Continuing along you arrive to the
Needles Beach (photo) and the Pyramid Rock (where you can spot a ‘lion's face’ in
the cliff’s shape). At this point, and if the water is fairly high, you need to
walk along the cliff, helping yourself along with a cable attached to the
cliff (photo). Although not ‘challenging’ this short section may not be for everyone.
Needles Beach 
The 'cable' section, on the bottom left of the photo a person is walking along the cliff with the help of a cable.
Having passed this section, you continue your walk in the
gorge, still surrounded by its beautiful and impressive cliffs, but the path
turns into a much easier walkway as it follows an old viaduct built in the
early 1900 to bring water to Bacchus Marsh (for agriculture purpose). The gorge
slowly widens up (photo) before opening up at the picnic area (as said above, this
picnic area is the nicer one). From there you need to climb back up to the
Quarry picnic area to close the circuit and return to your car.
The gorge widens up near the old weir (where I am standing)
This is the best, most ‘challenging’ and surprising walk I
have done so far in the Melbourne region. It is close to Melbourne, yet while
you walk along the gorge you forget that you are surrounded by agricultural
land. The path requires a bit of dexterity at time, and the ‘harder’ sections
along the river banks are a welcome change or ‘addition’ to the walk. But I
would not recommend this walk with kids or person with ‘unsteady’ foot (sorry, English
is not my first language).
Note: there are two other, shorter, walks within the park that
may be just as interesting but I have not walked them. See the map attached. Go out and play !
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