Tarilta Creek Circuit 12.3km

December 12, 2019

U3A HIKE NO 90

Hike Report by Frances Watt

According to the Victoria’s Goldfield Walks guide the Tarlita Creek Gorge is rated as a moderate to difficult walk. To place the hike in context this is the blurb from the guide:

Tarlita Creek drains Mt Franklin’s western slopes before entering Upper Lodden State Forest, a largely forgotten area linking the damper Daylesford forests with the drier woodlands of the Castlemaine region. In truth Tarlita Creek Gorge is less a gorge and more a rocky gully, though its relative isolation and tranquil surroundings more than make up for any lack of grandeur.

Though parts of the hike involved some off-track free style walking our small group of six walkers all enjoyed the walk and found the gorge peaceful and appealing.

After leaving Daylesford we travelled along Porcupine Ridge road, skirting Mt Franklin and passing through lifestyle properties and farmland, our road altering from bitumen to a dirt track as we moved into the drier country north of the Divide. Leaving the cars, we ventured up a rocky, undulating track through low bush comprising largely of broadleaf peppermint, stringybark and box. The burnt trunks of a 2012 fire evident here and elsewhere.

The early part of the walk was, in fact, along the Goldfields Track but ultimately we left this to push through unpleasant prickly bushes and find our way to the creek below.

Once we reached the gorge, we stopped for morning tea. It was disappointing to see gorse bushes along the creek but fortunately the spider mite was in evidence too. There was a real contrast between the drier area we had left and the lushness of the grassy flats and the size and colouring of the trees. Apparently the 2012 DSE fire did destroy some old growth forest and contributed to erosion along the banks, but the bush here was lovely. The stands of large, candlebark and manna trees with their paler bark were in real contrast to the bush seen earlier.

This terrain was quite different from that traversed up on the higher ground. Now we were trampling through lush spring grass and making numerous crossings back and forth across the largely dry creek, sometimes also walking along its rocky bed, sometimes clambering over and under logs. Also walking along appealing grassy areas and past a campground.

Happily, no snakes were sighted, just several startled wallabies and a wedge-tailed eagle. We sometimes walked through drifts of blue pincushions which seemed the dominant wildflower, though later there were some massed yellow everlastings by the road.

Before long we reached the Limestone Track Bridge where we had lunch. Leaving the gorge and getting up to the cars meant a short walk along the road before following an unnamed track and finally a bit of a trudge along another road before reaching our starting point. We did see some evidence of echidnas by the side of the road. Quirky fact of the day came earlier in the day from Gordon who informed us that in Greek mythology, Echidna was a half-woman, half-snake creature who gave birth to most mythical creatures. Seemingly the Australian echidna was given the name due to having both mammalian and reptilian features.

Final stop was in Daylesford for the usual coffee. Thank you to Gordon for another enjoyable hike.

Photo's by Andrew Parker