Tarilta Creek Gorge, Upper Loddon State Forest Circuit - 12 Kms

 U3A Hike No. 186

Hike Report by Mark H

Early morning at Kirks saw 11 of us meet and carpool to travel past Daylesford to Porcupine Ridge Rd NE of Mt Franklin in the Upper Loddon State Forest. Cars parked next to the gravel road near where the Goldfields Track crosses the road. Yet another sunny Thursday morning was a welcome sight considering the showers actual and forecast on the days before and after.

We headed SW about 2.5k along Goldfields Track which was stony and hilly. Old water races were noticed, however most the goldmining they once serviced was out of sight. Some good views to the west around Mt Franklin were there to be enjoyed.  Morning tea was taken next to a road to the right before we continued along that road before turning right again down a rough track along a gully. Did I say rough? Gradually the track became less distinct before petering out amongst a sea of spiky bushes. Time to improvise so Andrew ‘sniffed’ out (or just plain bashed out) a path up out of the gully to eventually reach the target point of the imaginatively named Campsite Flat.

This is next to Tarilta Creek which zig-zags several kilometres away to the north. At every zig and zag the creek presents a clifftop on the outside of the bend and flats on the inside line. To call the path along it a track is very generous – it is very indistinct. The path can only proceed across the flats which means criss-crossing the creek continuously to avoid the cliffs. This is what we did for the next several tiring kilometres. Tiring in part, as the gorge neatly shielded the breeze as the day warmed up. Lunch was taken on one of the creek flats.

For the first half of the creek walk the creek was flowing, with sawgrass and gorse to negotiate with every crossing. The small flow eventually gave way to a dry stony creek bed but spiky stuff persisted when scrambling up the banks. How many crossings? We lost count but probably a dozen or more.

When the creek met the Limestone Track bridge the group photo was taken. The hike proceeded along the hilly 2WD road before turning up (oops-the navigator –yours truly- overshot the turn by 50m) a 4WD uphill track that Andrew in the Ranger with the enthusiastic support of Ingrid had negotiated recently. A few kilometres from the bridge brought the cars into sight and a welcome sit-down, change of shirt and coffee. On the drive home we were treated to a crop-duster’s daredevil manoeuvres near Newlyn.

Great walk thanks Andrew. Reinforces the adage ‘size doesn’t matter’. The 10 kilometres or so felt like much more with the bush-bashing, hills and creek crossings to challenge the joints and stamina. I enjoyed the off-track aspects immensely, plus walking round a region I haven’t been before.



 Photos by Mark B



























       Melbourne’s Waterfalls, Volume One: Western Waterfalls’, Travis Easton, 2015,


Where's Wally

Apart from the obvious animal, Wally the Wombat has been hidden somewhere in this photo.

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