Jubilee Heritage Walk Circuit - 6.9 Kms.

 U3A Hike No. 217

Hike Report by Mark H

Sunny and warm day forecast! What a difference to 60-80ml rain the Thursday before. Fifteen Hikers met at Bunnings Delacombe carpark and carpooled out to Jubilee Heritage Area south of Scarsdale.

The track took us south along dirt tracks surprisingly (to me anyway) firm after the deluges recently. Wildflowers including the odd orchid and pink heath were observed beside the path.

Mullock heaps aplenty and Gordon plus Andrew educated us about the mining techniques that produced them. Mention was also made of the often inadequate ways mineshafts were capped with timbers and tailings after their use-by date. Ultimately these are bound to cave in with disastrous consequences to anyone walking over them, or unlucky enough to build over.

At about the halfway point we turned left onto Jubilee Road. Previous experience here has been of muddy rough 4WD road. However local authorities have topped it with coarse gravel and stones (almost like railway ballast) through which everyone had to navigate without turning an ankle. This led us to picturesque Jubilee Lake and morning tea.

Onwards we reached the remains of Jubilee Mine. Reef mining had been happening since the 1850s, but this large scale quartz operation started in 1887 and closed 1913. Later post-war and Depression attempts were made by desperate hopefuls to re-work some of the tailings. Much of the tailings were also used for local road building. Impressive remains of cyanide tanks are still there along with mullock heaps, infrastructure mountings and a large area where the processed sands were dumped. Only a few very hardy grasses and small scrub can grow in that toxic soil. (a link below will take you to more detailed information about the mine and this area)

Much of the Enfield Forest was deforested for the wood to shore the mine tunnels and feed the hungry boilers that powered the operation. Up to 14,500 cubic metres of wood annually was recorded used at nearby Berringa Mine and a railway was built to bring even more from the Otways.

There was even a picnic ground with toilets along with numerous information boards. The walk took us north along a pleasant bush track to meet Jubilee Road. Soon the cars were in sight then coffee and lunch. Andrew described his camping experience at Echuca a few days ago where they had to hurriedly pack and leave to avoid the rapidly rising river.

A good warmup walk for the Portland trip, thank you Andrew!

Photos by Andrew and Mark H

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