410. Hepburn Springs-Hunts Dam-8KM

 U3A Hike No 410



Hike Report by Anne O


Nine fearless hikers met at Kirks to carpool and travel to Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve. 

With 10-25 mm of rain predicted, the most common comment was “We must be mad!” As it turned out we were lucky, with lightly spitting rain the worst we experienced. Andrew had already decided to shorten the walk to avoid the heavier falls likely to come late morning. This worked well as the rain started to intensify just as we reached the carpark at the end of the walk.

A short distance from the start, the walk passed Wyuna Springs, then followed Wild Cat Gully to Argyle Mineral Springs. We passed a couple of mine adits. New signage along the way, attractive seating areas and carvings of native plants and animals showed that some money had been spent on this section of the track.

Much of the walk followed rocky walking tracks and we needed to concentrate on where we placed our feet. A well-placed tree saved one hiker from a slide down a steep hillside. We carefully crossed the Back Hepburn Road and walked along Manning Road onto a track leading to Hunts Dam. This Dam provided water for mining activities during the gold rush, with Mr. Hunt profiting from sale of the water. We took our group photo to the backdrop of the dam.

Shortly after this point, we crossed over to the Dry Diggings Track, cutting out a 4km loop that included the Chocolate Mill. A democratic vote decided to skip morning tea and to head straight back to the carpark via a few ups and downs. We saw some white heath along the way, a yellow-green Correa and some egg and bacon type of pea plant. Many interesting types of fungi were also spotted.

Back at the Mineral Springs Reserve, we sat in a shelter shed and ate our late morning tea/early lunch. This was Andrew’s last walk for a while as he and Ingrid head off next week to northern Queensland for a very welcome holiday in a warmer place. Best wishes to you both from the hikers and thank you for leading today’s walk.

Photos by Andrew Parker














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