Walking in the Burrunj Range

On Sunday we went for a walk in the Burrunj Range or the Black Range State Park which is located West of the Grampians. (This is not to be confused with the Black Range that is just outside of Stawell). The walk takes in two Aboriginal Art Sites, large cliffs, numerous caves and includes varied vegetation.


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(If you click on the pointers on the map they tell you what is at that point.)

The walk starts up the hill to the first Aboriginal Art Site. It is in a wind swept cave under a large rock and contains both red ochre and white pipeclay drawings. Continuing from here you cross a flat plain towards the cliffs to the south. This walk includes wooden boardwalks to protect the vegetation and prevent erosion on the soft surface.

When you reach the base of the cliffs the walking pad turns left and follows the rock steps at the base of the cliff. However, the second Aboriginal Art Site is almost directly up from where you meet the rock steps and can be found if you scramble up from here. We missed the turn off on the way there but detoured to visit the second art site on our return.

The walking pad eventually takes you up and over the rock steps until you reach the base of the cliffs. There are many caves in the area including a very large cave right where the pad reaches the cliff.

The walking pad skirts the base of a large cliff from here and continues for another 2 or 3 kilometres. You find yourself alternately in among large boulders at the base of the cliff...

...and then walking on the edge of the track with a steep and long drop off to below...
...with great views to the South...
...and the North..

The walk ends at high point on the Southern Cliffs of the range. You actually walk into a "hanging" gully between the cliffs and make your way up to the look out point. The track ends here so you turn around and retrace your steps. The last picture is a panorama (put together using autostitich) taken from the end point of the walk that shows the sweeping view from the Grampians on the right, Mt Zero on the horizon in the middle and the Arapiles on the horizon on the left.

I guess taking in all that view got to Sylvia because when I returned from taking the panorama shots I found that she needed a rest :)

For the kids among you, the following picture is a "Where's Sylvia?". If you look carefully you can see Sylvia on the track as it ascends from the gully taking you back to the Northern Cliffs.

Oh, of course a walk wouldn't be complete without me trying to take a picture of flora and here is my effort on this walk. It is an aptly named Hairy Correa (Correa aemula) that was growing in the gully between the North and South Cliffs. The flowers start off a nice pale green, grey-green colour and darken to mauve-purple with age. We also saw many large leathery leaves belonging to the Mountain Correa (Correa lawrenciana) but none of these were flowering.

The walk took around 3 hours and was moderately strenuous. For those with an adventurous spirit, and a head for heights, this is a worthwhile walk that we would happily do again!