Lake Tali Karng - Alpine NP - VIC

Walk:  Wellington Traverse

Distance/Type:  Hike 37.5km / One Way

Track Map:
Day 1

Day 2

Terrain/Rating:  Undulating terrain over Alpine Plains with switchback track down to the Lake on the first day.  Bit of a break at the lake, then a rocky walk down from the lake to the Riggall Spur campsite for the night.  The next day tracks the Wellington River with multiple hill climbs & approx 13 knee to thigh height river crossings. Medium/Hard.

Start / Finish Time:  Day 1: 8:30am / 3:30pm (7 Hrs), Day 2: 7:00am / 2pm (7 Hrs)

Start / Finish Location:  McFarlane Saddle Carpark / Riggall Spur Camp / Wellington River Carpark.

Trip Summary: 
One of the signature walks to do for hikers in Victoria, mostly as a 2 day overnight hike starting and returning to McFarlane Saddle.

The Wellington Travese hike described here though is a one way walk and requires a car shuttle. 

I've chosen the McFarlane to Wellington River bridge direction as this is more "downhill", even though the car shuttle would work better the other way.
You will need to leave a car in the carpark just over the bridge from the Platypus campground.

The first day involves heading off from the McFarlane Saddle carpark, through the Wellington Plains for a few hours.  Gentle rolling hills with patches of trees but pretty much exposed to the elements.  After approx 10km, at the southern end of Wellington Plains is Nyimba campsite where you could stop for camping.  Riggalls Old Hut site and Gillios track are just a few minutes away from here.
Due to it only taking 4 hours it's decided to press on and camp at Riggalls Spur campsite.

To get there we head off down Gillios track to the lake, a further 2-3km. (Usually 1 hour)
A quick rest at the lake before heading further around the lake shore, then down Clive Lanigan track . After 2hrs you reach a disused 4wd track which skirts up and down quite a few times before reaching the Riggall Spur Trk/Wellington River campsite junction. 

We head down the track to camp the night at Riggall Spur camp.

The next day we work our way back up to the Wellington River track & turn right.

From here the track stays up high for nice views along the river before working its way down to the Wellington River which is crossed 13 or so times before reaching the Wellington River carpark.

Trip Details:
Started off as a sunny day driving up to McFarlane Saddle carpark. We were surprised the temperature in the car was showing only 8C as it felt quite warm. Upon getting out of the cars we realised the 8C was pretty accurate as it was chilly.  Four of us were on this hike so there was 15 minutes of last minute preparations getting the packs and ourselves ready.
The carpark had quite a few cars there so we expected to see a few people on the track.
We headed off through the gate at 7am to blue skies.

Wellington Plains / Lake Tali Karng track start.

As mentioned the Wellington Plains is a pretty open area, with views for many kilometers along the valley which allows you to see the upcoming terrain and weather.

Wellington Plains.

This area has had extensive bushfires throughout the years with Dunsmuir Hut being destroyed and reconstructed with its leftover corrugated sheeting.

Dunsmuir Hut.

As is to be expected in Alpine areas the weather can change very quickly.  We could see in the distance that we were in for some damp weather so prepared ourselves with wet weather gear. 

With the rain soon upon us we decided to bypass the Mt Wellington sidetrip and head straight for camp. About an hour or so into the walk you'll reach an archway. 

One of the few covered areas near the Archway

This area is a nice place for a break as its one of very few sections of the track in the plains that has a small collection of trees to give shelter from the weather (or sun).

Mt Wellington / Moroka Gap side trip

{For the sidetrip to Mt Wellington you turn left just before the archway and head east across the plains on the Moroka Gap track for about 30mins. This joins up with the Mt Wellington 4wd track which basically runs parallel to the Wellington Plains track that we are on. Good idea to drop your packs once you reach the track as you have to turn left and  backtrack north to get to Mt Wellington. 

If you do this side trip then return back to the packs and continue south along the 4wd track to Millers Hut (nice spot for alunch stop) & continue on to the Nyimba campsite junction.}

Approaching Nyimba Camp.

We continue along the Wellington Plains Track, at about 10:30am we arrived at the Nyimba Campsite which is about 10km into the trip at the end of the Wellington Plains section of the walk.

This is the only midway location on the whole hike that has pit toilets. The only other toilets are at the ends, McFarlane Saddle carpark and Campground 14 at the Wellington River end.

Nyimba / Riggalls Hut camp area

If you plan to camp here then I suggest you carry water in, as there would be no guaranteed nearby water supply in summer here (Nigothoruk creek was dry a few years ago here in summer) unless it was raining like today and its still 3 or so km to the lake (and an arduous walk back up the steep Gillios track from the lake).

{Lake Tali Karng is a sacred site to the Gunai Kurnai Aboriginal tribe and as such should not be camped at.Nyimba campsite, Millers Hut or the Wellington River/Riggall Spur site mentioned later should be the only areas to camp at on this hike.}

The Wellington Plains track that we are on ends up at a T intersection just past the campsite.
If you head left here it takes you towards Millers Hut (10 mins) and the Mt Wellington Track which is the side/parallel trip mentioned previously.

Inside Millers Hut

After a quick visit to Millers Hut, we turn right and head west past the Riggall Old Hut campsite and within a few minutes reach the Wellington Plains/ Gillios/ Riggall Spur tracks junction.  At this point the Riggall Spur track was signed as closed.  If you take this track it will bypass the lake completely and get you to the Riggall Spur campsite much quicker.
For us though, we head left down Gillios Track for a steep walk down to the lake. 

Gillios track intersecton.

We continued to have a few showers on and off along the walk. Gillios track is rather steep in areas and the rain made sure we concentrated our efforts.  There were quite a few trees down across the path which required scrambling over. It took us 1 1/2 hours to do this part of the walk, though I would think you could do it in under an hour in normal conditions.

View of Lake Tali Karng from Gillios track.

Lake Tali Karng is a beautiful place to experience , the last time I was here 3 years ago was when we were still in the midst of a decade long drought. The water level then was a lot lower with 5 metres of shore from the treeline to the water to walk on.

Gillios track meets Lake Tali Karng.

Today the water was right up to the tree line, to move around the shoreline you had to bushbash and scramble around some makeshift paths through bushes and fallen trees.  Brushing against the wet overgrowth made sure our wet weather gear was well and truely soaked.

This is the second time I've been to Lake Tali Karng but with the lack of time once again I was going to miss out on checking out the waterfalls at the opposite end of the lake. Maybe next time.
A minute or 2 of scrambling around the lake opens up to a cleared area.

Lake Tali Karng West Bank.

On a hot day a lovely place for a swim. There are waterfalls at the far eastern end of the lake to view.

Lake Tali Karng.

Further around the shoreline there is another small clearing which was well grassed.  Just next to this where the Clive Lanigan track starts.

Clive Lanigan track thru the "Valley of Destruction!!!"

From the lake we headed down the Clive Lanigan track through the excitingly named "Valley of Destruction".  Named as such due to the wreckage caused by the boulders and collapse of the nearby cliffs that fell into the valley to create the dam wall and subsequent lake.
This part of the walk goes for about 1 hr past many boulders and loose rubble, it isn't particularly difficult and theres only a little scrambling.

Levelling out at the bottom of the "Valley of Destruction"

The original Clive Lanigan track used to follow closely to the banks of the Welllington River but due to bushfires and storm damage it is now overgrown to make it virtually a jungle slashing exercise to get through.
As far as I can tell the track has been realigned and joins up with an old disused 4wd track that runs parallel to and further away from the river.

Clive Lanigan track.

 

As a consequence of this, the level track you'd expect when walking along the river bank has now been replaced by quite an arduous up and down hilly 4wd track which is pretty steep in sections and takes a bit of work to get through.  Being springtime the wildflowers were out in bloom.

2 1/2 hours from the lake we reach the 4 way track junction, with Riggall Spur track.
The Wellington River track which we continue along tomorrow, goes straight ahead. 

(OPTION:   To the left is a track that leads to Chromite Mine campground (3km)

From Chromite Mine campground it is 11.5km along the Mt Margaret Track which lets you out on Tamboritha Rd just 4.5km from Licola)

Chromite Mine uphill from the junction.

 
Head down to the river to reach the Wellington River campsite (5 mins).

Riggall Spur camp about 100m downhill from the junction.

This is a nice cleared flat area by the side of the river so a guaranteed water supply here.

Riggall Spur camp

There is no pit toilet here.  If you continued across the river you will end up on Riggall Spur track which will take you back to the Nymbia campsite we went through earlier. (2hrs)

Riggall Spur Trk crossing the river.

The next day we head back uphill to the junction and turn right.
We continue on along Wellington River track.  There are nice views from up high of the river and surrounding areas.

Wellington River track just past Chromite track.

45 mins further along we head down to the river for the first river crossing.
The customary sign appeared warning us to make sure that crossing isn't attempted after rain.

Due to this hike requiring multiple river crossings I decided to test out some reef walking type slippers for the next 15km, rather than having to remove & put back on hiking boots after each crossing.
They felt comfortable after the first few crossings with surprisingly no appearance of blisters, so I trudged on with them.

Looking back at River crossing #1

 

This first river crossing was a nice spot for a break so we had a bit of lunch here on the large tree trunk on the river bank.
100m to the left down the river is a lovely pooled area for a swim. Once across the river you step up a 3 foot bank onto the other side where there is a clear grassed area which seems like a nice place for camping as well.  No pit toilet here though.

Camp area after River crossing #1

20 mins further on you join the B1 4WD track and head left along the river.

If you head right up along the B1 track you are looking at a 8.5km 4wd track walk to Tamboritha Rd.

River Crossing #3

The walk from here (8km left) is mainly flat with the occasional short hill climb.  There are 13 river crossings with none of them being particularly scary. We had quite a bit of rain fall during the previous day and the flow was reasonably fast but nothing above knee to thigh height worth worrying about.

River Crossing

Some crossings required a bit of walking along the banks to find shallow sections but you can see the bottom of the river on all crossings, common sense prevails.  There was one section later in the day where the track led down to the river but there were no obvious trail markers, we just walked along the riverbank  and the markers reappeared after about one hundred metres. 

River Crossing

It should take about 5 to 6 hours to complete this part of the walk and you end up down at Tamboritha Road carpark near Wellington River campsite #14 at the end.

Getting close to the bridge end.

Fortunately the reef walking shoes worked out well for this trip, with no blisters.

I would definitely recommend only doing the Wellington Traverse in this direction as walking up from Wellington River to Lake Tali Karng would be a lot harder and take longer, especially in the Valley of Destruction section.

Please leave a comment below. :)

Campsites - Wellington River - Alpine NP - VIC

Wellington River Camp Grounds:



 Summary:
This page was created to share information about the many free camp grounds along the Wellington River in the Alpine National Park.

The Wellington River area is a fantastic place to spend a few days either just camping and relaxing by the river, or for the more adventurous heading off to a number of hikes, either for a few hours or a few days.  Both the popular Lake Tali Karng and Mt. Howitt/Crosscut Saw/Mt Speculation hikes can be reached from here. 

Some older National Parks brochures mention there used to be 17 campsites along the river.
Due to bushfires and some major flooding events in the area, some of these sites have been damaged and closed as there are only 14 available now (#1 to #14)

Each of the campgrounds has a name associated with it and the signs are easily visible along Tamboritha Road.
The road is bitumen up to the last campsite #14 and all are accessible by 2wd.

Mobile phone reception is very limited in the area.
Heyfield is the last town for fuel supplies.

(Click on any of the pictures for larger size picture gallery.)

Start of Tamboritha Rd at Licola.

The drive up from Heyfield to Licola is a lovely winding road that has some great views of the Wellington River valley. 
Tamboritha Road, that the campsites reside on, forks to the right just prior to the bridge at Licola.

The Licola General Store is just across the bridge, is open 7 days a week and has a good assortment of supplies.  Spend some $ there to support it.
There is a nice BBQ picnic ground there and has the last decent toilet block before heading bush.
If you'd rather camp somewhere with decent bathroom facilities then Licola also has a caravan park.
The park has cabins, powered and unpowered sites and bunkhouse accommodation.

Map:

#1 Wild Cherry Tree:
At approximately 10km past Licola we arrive at the first Wellington River campground, called Wild Cherry Tree.  It can be easily missed as there is no sign to indicate a campsite.
Look out for a dirt track on the left on a short straight section of road.

Bit of a narrow track in, and a labyrinth of  campsites>
If you head straight down to the river and then to the right it opens up into larger areas the further along you go. 

Plenty of sites and most are pretty well grassed so good for tents.  

No picnic tables or firepits and didn't notice any toilet here.

Rating:  Large campground but no toilet, tables or firepits, so better options available.

#2 Boobook:
Another km or two along and we arrive at the Boobook campground.
A dirt service lane type track skirts the road for a while before leading down the entrance into the camping area.
As with a few of the sites along here there are circular concrete campfire pits and picnic tables scattered throughout this site.   Theres just one main open area for camping at this site. 

The campground at the time was very dusty and had very lightly grassed fringes so probably better suited to campers & caravans rather than tents.  

#2 Boobook camp area

There is a pit toilet on the left of the track you initially enter into the campground. 
To exit head out the same way you came in, turn left and follow the track out skirting the road.
Rating: Smaller campsite than Wild Cherry tree but with extra faciltites.
Wouldn't recommend for tenting, but nice area with easy access for trailer or caravan.

#3 Blackfish:
A further 1km along the road we reach Campsite #3 Blackfish on the left.
Similar to #2 without any picnic tables or designated campfire areas. It appears more worn out than #2 and thus dustier.
A small campground that basically consists of one open campsite next to the river and open turn around area that you could park around if desperate.  

Once again due to the dirt and lack of grass not a great site for tents.

#3 Blackfish camp area

I did not notice a toilet at this campground.
Rating: Dusty limited campsite with no obvious toilet.  Wouldn't recommended tenting at this campsite.

The only bonus is the one campsite area is nice right next to the river.

#4 Currawong:
A further 1km along we reach Campsite #4 Currawong on the left.

#4 Currawong camp entrance

A much larger camping area compared to the first 3. There are plenty of sites to choose from, ranging from opens spaces for groups to secluded sites for the solo camper.
Plenty of designated campfire pits and picnic tables scattered throughout the area.

#4 Currawong camp area

Good amount of well grassed areas for tents and easy access and view of river.
There are two toilets here.

#4  Curawong camp river area

Rating: Along with campsite #8 this is one of the best sites along here.
There are two pit toilets here and a great variety of sites to choose from.

Good access for trailers and caravans.

#5 Pardalote:
2km further along past the cutting, we reach Campsite #5 on the left, Pardalote.
The toilet is on your left as you enter the campground along the long straight entrance track.

#5 Paradalote camp area

The camping area follows the river for quite a while with various camping hubs with nice locations next to the river. 

This camping area does not have any picnic tables or designated campfire areas..

Rating:  Not quite as nice as #4 & #8 but has a good variety of campsites.

Only negative would be distance to toilet if you camp further along the river. 

#6 Treefrog:

A few km further drive along the river we reach Campsite #6 on the left, Treefog.
Just a short track into an open area with no view of the river.
No toilet, firepits or picnic tables here.
Rating: Just a patch of area with no real redeeming features.  Least recommended.

#7 Manna Gum:
1km further along we reach Campsite #7 on the left. Manna Gum
This is a large campground with many various group hubs & lots of  quiet areas to camp in.

Lots of nice areas along the river.  No picnic tables or firepits.
Only noticed one toilet here early on, so quite a distance from deeper in.

#7 Manna Gum camp pit toilet

Rating: Just below #4 & # 8.  Quite a labrynth of tracks in this one and goes for some distance along the road.

#8 - Muttonwood:
This campsite is 2km past #7.
A fantastic huge campground.
There are 2 entrances into this site, the first appears on the right just after crossing the river, and is easy to miss or the main entrance another 50m down the road which is signposted. Both have treelined tracks to drive through before opening up into the main camping areas.

#8 Muttonwood camp entrance

Large wide well grassed camping area for tents or caravans. Plenty of sites to choose from ranging from secluded to open areas and many picnic tables and designated campfire areas spread throughout the camping area.

#8 Muttonwood camp area

There are at least 2 toilets here, both in the central treed area and there are plenty of areas to dip in the river.

#8 Muttonwood Camp river

Rating;  Highly recommended. Together with #4, one of the top camping grounds which runs along the river for quite some distance.
Good access for caravans and trailers and nicely grassed for pitching tents.


#9 - Cockatoo:
This campsite is 1km past #8 and appears on the right. There are 2 entrances into this camping area.

#9 Cockatoo camp area

This is another larger camping area for tents or caravans. Plenty of sites to choose from ranging from secluded to open areas. Has at least one pit toilet near the entrance and plenty of areas to dip in the river.  Nice wide vehicle tracks to get into and around the site.

#9 Cookatoo camp area

Rating; Next rung down from #4 & #8 . Recommended if those sites are busy.
Very Good access for caravans and trailers with some grassed areas for tents.


#10 Breakfast Creek:
1km further along just past the huts on the left we reach Campsite #10 on the left.
Breakfast Creek is better suited as car park for the Crinoline/Mt Tamboritha hike than a campsite.
The camping area next to the road is pretty open.  

There are two tracks that go deeper in to two separate secluded camping hubs.

#10 Breakfast Creek camp entrance

The area near the road has a couple of picnic tables and campfire areas, not so deeper in.
Melbourne Grammar have their camp buildings located here.

#10 Breakfast camp area

No obvious toilet at this site.
Rating: Open area next to the road and a couple of campsites deeper in.
More useful as car park for the Crinoline hike or a rest spot.  Easy access for trailer/caravan.


#11 - Red Bluff :
This campsite is 1km past #10 and appears on the right just before the bridge.

#11 Red Bluff camp entrance

Easy short dirt track which ends in a loop at the small camping area. 

Very limited amount of areas to camp.  You could park in the loop and tent in a quieter spot further around to the right along the riverbed.

#11 Red Bluff camp riverbed

I did not notice a toilet at this campground.
Camping area is open to the road and noise of traffic going over bridge unless you camp further around the river.

#11 Red Bluff camp river

Nice section of river with various depths to take a dip in. More privacy further around.

Rating:   With this site not having any amenities, other sites are better.  Tenting only.
Best not to enter if you have a trailer or caravan.


#12 - Redbox:
Just over the bridge, on the left is one of the Redbox campground entrances, consisting of a narrow track.  The main entrance is another 1km down the road.

#12 Redbox camp entrance

The camping area is wide and long with plenty of campsites but its a dusty, rocky site compared to others.  Maybe this site is well used due to the horseyards there.

#12 Redbox camp Horseyards

There is a toilet opposite the Horseyard on the main track. The other track travels for a hundred meters exiting further up the road.

Rating: Wouldn't want to be there on a windy day as theres a lot of dirt to blow around.  Good access for caravans or trailers.


#13 - Greenhood:
This campsite is about 2km after #12 on the left. 

A rough narrow rocky dirt track down leads down to just before the river with a small open area at the end to turn around in.  Not many areas to camp here.

#13 Greenhood camp entrance

No tent friendly area here unless you want to pitch down in the sand along the riverbed.

#13 Greenhood camp riverbed

Various depths of water in the river nearby for a private dip. No Toilet at this site.

#13 Greenhood camp river

Rating: Dusty and rocky limited camp area with no toilet.
Wouldn't recommend.  Car-based camping only.  Limited access for caravans and trailers.


#14 - Platypus:
This campsite is a few kms further along the river from #13.

The entrance appears on the left just before the Wellington River Bridge crossing / Tali Karng track.

#14 Platypus camp area

Nice flat straight drive down that follows along the river for over a hundred meters.
Feels like a long carpark. Wouldn't recommend for caravans or trailers as there's very limited room to turnaround at the end of the road.
A couple of parking bays and a couple of picnic tables scattered along the length of the track. 
For how long the track is theres actually a limited amount of areas to pitch a tent.



#14 Platypus camp river

There's a toilet halfway along the track on the left and plenty of areas to get down to the river.

Rating: Next rung down from #4 & #8.  More like a carpark than a camping area, with limited amount of sites.   Wouldn't recommend for caravans/trailers.

Check out this excellent video from the Wandering Newbie, of the campsites.

Further On:

After crossing the Wellington River Bridge from campsite #14, on the right is the start of the Wellington River walking track to Lake Tali Karng. The road changes to dirt from here onwards taking you to places like Arbuckle Junction, Bryce Gorge, Mt Howitt Track, MacFarlanes Saddle and Moroka Gorge.

You can make a loop drive of this (2WD) by driving past Tamboritha Saddle and heading out south on Marathon Road to Briagolong but its a lot slower going on dirt road.

You can camp deeper into the Alpine NP at Bryce Gorge carpark (1hr) or Howitt Track carpark (1:30hr) along Howitt Road or at Horseyard Flat (2hrs) along Moroka Road. All have pit toilets.

During summer time and dry weather, all of these roads are easily accessible by 2wd vehicles.  

Tamboritha Rd is usually well graded. Howitt Road can be rutted in parts and could be a bog risk in wet weather.

Howitt Road is closed over the winter months and opens around Melbourne Cup Day.
Expect snow on Tamboritha Rd over winter months past campsite #14.

If you visit any of these camp areas, please let me know of any updates as this information is now a few years old. 

Cheers