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Welcome to The Grand Strzelecki Track
Come and stand in awe under forest giants, or step into a lost world of ancient temperate rainforest equal to any on Earth…yet not hear a sound except the serenade of lyrebirds. Come and walk in solitude through a different rainforest so rare, most people have never heard of it, and far fewer will ever see it. Come and discover peaceful, beautiful places far from the beaten track, and away from the parks all the tourists visit. When you need to reacquaint yourself with the comforts of life, try a home cooked meal in a friendly country guest house or a cozy cabin in a tiny, peaceful hamlet amidst all this natural beauty. Come and discover The Grand Strzelecki Track!
Home to the tallest flowering hardwood trees on earth, the majestic Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) makes the Strzelecki Ranges of Gippsland like no other place. These massive trees and prolific jungle-like undergrowth that cloaked these ranges when white settlers first arrived became known as The Great Forest of South Gippsland, or simply The Great Forest. A title which is an integral part of Gippsland’s history and heritage documented in such publications as The Land of the Lyrebird: a Story of Settlement in the Great Forest of South Gippsland (1920). Much of The Great Forest was lost to sawmilling and settlement, but examples are alive and well in the eastern Strzelecki Ranges where they are now preserved in Morwell National Park, Tarra Bulga National Park, the Gunyah Rainforest Reserve, and 30,000 hectares of privately managed protected forests connecting and surrounding these core areas. With its high rainfall and deep fertile soils, this is one of the most prolific environments on earth where regrowth forest from the 1939 and 1944 fires is already 50 metres tall.
Until The Grand Strzelecki Track was built, most of these forests were inaccessible to the public except for short walks in the two national parks. Now bushwalkers can traverse from park to park and enjoy extended walks beyond park boundaries, discovering clear mountain streams, hidden natural treasures, waterfalls, sweeping views, rare and endangered ecosystems, and flora and fauna that most visitors to the region have never seen. Amongst this fauna is the South Gippsland Koala, which is a healthy and genetically intact wild koala population unique in Victoria. The Grand Strzelecki Track also reveals the amazing and sometimes tragic sawmilling and settlement history of the Strzelecki Ranges, along with recent conservation initiatives to preserve and restore our natural heritage.
There are no tourists by the bus-load and many Melbourne tourism promoters are not even aware we exist, which ensures you get a unique personal experience. At the same time, we are easy to find with four entry points located 10 minutes to ½ hour from the Gippsland towns of Churchill, Traralgon and Yarram. We have walks for everyone, regardless of your level of experience or fitness, so come and breathe the fresh air and lose yourself – or discover yourself – in this lost world which most trekkers still don’t know exists!
Check out our Information for hikers, Protocols and Maps pages to help yourself prepare. Also the gallery and video and the Track Chat pages where we share the experiences of those who are contemplating to do, or have completed, the Track. Also check our Facebook page for current activity.
We are calling for new members to join the Friends and/or the Management Committee of The Grand Strzelecki Track. For further information, please use the Contact Us Form or by email to enquiries@grandstrzeleckitrack.org.au.
