Mason Falls Circuit, Kinglake National Park, Victoria, Australia - Daywalk

Hello dear walking enthusiast. As mentioned in the last post I am still training up my fancy new hip joint by doing a bunch of shorter walks.  I enjoyed last week's visit to Kinglake National Park so much that I did another one today.  This time it was the Masons Falls Circuit.  

The walk starts at the car park at Mt Sugarloaf, about 10 mins drive out of Kinglake township. (Note: Readers should not confuse Mt Sugarloaf with Sugarloaf Reservoir, which is at Christmas Hills, about 20 kms OR with Sugarloaf Peak, which is part of the Cathedral Range, where I visited last year.).

As always the roads in the area were busy with cyclists, panting up the frequent steep hills, as well as a few chunkier gents on their hogs and even some hoons, getting irate at another car, that was taking their precious time in passing a cluster of riders.

 It was forecast to get to 35C today so I hoped an early-ish start would mean avoiding the worst of the heat. When I got started on the trail at 9am it was in the low 20s, with a cool wind blowing.  Very nice.

For those referring to the guidebook (see below) I did the trail in the anti-clockwise direction, which is the reverse to that described.  My reasoning was that the reverse direction would mean having to walk up rather than down the steepest section - I am trying to get fitter, after all!

The trail was very clean and clear throughout, making for easy "zone-out" walking.  It follows a ridgeline on a gentle decline for a couple of ks.  Despite the great potential for views, there wasn't much on offer due to the thick bush around the track.  Still, if you like being in native bush, it was very pleasant.

The ridgeline walk finishes at nice little picnic ground near the Parks Office, then follows a gravel road for 2kms to the Masons Falls Picnic Area.  I surprised a black wallaby on the way.  There were also some tiny birds - fantails, I think - and lots of Monarch butterflies.

Mason Falls Picnic Area

Mason Falls, Kinglake National Park

From Mason Falls the trail is the Running Creek 4WD track. It drops down to Running Creek, then sidles alongside the creek for about 4 kms, before rising steeply to join the ridgeline about 1km below Sugarloaf Peak.

Running Creek Track

Running Creek Track

Running Creek Track, near Hazel Glade.

The day was getting pretty hot by the time I got to the steep section.  Between the heat and the now-swarming flies the walk lost some of its thrill and I was happy enough to be back to the car, a tad after midday.

My new hip troubled me a bit on the flatter sections, but seemed ok on the climbs. I guess it'll be a while before it's close to 100%.  One thing I noticed is that my foot is turned in slightly.  Not a major problem, I guess, but I just have to make sure I don't walk in circles!

When my groovy new Barmah hat arrives at Ray's Outdoors
 in the city, I'll stop wearing silly hats

The key facts:

Distance: 12.5 km
Time: 3 hours
References: 
  -  "Daywalks Around Melbourne" Glenn Tempest. Walk #56. Avail. from Open Spaces Publishing;
  -   Parks Victoria page for Kinglake National Park.
Navigation: The trail is well maintained and with good signage
Challenge level:  Those with moderate fitness should knock this over in 3-3.5 hours. If you're a slow walker or you are taking younger children, you should allow 4-4.5 hours.
Phone reception: Good reception on most of the trail.
Water: Carry what you need.  There are taps in the toilet blocks at Mason Falls Picnic Area, but there are signs advising against drinking it.  There is access to Running Creek, but I would expect you should treat it before drinking it.

Sugarloaf Peak and the Razorback - Cathedral Range, Vic, Australia

December 2012

Facing a quiet weekend at home, my interest was easily piqued by an offer to join some friends for an overnighter at the Cathedral Ranges.  The plan was to meet at the Farmyard campsite for the night.

I decided to do a loop from Cooks Mill to Sugarloaf Peak, then along the Razorback - about 13 km in total. This route is part of the Cathedral Range Circuit, described in Weekend Walks Around Melbourne.

I parked at Cooks Mill, donned the pack and headed off around 4:20pm.  

It was typical Melbourne stinker, with the temperature in the low 30s C.  A short walk got me to the Jawbone car park, followed by a long haul up the Cerebus Road, passing along the eastern side of the range.  

The tall gums along the road gave scant shelter from the sun and I glad to arrive at the shelter at Sugarloaf Shelter at 6pm.

The next section of the trail, called the Razorback (a popular name for ridge lines in Victoria), follows a ridge that spans from Mt Sugarloaf in the southern end to Little Cathedral at the northern end.  Firstly, though, your intrepid hiker is required to get up onto the ridge line using one of two paths - one has a mix of cut steps and tricky scrambling over rocks. The other route is more challenging.   Feeling a little lame, I took the lesser of the the two.  In fact, it was still a little challenging for me, though anyone with an ounce of rock climbing experience would find it a piece of cake.

Mt Sugarloaf has been a popular location for rock climbers in the past

Once on top the views in the clear, late afternoon light, were fantastic as I made my way first up to Mt Sugarloaf for a brief stop, then along the Razorback.

Terrific views from the Razorback

Much of the route along the Razorback involves scrambling over rocks and boulders.  It is not particularly challenging - actually, I found it fun for the most part -  just slow going.

The one annoyance was that the trail runs along the western side of the ridge line and is quite exposed, meaning that I got to bear the full brunt of surprising heat in the setting sun.    It was a relief when the sun finally dropped below the horizon.  Later, as darkness fell, I made my way using my head torch.

Apparently this area was originally seabed and there are occasional signs of this past in the rocks along the route

There's lots of fun scrambling along the Razorback

I arrived at the Farmyard campsite in darkness at 9:30pm.   My friends, Brett, Fiona and family, had all retired into their tents, but Brett popped out for a quick chat.

With everyone having an early night I elected to follow suit, so I pitched my pyramid, then settled down for the night.

We all woke to a beautiful Sunday morning. We shared a leisurely breakfast before heading off at around 8:30am (in 20C) for the short walk down the hill to Jawbone car park, then onto Cooks Mill.

The Farmyard - a lovely place to camp. 

Keen campers - Amy & Fraser

Cooling off at Little River (Brett, Amy, Fraser, Fiona and David)

The author taking things too far

This is a really nice walk, with easy access from Melbourne and I would highly recommend it for anyone with a least average fitness.   If you're not confident about the rock scrambling you can still get a lot of value from the walks at the northern end of the range.