Just under an hour from Healesville at the northern end of the Toolangi State Forest, lies the Murrindindi Scenic Reserve. A popular spot for campers, trail bike riders and 4WD enthusiasts it also offers some challenging walking tracks for experienced hikers looking for a half day excursion through to shorter walks for those with little to no bushwalking experience.
We chose to hike the Boroondara Track Circuit which is a 10 kilometre round trip of 3-4 hours depending on your fitness level and how many photo stops you choose to make along the way.
We park our car at the Falls Creek Bridge, not far from the junction of Falls Creek and Murrindindi Roads and walk up to the Boroondara carpark which is where we should have parked, but it was difficult to see the carparking spaces from the road.
The track commences from the carpark and follows a wide track up to the Boroondara footbridge. From here you walk steadily upwards for around two hours. It is an unrelenting climb along what we assume to be a Department of Sustainability and Environment access track. There is not much variety in the scenery that we are sharing with the birds and cicadas until we reach a viewing platform where we can look out over the surrounding mountain range and down over the canopy of the forest below with its mix of both old and new growth, the stark bare branches of the dead trees reaching skywards between the brillant greens of the new regeneration.
Not much further down the track we reach the Wilhelmina Falls which drop for 75 metres. The rocks are particularly slippery, but it doesn’t appear to deter the young hikers we encounter who scramble up the steep granite rock face for the perfect selfie shot. But, after a couple of slips on the rocks I am happy to stay behind the safety chain to enjoy the view.
The last leg of the track is rather rocky underfoot amd takes around an hour scrambling downwards past the Water Gauge suspension bridge back to a fork in the track that can lead us to the commencement of the Boroondara Trail or to the Falls Creek Bridge. This final section has been the highlight of the circuit and well worth the upward slog.
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