Comments on: Powelltown Tramway Trails

By: cascho

cascho — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 13:29:27 +0000

Tried this tramway trail again yesterday (10/1/16) with my brother and his wife, walking the Starling Gap to East Warburton section. This is by far the easiest part of the network, as you are walking down into the Yarra Valley. The majority of it is very easy walking – just two major problems. At Starling Gap, the trail is overgrown with blackberry bushes – clearly not many hikers come through here; and just before Ezards Mill site there were two very large fallen trees across the trail – a bit of an obstacle that requires some effort to go over (or under). Un-experienced hikers will have some difficulty getting through this. It was an excellent day out. With this section of the Powelltown Tramway done, I’ve now completed all the rail trails in Victoria!

By: cascho

cascho — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 01:07:08 +0000

I hiked the section between High Lead carpark and Starling Gap yesterday (12th April 2015) with my brother and his wife. The walk to the start of the climb is great – with a log/bridge crossing the Latrobe river. The climb up to high lead is challenging – it is far too steep for riding or horses, and took us sometime to climb to the top. From there the trail is relatively flat all of the way to Starling Gap. Across the Ada river is a good quality board walk – so it saves you from getting muddy, and the Ada No 2 sawmill site is really interesting. All in all, these sections of the trail are much better quality than what we have done previously (see other post) – and it was a good day out.

By: cascho

cascho — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 23:49:34 +0000

I hiked the section between High Lead Carpark and Powelltown yesterday (15th March 2015) with my brother and his wife. We were expecting a lot of bush bashing – I am happy to say that it was completely the opposite. The trail is clearly marked with large wooden signs and while there is plenty of vegetation, the trail can easily be walked. There are a number of river/creek crossings – with good wooden bridges crossing all but one of them (recently built?). The one crossing exception can be crossed on stepping stones. There are a number of fallen trees over the trail, and the dense tree material underfoot at times makes the trail all but impossible for even the best mountain bike rider – but a hiker will have no problems. The only issue we had was every time we crossed the Yarra Junction – Noojee road heading south we couldn’t find the trail head. This is especially annoying on the east side of the Bump, and meant we had to walk on the road up to the Bump. The north side of the road – there was no issue in finding the trail head. Also, take a better map than what this website provides.

By: Cootta

Cootta — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:43:02 +0000

Today I tackled Section 3 with a friend who is a experienced bush walker. We started at Dowey Spur Rd. We decided to do a car shuffle. Initially we tried to get to Dowey Spur Rd via Big Creek Rd. Big creek rd is fine for cars for a couple of KM but then degenerates into a narrow bush track only suitable for trail bikes. Change of plan and we got to Dowey spur via the Ada River Rd. The start of the trail is 10k from the start of Ada River Rd. The trail is well defined and easy to walk. Most of the growth around the track is from 1983, but there are some magnificent trees adjoining the track. I suggest that if you intend to start from the High Lead car park you will need to be VERY FIT. The walk down hill was tiring, to go up hill would be gut busting. A couple 100 metres into the track fom Dowey spur there is a large piece of what i presume to be part of the winching gear. Pieces of Rail are common. A couple of the bridges are using the foundation from the Tram line. The other crossings were scramble over logs and one muddy foot. No Leaches, 3 Lyrebirds. another good walk and thanks for the company Sue

By: Cootta

Cootta — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 03:40:02 +0000

Today I walked from the Bump to wards the High Lead car park to cover the ground I missed on my last trip. When you enter the track on the opposite side of the road to the Ada tree turn off the track is not well defined but easy enough to follow. The description mentions a large sawdust pile but i did not see it. Must be covered by leaf litter etc. Also i was unable to find any thing denoting the location of the township in the description. About 25m from the road is a large hole int he ground, is the the air shaft that was 1/2 way thru the tunnel?.The first river crossing is via a well constructed foot bridge. the tram way is then well defined and an easy walk although there are couple of trees you have to scramble over. The fist part of the track leads to the Pioneer Fire line and there is about a 70M walk to the Noojee Rd where cross over and continue on the tramline. This part of the walk is again easy but with one large tree over the track. The second river crossing is via a fallen tree but easy done.

I could not help but note the comment at the start of the description. The tramway would not be visible from the air. The large trees and ferns provide a shady walk on the hottest days there are signs that some one has made some half hearted attempts to do some maintenance some time ago. I cannot wonder, if you you tell people the rail is unusable (which so far i believe to be untrue) does this give you the excuse to stop doing any maintenance because the track is not being used.

By: Cootta

Cootta — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 04:19:56 +0000

High lead car park to the Bump
Very easy walk except for some of the creek crossings. As mentioned before the lack of foot bridges is a concern when carrying cameras. I only went about half way and turned back. Found some loverly photographic opportunities along the river and it was quite relaxing with burble of the water nearby. Leaches were a big problem , no snakes. Would like some one to join me, Perhaps we could do a car shuttle. at the moment i am walking both ways. cheers Cootta

By: Cootta

Cootta — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:48:26 +0000

i have photos of my walks so far but cannot work out how to get them into the Gallery

By: Cootta

Cootta — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:52:22 +0000

Walked from Mackley Rd to the Bump. Another very nice walk on a gentle uphill gradient. The track is badly maintained being nearly overgrown by Tree Ferns/ Bracken in a couple of places and the foot bridges over 2 creeks are broken and need replacing. You can cross the creeks easily if you are prepared to get your feet wet but it is a concern when you are carrying expensive cameras. There are some good photo ops and the country is very attractive. Saw 3 Lyrebirds one snake and leeches were not a problem

By: Cootta

Cootta — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:11:01 +0000

Hi all
I had a couple of trips to Powelltown and walked the following tracks
REIDS MILL
The directions you get tell you to start at the Yarra junction end of town. I found the walk thru town a bit of a waste of time, The actual start of the track is about 300m on the Warragul side of the Town, The walk it self is very easy (i’m in my 60’s and smoke) and i found it a very pleasant walk. It took about 60 minutes up and 40 back and that included several Photo stops