Baw Baw National Park
Baw Baw National Park is approximately 180 kilometres east of Melbourne and 50 kilometres north of the Latrobe Valley, in Central Gippsland. The park was proclaimed in April 1979, and is listed on the Register of the National Estate. This 13 530 hectare national park protects the Baw Baw Plateau and parts of the deeply dissected Thomson and Aberfeldy river valleys.
Baw Baw National Park is readily accessible from Melbourne and the Latrobe Valley. The Baw Baw Plateau is only accessible to walkers and skiers although there is two-wheel drive access to several points near its edge. The main access to the plateau is from the Mount Erica and St Gwinear carparks along sign posted roads off the Thomson Valley Road, north of Erica. The Aberfeldy River camping area is accessed from the historic township of Walhalla or across the dam wall of the Thomson Reservoir.
Recreation
Walking is one of the best ways to explore the park with many kilometres of walking tracks that traverse pristine sub-alpine plant communities and unique landscapes. Visitors can also enjoy the many other recreational opportunities that the park provides.
Baw Baw National Park is renowned for its cross country skiing with a variety of marked trails to suit the skills of skiers. Trails can be followed from the St. Gwinear car park onto the plateau or further to the Baw Baw Alpine Resort. Only experienced skiers should undertake extended trips. Basic facilities such as toboggan slopes and toilets are available at the St Gwinear car park.
A camping area with fireplaces, pit toilets and picnic tables is provided on the banks of the Aberfeldy River. A variety of accommodation can be found in nearby Erica, Rawson, Walhalla and the Latrobe Valley. The Baw Baw Alpine Village offers winter accommodation and ski hire.
The Thomson River provides some of the best white water rafting in Victoria, depending on water releases from the Thomson Dam. Several commercial tour companies conduct rafting tours of the river all year round.
The Thomson and Aberfeldy Rivers are also an excellent location for recreational fishing (recreational fishing licence is required).
Bicycles and horse’s may only be ridden on the formed roads and tracks open to the public. These activities are not permitted on the Baw Baw Plateau, walking tracks, and Whitelaw, Plane and Trigger Creek tracks. Horse riding is also prohibited above the bridge on the Mount Erica Road.
Cultural heritage
In December 1860, the renowned government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller made the first recorded ascent of the Baw Baw Plateau. He named the peaks Mount Mueller and Mount Erica, after himself and a flowering plant of the locality respectively. Ferdinand von Mueller used this expedition to further refine his theories about the relationship between Victorian and Tasmanian vegetation.
In 1862, the discovery of gold at Matlock and later at Red Jacket, Donnelly’s Creek, Walhalla and Toombon sparked a rush of miners to the area. Tracks were cut to the new goldfields skirting the northern and southern slopes of the mountain, however the Plateau was lacking in gold and tended to be avoided.
In 1906 the Public Works Department constructed a walking track between Warburton and Walhalla. The track gave access to the Beech forests and fern gullies of the Upper Yarra, the spectacular Yarra Falls and the Baw Baw Plateau. Opened with much fanfare by the Governor of Victoria, the Yarra Track became one of Victoria’s most popular walking routes.
Unfortunately the disastrous Black Friday fires of 1939 burnt the huts and most of the area transversed by the track. The track was never reopened although bushwalkers can follow part of the original route by following the Australian Alps Walking Track between Walhalla and Mount Whitelaw.
Plants
Baw Baw National Park contains a diverse array of vegetation types and plant species, occupying a range of habitats extending over an elevation range of 1100 metres. The Baw Baw Plateau is recorded as a site of national botanical significance with much of its flora yet to be fully described.
The Baw Baw Plateau features extensive sub-alpine woodlands dominated by snow gum with a scrubby understorey of Mueller’s Bush-pea, Alpine Pepper and Dusty Daisy-bush. Wet alpine heathlands and thick spongy beds of sphagnum moss surround clear pools of water.
The upper slopes of the range support tall open forests of Alpine Ash, Shining Gum and Tingaringy Gum. At lower altitudes tall forests of Mountain Ash, Messmate and Silver Wattle grow and are often shrouded in mist. Pockets of cool temperate rainforest with a lush understorey of ferns flourish within the sheltered gullies. Due to the rain shadow created by the Baw Baw’s, the Thomson and Aberfeldy River valleys are dominated by dry forests of Silvertop, Messmate and Peppermints with an open understorey of small shrubs, grasses and bracken.
Animals
The Baw Baw Plateau and parts of the adjoining Upper Thomson area are recognised as being of global zoological significance. The endangered Leadbeater’s Possum, Victoria’s state faunal emblem, inhabits the Mountain Ash forests of the park. They reley on old hollow trees and the dense understorey of wattles for nesting and feeding. The park also supports several threatened species of fauna, including the critically endangered, endemic Baw Baw Frog.
Some of the more common inhabitants of the park include Common Wombat, Swamp Wallaby, Greater Glider, Yellow-bellied Glider, Sugar Glider, Mountain Brush-tailed Possum, Brown Antechinus and Platypus.
Geology and geomorphology
The Baw Baw Plateau is recognised as a site of national geological and geomorphological significance. The Plateau’s significant features can only be found elsewhere on the Australian mainland at Mt Buffalo and are associated with the weathering of the granodiorite, and include large tors, stepped valleys, peaty flats and a pronounced rectangular drainage pattern.
Elevations in the park range from 1565 m on the Baw Baw Plateau to 300 m in the river valleys, and slopes range up to 30 degrees.
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