Standing Giant Return

Hiking Trails » Victoria » Gippsland » Standing Giant Return

Written by greenta| April 20, 2018| Gippsland

Mount Worth State Park located in the Gippsland area of Victoria has a great selection of trails that can be linked together in multiple ways to create different lengths from a short 1km stroll to a lengthy 10km+ hike. This hike will take you to the Giant Mountain Ash and back to the car park for a short 1.25km stroll.

This is a Grade 2 walk. Total distance of the track is 1.25km. Gentle hills. Formed track. Generally a modified or hardened surface. Width: 900mm or more. Well maintained with minimal intrusions. Clearly sign posted. Track head signage & route markers at intersections. Suitable for most ages and fitness levels.

Into The Forest

As you leave Lorkin Creek and enter the forest, conditions become cooler and wetter.

Look around you and you will see the types of plants that thrive in these conditions such as ferns, mosses, liverworts, fungi, and lichen.

Notice the tall Soft Tree-ferns. Touch the trunks to see why they are called ‘soft’, and look for a contrasting Rough Tree-fern along the track.

As you continue you will see holes in the track with mud thrown out or sometimes built into a chimney. This is the home of the tiny burrowing crayfish. There are several species, but here it is most likely to be the Gippsland Burrowing Crayfish. They are more active at night than during the day but if you are lucky you might see one near its burrow.

Trail Statistics:

Starting Point: Moonlight Creek Picnic Area, Mount Worth State Park, Allambee.
Hiking Trail Difficulty: Grade 2
Distance: 1.25km
Trail Type: Return Hike
Elevation Gain: 28m
Elevation Loss: 28m
Minimum Elevation: 315m
Maximum Elevation: 345m
Time to Complete: 30 minutes
Ending Point: Moonlight Creek Picnic Area, Mount Worth State Park, Allambee.

Trail End Options:

Jump in your car and head home.
Try out this 3.95km walk: Trevorrows Mill and Gardeners Mill plus Giants Circuit

Detailed Hiking Trail Guide:

This hiking trail starts at Moonlight Creek picnic area in Mount Worth State Park near Allambee. Your only option is to get there by car as it is quite remote. The drive leading up to the area is quite scenic with rolling green hills.

Moonlight Creek Picnic Area - Mount Worth

Moonlight Creek Picnic Area Car Park at Mount Worth State Park

Once you enter the car park, the trail head is located on the left hand side. Look for this sign.

Follow the hiking trail located to the right of this sign.

Even after Summer, this trail is very lush and green.

Follow the trail to the right at this fork to head towards Giants Circuit.

Take the hiking trail to the right again here to head towards Giants Circuit.

Take the right trail towards Giants Circuit.

Lovely pathways through fern forests.

The small inset to the left is the lookout up to the Giant Mountain Ash tree here. Once you’ve had a look at the tree, turn around and head back to the car park.

Standing Giant

This giant eucalypt is commonly called a Mountain Ash; its botanical name is Eucalyptus regnans. These are the tallest flowering plants and hardwood trees in the world.

Estimated at more than 300 years old, this tree has a huge buttressed trunk about 14 metres in circumference.

This tree is approximately 60 metres tall, but used to be even taller before age and storms or lightning took away its top branches.

Some Mountain Ash trees have been measured at over 100 metres.

The flower and seed capsules grow so high in the canopy they are hard for us to see. The capsules open when they mature and many seeds drop out. An individual seed is smaller than the end of a pin yet amazingly grows into this huge tree.

As you continue, look for plants growing on other plants.