Masons Falls Walk

Once providing food, shelter and a rich spiritual world, the area now known as Kinglake National Park occupies the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people to the south and the Taungurung people to the north.

The Kinglake Ridge (a feature that roughly follows the line of the Whittlesea-Kinglake and Healsville-Kinglake Roads) formed a natural boundary between these two indigenous groups.

For many thousands of years, the Wurundjeri and Taungurung people enjoyed the abundance of seasonally available flora and fauna, as well as using the area for important cultural events and rituals.

Many fascinating Aboriginal sites and relics were uncovered by the 2009 bushfire, including scatters (tool-makers) and hand tools. These sites have now been surveyed and recorded so that they can add to our understanding of the region’s unique history and remain protected in the future.

The Lust for Gold, the Call of “Timber!”

Gold was discovered in 1861 on nearby Mount Slide to the east that became known as Mountain Rush. Once news spread, European settlers raced to Kinglake with hopes of striking it rich.

Following the gold rush, this area became highly prized for its abundance of high quality timber. Sawmills such as Carmen’s Mill were established in the forest in the early 1900’s. A network of timber tramways transported logs from the mills to hubs such as Whittlesea to supply the timber needs of an ever-expanding Melbourne.

The national park was officially gazetted in 1928 when 5,590 hectares were reserved.

Black Saturday

In the devastating Black Saturday bushfires of 7 February 2009, over 287,000 hectares of public and private land was burnt beyond recognition.

Kinglake National Park was one of the most severely affected parks in Victoria with over 96 per cent of the park burnt. Along with many houses in the area, the park office was destroyed and animal numbers were vastly reduced.

Despite initial fears that most of the park’s animal population had been lost, animals were sighted as early as a year after the fires – a testament to the incredible resilience of Australia’s native plants and animals.

As well as koalas, goannas, wallabies and bats, our beloved Superb Lyrebird is also still at home in the park.

Following the fires, the bush regenerated with fresh new eucalyptus, a bright green bloom of grass trees and ferns and as the seasons passed, wattles, bush peas, cassinias, heath, tussock grass and orchids also began to bloom once more.

Kinglake National Park provides important habitat protection for a wide diversity of native plants and animals, including a range of rare and endangered species that were once common in the increasingly urbanised Yarra Valley.

Hundreds of Species, a Thousand Things to See

Even though you may not see many native animals, as they are active at night, you can still see their presence by the scratchings and the scats on the ground or the claw marks on trees. During the day you may see snakes and lizards as well as some of the many species of birds such as the Crimson Rosella, Pied Currawong or Yellow Robin. As you walk, look up for Koalas lazing in the gum trees and listen out for crashing through the bush – it may be a Black Wallaby making a hasty retreat.

The park has around 650 native plant, 40 native mammal and 90 native bird species, 23 species of reptile, several fish and three rare butterfly species.

Tall Trees, Brilliant Flowers

The park features a diverse range of vegetation and habitat types including: cool damp fern gullies, tall wet forests and drier ridges dominated by Broad-leaved Peppermint, Red Stringybark and Longleaved box species.

The wetter aspects and gullies in the park are dominated by Mountain Grey Gum, Messmate and Mountain Ash – the world’s tallest flowering plant.

The understorey is a multi-coloured mixture of wattles, bush peas, cassinias, heath, tussock grass and grass trees. Orchids, lilies, daisies, correas, and grevilleas are prolific throughout the park with brilliant flashes of colour on show from August to November.

Superb Mimic

Superb Lyrebirds are known for their amazing ability to imitate sounds they hear in the environment.

Their complexly muscled syrinx – or vocal organ – gives them an extraordinary vocal repertoire and talent for mimicry. Not only can the Superb Lyrebird reproduce the songs of other birds (or the chatter of whole flocks), they can also mimic other animals, human voices, machinery sounds, explosions and musical instruments.

Size, Diet and Survival Strategy

Superb Lyrebirds enjoy a feast of insects, spiders, worms and seeds. They forage for food by scratching with their feet through fallen leaves.

In dangerous situations – like the Black Saturday Bushfires – they have been known to take refuge in wombat burrows or alongside firefighters in mine shafts.

However, Lyrebirds are generally shy birds and hearing their calls is often the only way of identifying them.

Inviting Partners to the Dance

In winter, male lyrebirds attract potential mates by building and maintaining an open mound in dense bush. They stand on top of the mound and sing and dance to attract the attention of a female mate.

Females build an untidy nest, usually low to the ground in a damp gully, where they lay a single egg.