Little Desert Discovery Walk.
There is a really groovy 75 kilometre walking track chugging around the sandy heathlands of Little Desert National Park in Western Victoria.
Loads of wildlife such as emus and parrots kicking about, occasional stands of tall stringybarks and genuine dark skies at night, allowing an untold amount of stars to be viewed.
Designed as a 4 day excursion with 2 dedicated walkers camps, rainwater tanks and good signage, the LDDW can also be shortened in length if you are on a time crunch or just feeling lazy like I was.
GETTING TO THE TRAILHEAD:
Little Desert National Park is situated along the Wimmera River, 330 kilometres North west from Melbourne.
There are a handful of vehicle accessible points you can jump on the LDDT from, which can be seen on the Parks map here. The easiest to access is Horseshoe Bend Campground where I kicked off my walk from.
Horseshoe Bend Campground is 6.5 kilometres from the friendly town of Dimboola. There is a rainwater tank, picnic tables, and the Wimmera River squiggling around, lined with enormous River Gums.
I arrived in Dimboola via public train and bus transportation (thank you Vline; $10.60 return from Melbourne) and just walked the 6.5 kilometres of lightly trafficked Horseshoe Bend Road to the campground and accessed the LDDW from there.
RESUPPLY:
There is an IGA supermarket in town. Take everything you will need with you when you head for the park, no kiosks, no shops.
The rainwater tanks probably cannot be guaranteed as a water source in summer but they were chockers when I spun through in June (winter).
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| Map sourced from Google Maps. |
WHAT I DID:
I headed out from Horseshoe, South then West to Mallee Walkers Camp. About 20 kilometres from Dimboola all up.
Next day, had a short wander cutting through South on the Wallaby Track to Yellow Gums Walkers Camp, 8 kilometres.
Day 3: 21 kilometres East to Horseshoe Bend Campground and the 6.5 kilometres back to Dimboola.
56 kilometres all up.
I didn't see a single person in those 3 days.
By the look of the journals located in the floorless shelters at the camps, I was the first walker through in 3 weeks.
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| Sourced from: parks.vic |
NAVIGATION AND RESOURCES:
All you need is the free Parks Victoria map and notes found here.
All Trails and Gaia can be utilised as well.
The path is simple to follow, a bit beat up in parts where errant dirt bikers have unfortunately churned the trail but the intersections are sign posted and the going is flat and easy.
THOUGHTS:
The good-
I loved the isolation and diversity of flora; banksia and gums and native grasses.
If clear skies are the go then lying with your head out your tent taking in the twinkling lights of the universe is a compulsory activity
Mt Arapiles peeking up on the horizon every now and then lends some context to the landscape.
Possums, tall roo's and cheeky kookaburras abound.
The not so good-
The illegal use of walking only trails by weekend dirt bikers to have big fun has degraded some of the track but don't let that put you off.
