Hike at a Glance
Max elevation: 1159m
Min elevation: 322m
Total Ascent: 2039m
Track grade
Grade 5 (Difficult) - Walks for the Most Experienced: Grade 5 represents the most challenging walking tracks on the AWTGS. These are only recommended for very experienced and fit walkers with specialised skills, including navigation and emergency first aid. Tracks are likely to be very rough, very steep, and unmarked. Walks may be more than 20 kilometers. These challenging walks demand a high level of fitness and experience to navigate difficult terrain, significant elevation changes, and potentially unformed paths.
Explore safely
Planning this hike? Most incidents develop before you even start. Safe outcomes depend on how navigation, hydration, environment, load and judgement work together. Small oversights can compound quickly in Australian conditions. See how it happens in the Hiking Safety Systems Foundations. Then use the Hiking Safety Systems, planning calculators, and make sure a trusted contact has your trip plan before heading out.
Leave a trip plan
Before you go, complete a trip intentions form and share it with a trusted contact. Agree on a Late-Back Time and ask them to call 000 (Police) if you have not checked in. A clear trip plan is one of the simplest and most effective safety steps you can take.
Planning checklists
Download the hiking preparation and safety checklists before leaving home to help you think through your plans. They help ensure important considerations are not overlooked and support safer decision-making on the trail.
Getting there
Getting to the trailhead: Grampians National Park.
Need a rental car to get you to the hike? Find one here.
Accommodation nearby
Find accommodation close to the trailhead including hotels, cabins, and campgrounds. Use the interactive map to explore available options in nearby towns.
Nearby towns: Ararat, Cavendish, Dadswells Bridge, Dunkeld, Halls Gap, Horsham, Landsborough, Pomonal, Stawell, Warracknabeal, Wartook, Wartook Valley
Similar walks nearby
Looking for more walks in or near Grampians National Park? Try these trails with a similar difficulty grade.
Gallery
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Suggest an edit
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Acknowledgement of Country
Trail Hiking Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we hike and pay respects to their Elders, past and present, and we acknowledge the First Nations people of other communities who may be here today.
2 Reviews on “Major Mitchell Plateau Circuit Hike (41km)”
The bushfires of 2024 has seen the sheep hills track closed. In was still closed in March 2026
We started the walk from the Mt. William Car Park, walked to Durd Durd, camped there overnight, then on to Jimmy Creek where we arranged a ride back to the car park to collect the car.
The bushfires that swept through the area have decimated the bush, and in parts of this walk, especially in Boundary Gap and on the plateau, the track can be challenging to discern. The area is mostly black earth and rocks, making the trail difficult to pick, and it’s easy to go off track.
Hello, Me (19) and my little brother (14) decided it would be a great idea to do this hike during are school holidays break in July this year. Coming from Melbourne it was about a 4-hour drive and we were on the trail walking by 11am. The first obstacle was the bridge a mere 100 metres from the carpark this was the most slippery bridge I have ever seen so safe to say my butt was very bruised. Other that that this section is not part of the Grampians peaks trail and was littered with slippery rock and limbs and occasionally a fallen tree, trail is defined and it is possible for us to get through. Are walking pace is relatively slow but we had 3 phones between us all with the GPX file which was incredibly useful. After about 2 hours of mostly being on the colder side of the mountains we finally got some sun near the Mt William carpark at roughly 1pm. From the carpark to the summit seems like an easy bit in comparison but it should not be taken too lightly there are parts of it that are quite steep epically for an asphalt road. Luckily, I had done this part of the walk previously and knew what this ascent was like, but this was a bit harder to do with a pack on. The next stage of the hike was from the summit of Mt Wiliam to the first Wannon hike in campsite. It began by leaving the road, the towers and switched to proper walking track with boot cleaning station. By this the sun was setting and we were about 5ish kms from the campsite. After a couple stops to take in the view and the amazing sunset the torches came out and so did the jumpers. Overall this section had a mixture of stairs, steep descents (Not the most fun in the dark) and the occasional boardwalk before the campsite. By this stage the morale of my not so motivated brother dropped a bit, but eventually we made it too the campsite at around 6:30-7pm and as I was still in shorts and the temperature had basically dropped by 10 degrees in a matter of hours the set up was swift and the dinner from inside the tent was much needed. The ‘nail in the coffin’ for my brother was probably the little native mouse who visited us mid way through dinner reminding us to seal up our packs, hide our boots inside the tent, encase you were wondering my little brother named this mouse ‘bi*ch’.
In the morning we woke up to a real feel of -1 degree and quite a bit of ice on the tent, but after a quick pack up we were on our way by 9am. This day of walking was easily the best out of the whole trip, with many boardwalks, good for the time weather and spectacular views we ended up having lunch on the top of Banksia hill. Marking the end of the plateau and the end of any major uphill sections. Between Banksia hill and Durd-durd hike in campsite there was a nasty little descent with loose rocks and a well-defined trail followed by relatively fine walking path until maintenance type tracks. Having second lunch at Durd-Durd at around 1:30pm. Note: Durd-Durd hike in campsite is spectacular in terms of facilities with tables, platforms for tents and the ‘million dollar toilet’ with included solar charging? This was unexpected and a complete opposite to the first Wannon campsite which had a clearing for tents and creek access and a nice rock to pack your bag on. From Durd-Durd to jimmy creek you head towardas the helipad an begin the descending the well constructed stairs. This was easy sailing in comparision and with good weather quite relaxing and enjoyable. Once you get too the Y in the track follow signs going right where you officially leave the Grampians peaks trail encountering a couple fallen limbs and a sizeable tree but previous hikers have formed a path around or through or in some cases over the top. Eventually you meet the road walk along the road for about 300m turning off onto the dirt road towards jimmy creek campground 200m with fellow campers, fires (Seasonal), active wildlife and drop toilets.
The next morning was supposed to be a little more bushwalking back to the car. But it was forecasted to rain 6mm overnight and roughly 8-10mm during that day. So the tough decision was made to walk back along the side of the road for a period of about 13-14kms. Very annoyingly we barely got any rain the entire walk back to the car and likely risked our lives for nothing… In hindsight I think the best decision would have been to walk along the road for a mere 3-4 kms and hop on Serra Road and walk on the marked track all the way back to sheep hills carpark. Additionally, we were wary of teddy bear gap section of the track in less-than-ideal conditions with likely minimal sanctuary locations. But I was not alone we decided the road was the best option for the time and the conditions but for your information it did rain a lot on the drive home back to Melbourne returning at around 5pm.
My suggestions for anyone thinking of doing this hike would be to go early, anticipate the climb of roughly 8kms uphill on the first day, keep up to date with weather and anticipate unusual weather and last of all be prepared (Better prepared than we were). Overall, I loved it 5/5 can’t wait for the next adventure.
Darren if your reading this thanks for the GPX file and the infromation I gathered from this website it was invaluable in the planning stage and the pictures of your group completing it made me think me and my little brother can do it with our youthful optimism and our love for beef jerky.
Such a great trip report and I am really pleased you both enjoyed the journey. Sounds like you both had an excellent adventure, despite the sneaky mouse. Well done to you both and I am glad the info here helped you. Hope you enjoy many more walks in the future.
For anyone reading this, you can find Ryan’s trip repot here: https://www.trailhiking.com.au/trip-reports/trip-report-major-mitchell-plateau-circuit/
Thank you again Darren will definitely be on the trail for adventure again soon.