Grade 1

Mount Difficult Range - Briggs Bluff Hike (20km)

Grampians National Park

Victoria

20km

9 hrs

Grade 5

One way

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Hike at a Glance

Quick overview: The Mount Difficult Range - Briggs Bluff hike is a 20 km Grade 4 route in Grampians National Park, starting and finishing at Plantation Campground. The ascent to the plateau is steep, overgrown, and requires sustained navigation. From there, the route follows the escarpment to Briggs Bluff with expansive views. Expect a long, physically demanding day, descending via Beehive Falls, with an optional 4 km side trip to Mount Difficult.

Max elevation: 731m

Min elevation: 210m

Total Ascent: 1104m

Essential information


Hike overview



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.

Trail features


Walk map and GPX file

Mount Difficult Range - Briggs Bluff Hike (20km)


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


Register your plans

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.

Get there with Google Maps

Access conditions


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

About the region


Similar walks nearby


Looking for more walks in or near Grampians National Park? Try these trails with a similar difficulty grade.

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Suggest an edit


Notice something different about this trail? Whether it’s a new feature, a route change, or a closure, share your update so we can keep our info accurate and helpful for fellow hikers.

Click to suggest edits >>


Reviews

Mount Difficult Range - Briggs Bluff Hike (20km)


1 Review on “Mount Difficult Range - Briggs Bluff Hike (20km)”

Overall rating
  • Darren edwards avatar Darren Edwards Trail Author

    My wife and I did this a while back and we nearly gave up on the ascent from Plantation Campground on several occasions. There were even tears. There’s no track, it’s overgrown, and the undergrowth just wants to rip everything apart. We did it as an overnight hike, camping near Mount Difficult, and we dreaded that we had to come back down the same way.

  • Richard clarke avatar Richard Clarke

    I suggest there should be no posts on the Grampians. Apart from the Halls Gap area, it’s largely closed due to bushfires.
    https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/places-to-see/parks/grampians-national-park#change-of-conditions

    1. Trail hiking australia avatar Trail Hiking Australia

      Richard Clarke great suggestion. I did consider this a lot as that was my immediate thinking too. After speaking with tourism agencies in the region, I was encouraged to continue sharing walks in the Grampians as they want people to continue planning for when the park reopens, whenever that may be. For now, the best thing people can do is check the link you shared to understand what is open, as that will progressively change

  • Tammy schoo avatar Tammy Schoo

    See parks victoria website for updates. This trail has closed from plantation campground and now starts at beehive falls.

  • Completed Mt Difficult yesterday. Track very over grown 2/3 of the way and difficult to spot at points, we did our best to clear some of it. Pay attention for piles of rocks on the way up that some legend(s) have left, they do an excellent job of keeping you on the right track. GPS coordinates downloaded from this site are excellent thanks a lot for proving them.

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Acknowledgement of Country

Mount difficult range - briggs bluff hike (20km) trail hiking australia

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.

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