Trail summary
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Track grade
Grade 3 (Moderate) - Walks for Most Fitness Levels: Grade 3 on the AWTGS represents moderate walking tracks. These are ideal for walkers with some fitness who are comfortable with some hills and uneven terrain. While suitable for most ages, some bushwalking experience is recommended to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience. Tracks may have short, steep hill sections, a rough surface, and many steps. The total distance of a Grade 3 walk can be up to 20 kilometers.
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Looking for things to do in Plenty Gorge Parklands or nearby? Try these similar hikes or bushwalks.
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Adventure with Confidence: Register Your Trip Plans
Before you hit the trail, take a moment to fill out our trip intentions form. It’s a simple way to share important details about your hike with family or friends. If things don’t go as planned and you’re not back on time, they can easily notify emergency services, helping to ensure a quick response and reducing worry. Enjoy your outdoor adventure knowing that you’ve taken a smart step for your safety.
Gear to consider
What you carry in your pack depends on factors like weather, terrain, time of year, the type of adventure, and your personal preferences. Unsure what gear to bring? My free planning, food, and packing checklists offer a great starting point, covering essentials for day hikes, overnight trips, and multi-day adventures. Use them as a guide to customise your kit to suit your needs, always prioritising safety above all else.
Explore safe
Plan ahead and hike safely! Always carry enough water and pack clothing layers to adapt to changing conditions. Bring essential safety gear, including a torch, a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), and a reliable communication device. Check official government sources for trail updates, temporary closures, and access requirements. Before heading out, review local weather and bushfire advice, including warnings and planned burns. Most importantly, let someone know your plans before you go. Being prepared ensures a safer and more enjoyable hike! Stay Safe, Explore More, and Always #ExploreSafe
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 “Plenty Gorge River Hike (21km)”
Hiked at Plenty Gorge yesterday. A surprisingly remote circuit so close to a residential area. There are plenty of tracks that have been created by Mountain Bike Riders that don’t appear on official ,maps o navigation apps so you need to pay close attention to where you are and where you are going. It’s so easy to become disorientated. Looks like there’s plenty to explore here beyond this circuit. Well worth checking out.
The GPX file was woefully difficult to follow in real life!!! You’re right Darren – the mountain bikes have created MANY more tracks BUT trying to follow the trail using the map is near on impossible (and frustrating)!!! Our standard setup for most of the trails throughout Vic is using the Avenza app, a Parks Vic map & then a GPX overlay. Even on some more rugged terrain, it is pretty foolproof. Has rarely failed in the many tens and tens of hikes in just the last 2 years alone but this experience was NOT good!
I made an attempt today to drag my ageing carcass around the Plenty Gorge River Hike (21km) posted by Leah Smith. I’m planning to do more day and overnight hikes in 2023+ so decided to do a few ‘warm up’ ones in and around Melbourne. The plan was to take the train out to Mernda Train Station, hop onto Leah’s posted route from the start of the ‘Carome Track’ and then do a loop skirting the eastern side of the Plenty River all the way down to the Nioka Stuchbury Track at the southern tip of the route and then back up the western side of the Plenty River. Unfortunately, nothing went to plan. The recent heavy rains meant that the height of the grass throughout the Plenty Gorge Park at the moment is anywhere between 50cm – 150cm high. I crossed the very first bridge over the Plenty River (immediately to the south of Bridge Inn Rd) to pick up the trail on the eastern side of the Plenty River but there was no discernible path through the grass. Ditto on the western side of Plenty River. It was a sunny, hot day and I was on my own so was very reluctant to be barging through high grass due to snakes and injury. The Carome Track is a wide gravel track that seems to skirt the western perimeter of Plenty Gorge Park so I decided to follow that. I was able to eventually make it down to just before the Wilton Vale Ruins through a series of tracks where the grass wasn’t so tall but stopped there as the grass simply covered the entire track. I then retraced my steps back to Mernda Train Station.
PROS
– Plenty Gorge River Hike is accessible by train. Mernda is the closest station to the River but it can also be accessed by Hawkstowe and Middle Gorge. Mernda Station is about an hour from Flinders Street Station.
– Access by Train will also allow you to either do the entire loop or smaller sections as you choose.
– although I never made it down to the Plenty River, from what I could see through the tall grass, it was quite picturesque.
– kangaroos everywhere.
– heaps of very old, large eucalyptus trees
– In the sections with no or little grass, there looked to be good tracks for walking and bike riding. There was also a teen-age boy having heaps of fun riding an all-terrain electric scooter on the ‘Carome Track’.
CONS
– difficult to do anything reasonably safely with the grass so high. Perhaps I was too cautious but even the other walkers / riders I passed were worried about snakes. The chance of extensive grass fires will be real for Jan / Feb 2023 … possibly March as well.
– signage around the Plenty Gorge Park is either non-existent or simply not helpful. Parks Victoria need to lift their game regarding this. How hard can it be to put up a few informative signs?
The route that Leah posted looks like a very good day hike and I will definitely return in a cooler month when there is much less tall grass around.