Lake Tali Karng: Tamboritha Road & Mount Margaret Hike (42km)

Alpine National Park

Victoria

42km

3 days

Grade 5

Return

Save

Bookmark

Compare

Favourite




Hike overview



Route and GPX file



Trail features


Trail location


Loading...

Getting there


Get directions

About the region


Similar trails nearby


Lake Tali Karng: Tamboritha Road & Mount Margaret Hike
Lake Tali Karng: Tamboritha Road & Mount Margaret Hike
Lake Tali Karng: Tamboritha Road & Mount Margaret Hike

Upper Yarra Walking Track (103km)

Lake Tali Karng: Tamboritha Road & Mount Margaret Hike

The Viking Circuit Hike (41km)


Explore Safe


Explore Safe

While planning your hike, it’s important to check official government sources for updated information, temporary closures and trail access requirements. Before hitting the trail, check local weather and bushfire advice for planned burns and bushfire warnings and let someone know before you go. Plan ahead and hike safely.

Let someone know


Adventure with peace of mind: Fill out your trip intentions form. Before you hit the trail, fill out an online form to privately send important details about your hike to your family or friends. If you don’t return on time, they can easily alert emergency services, preventing worry and ensuring a swift response. Hike with peace of mind and enjoy your outdoor adventure to the fullest. Be smart, be safe: Register your plans here.

Gear to consider


Hike Planning Checklist

My free planning, food and packing checklists provide an introduction to things your could consider (as well as the Ten Essentials) on your day, overnight and multi-day adventures. Customise your kit according to your personal needs, always considering safety first. 

Reviews


3 Reviews on “Lake Tali Karng: Tamboritha Road & Mount Margaret Hike (42km)”

Overall rating
  • Avatar of Philip Oude-Vrielink Philip Oude-Vrielink

    This is one of my favourite hikes – and the lake a simply stunning and refreshing place to be

    1. Avatar of Gemma Green Gemma Green

      Was just about to tag you Lucy Bee Rachel Pullen ?

      You keen Chris Colman Jake Colman Joe Murphy?

    2. Avatar of Liv Brewer Liv Brewer

      Yep I want to-do the 4day ish one

    3. Avatar of Liv Brewer Liv Brewer

      Ur way better than that I’m packing 2min noodles

    4. Avatar of Caitlin Stuart Caitlin Stuart

      Tristan Beard will probably take you up on that! We have a wedding at Licola at the end of March so will be taking advantage of the week before smashing some high country gems.

    5. Avatar of Tracey Van Grunsven Tracey Van Grunsven

      Tim Leed

    6. Avatar of Dale Chircop Dale Chircop

      Tom Cullum Warren Maynard Jules Bomb

    7. Avatar of Jesse Gaarenstroom Jesse Gaarenstroom

      wait which Tali trail did you have? apparently this is one of hte more difficult ones

    8. Avatar of Jesse Gaarenstroom Jesse Gaarenstroom

      you and me both haha, still, if we did it as a 3 or 4 day trip we could baby the shit out of it

    9. Avatar of Tom Cullum Tom Cullum

      This weekend?

    10. Avatar of Dale Chircop Dale Chircop

      Trav Edwards yeh for sure:) just working out and route and date ? will keep you in the loop

    11. Avatar of Mandy Stowe Ellis Mandy Stowe Ellis

      When?

    12. Avatar of Dianne Grigg Dianne Grigg

      Would I lie to you Manna McLeod ??

    13. Avatar of Abhishek Talwar Abhishek Talwar

      Wanna do it again Monet Emert

    14. Avatar of Rachel Pullen Rachel Pullen

      yea let’s just use our kids to carry it for us ?

  • Avatar of Hayden Tribe Hayden Tribe

    Such a great spot/hike!

  • Avatar of Ian Wilson Ian Wilson

    Only 12.5km round trip from Millers Hut… Chantelle Waters, Jim Spiers, John Williams I want to do this sometime in 2017…

  • Avatar of Michael Dawson Michael Dawson

    Shayne Gillings

  • Avatar of Tania Cake Tania Cake

    Is this on our bucket list Erin?

  • Avatar of Freya Chipperfield Freya Chipperfield

    Hey Darren this is a great hike but I wonder if it should be mentioned that there is no camping within 1km of the Lake and that it has a strong indigenous connection.

  • Avatar of Paige van der Pligt Paige van der Pligt

    Charlotte Miller Looks amazing! I’m in!

  • Avatar of Rik Van Rik Van

    Been there.

  • Avatar of Mandy Stowe Ellis Mandy Stowe Ellis

    Belinda Issell Heafield Alli Trigger Erin Rainbowburn Sally McLaren Caroline O’Brien We should put this on our must do list, too

  • “The difficult route to Tali Karng via Mount Margaret is unmaintained and poorly defined for much of its length between Tamboritha Road and Dolodrook River. Remote navigation skills are required and thick vegetation makes progress slow. From the Dolodrook River it follows a 4WD track past the Chromite Mine then Brandy Pinch Track to join the Clive Lanigan Walking Track below the Valley of Destruction.”

    This is a pretty spot on description of this section of the track.

    We just completed the walk along the Mt Margaret Walking Track (closed track but still accessible) to the Lake via Clive Lanigan Track returning via Riggall Spur then out via Wellington River Walking Track to Tamboritha Rd. We had no GPS – just compass and map for this trip.

    It was a tough hike especially on the first 2 days along the Mount Margaret track. The track starts okay following the creek with some tape markers. Once off the creek it is quickly very overgrown and you’re bashing most of the way through. There is a section with tape that makes it easy to follow but we lost both it and the trail quickly and then had to bash all the way to the first 4×4 track using our bearing set to this point. Took us about 7 hours to do 5.5km in the rain and we were knackered – it’s mostly climbing and bashing – definitely grade 5.

    We ended up about 700m to the left from the track exit onto the 4×4 track and we scouted around, found the entry point on the other side a little further up and planned the next days hike, camping on the side of the road for the night. This was awesome – a true hiking/camping experience. Loved it.

    Day 2 we decided to continue to Chromite Mine and Brady Pinch on the same Mount Margaret walking track. The going was really tough and we took our time, which meant we didn’t get lost too much except at 2 critical turning points where we took our time to get it right having to back track and scout options a bit until finding the trail. There is no tape and you really have to rely on the compass and map and check every 100m or so. But you’re mostly along ridge lines so it is fairly stress free as long as you keep that in mind and make a strong continual effort to check for the trail. A really hard but rewarding walk. (Note there are some spray painted markers and also a few cut logs which indicate the trail). Once you see the big square yellow marker with the arrow on the tree – pointing in the wrong (confusing) direction – you need to head directly to the tright alonga faint overgrown trail and then make a sharp right turn and it almost feels like you’re heading back in the wrong direction but the trail quickly becomes visible – it is crucial you get this part right.

    Once at Chromite Mine it is easy to follow the Brady Pinch track to the campsite. This track is along a parks maintenance track and is steep and long. Arrival at the campsite is the junction for the rest of the trails – a nice clay rich, swampy site along the river and really serene and pleasant. We stayed here for 2 nights. It is wet but you can have big fires so it is worth it.

    Day 3 we left the packs and took the Clive Lanigan track to Lake Tali Karng via the Valley of Destruction. The first km is 4×4 and easy walking. The next 1.5km of the track was easy to follow, but lots of tough walking here as it is really overgrown and it was also very wet due to the rains and we were soaked due to the fact that you’re bashing through wet bushes. Then once you cross the creek/river the last 2-3km is the Valley of Destruction and this is hard slog up hill to the lake – but by far one of the most beautiful rainforest walks I have done. Feels really wild and very isolated and is really quite magical (reminded me of parts of the Overland). Arrival at the lake is exceptional and I won’t ruin it for anyone with my bad descriptions. Suffice to say this is totally worth the effort and I recommend Clive Lannigan to get there.

    The return back to the campsite at the junction was via Echo Point from the Lake for a km and then west via Riggal Spur – a very easy and well maintained slow descent – a welcomed change from what we had done thus far.

    Last day was out to Tamboritha Rd via Wellington River Track 13km. Easy to follow so a pleasant walk but there are something like 13-14 waste deep river crossings and they are all really fun. So expect to be walking with wet boots the whole way. We then walked the full 13-14km back to the car at the entry to Mt Margaret along the road (I wouldn’t recommend this but we wanted to get into Licola General Store for a beer – closes at 5pm). Mostly a safe walk except for a few crazy 4×4’s.

    A few notes:

    The Mt Maragert track is officialy closed but you can still walk it.

    A very hard grade 5 slog but super rewarding – you need good fitness and strong experience and navigational skills (unless using a GPS) and I would not recommend doing this part of the hike alone.

    It is mostly wet so prepare for that (start of November).

    Gaiters recommended.

    Heaps of water along the way so we got away with having a half to 1 litre at a time making the packs much lighter.

    I highly recommend this if you want a – for lack of a better word – truly hardcore hike. It is not a 2-3 day hike – more like a 3-4 day hike if you want to visit the lake too.

    Hope more people do this trail. It is so much fun.

  • Just wondering if the GPX file is right?
    Trail info says circuit, but map file/chart seems to show return.
    Is it possible this was switched with the other Tali Karng hike (that one says Return, but looks to be a circuit?)

  • Avatar of Liz Marsden Liz Marsden

    Simone Ewenson Megan Sheehy Laura Munns

  • Avatar of Craig Boase Craig Boase

    Ivy Fang we have to do this. Ive done it before. One of my favourite hikes ever

  • Avatar of Teresa Nguyen Teresa Nguyen

    Angelo Garlitos Jonathan Looi Linda Nguyen

  • Avatar of Shannon Evans Shannon Evans

    Abhishek Talwar

  • Avatar of Jordan Gallop Jordan Gallop

    Matt McTaggart Sam Christopher wanna go back and do this hike instead of the one we already did?

  • Avatar of Mandy Stowe Ellis Mandy Stowe Ellis

    Alli Trigger

  • Avatar of Bryan Cake Bryan Cake

    Tania

  • Avatar of Alison Winkelmeier Alison Winkelmeier

    Craig Johnston

  • Avatar of Carolyn Bennett Carolyn Bennett

    Ha, Sheree McKenzie, Carr to do it again??

  • Avatar of Sal Miller Sal Miller

    Angela Tyrrell

  • Avatar of Jesse Gaarenstroom Jesse Gaarenstroom

    Blake Witherow if we didnt want to head all the way to the Grampians, nice 3 day trip?

  • Avatar of Merryn Kovacs Merryn Kovacs

    Sarah Clark

  • Avatar of Glen Butler Glen Butler

    Hannah Doe – is this what we did overnight? 😀

  • Avatar of Liv Brewer Liv Brewer

    Rosalie ??

  • Avatar of Lucy Bee Lucy Bee

    Rachel Pullen immediate nausea

  • Avatar of Erin Black Erin Black

    Manna McLeod Jennifer Ito

  • Avatar of Caitlin Stuart Caitlin Stuart

    Dave Nubs Olsen add this to the March itinerary in the high country, not the 3 day but the lake at least. the closest is a 9 hour return

  • Avatar of Logan Sherman Logan Sherman

    Breanna Jacqui Jarrad this should only take an hour or two…

  • Avatar of Sunny Regan Sunny Regan

    My grandmas name ¸ it’s a multi day one so We would have to get someone to watch our girl or we get her use to tents more and be more prepared but could we please do this one next year ? Go as a group ? ¸ Cameron Forrest

Leave a Review.

Suggest an edit


Does this hikes information need updating? Sometimes the route, trail features or access conditions change.

Weather

Acknowledgement of Country

Lake Tali Karng: Tamboritha Road & Mount Margaret Hike

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.