Mount Tassie (23.8km)

Summary

Deep in the eastern heart of the Strzelecki Ranges, this cool, shaded Mount Tassie loop trail features Victorian temperate rainforest of giant Mountain Ash eucalypts and lush tree ferns.

Discover remnant old growth and unusual Blackwood forests. See evidence of our early settlement logging history including gigantic springboard-slotted tree stumps.

Climb to Mt Tassie and you reach the highest peak of the Strzelecki Ranges at 720m above sea level. Here you’ll be rewarded with breathtaking 360o views: north across the Latrobe Valley and Great Dividing Range beyond, east towards Longford and the Ninety Mile Beach, south to Wilson’s Promontory and west across the scenic Traralgon Creek valley.

See the devastating impact of 2009’s Black Saturday bushfires and how the forest is faring today. Pass through managed plantations and observe endangered damp forest containing ancient Mountain Grey Gum, Blue Gum and Messmate eucalypts that are now regenerating. Mountain Grey Gum and Blue Gum are the main food source of the unique Strzelecki Koala.

This trail also passes the site of the historic Morningside Grange homestead marked by enormous Sitka Spruce trees.

Location

Hidden within the Strzelecki Ranges, Tarra-Bulga National Park features lush fern-filled gullies, giant Mountain Ash and ancient Myrtle Beech. Visitors have long enjoyed strolling along one of the nature walks or picnicking beside a shady fern-lined creek.

Getting there

Tarra Bulga National Park is situated approximately 200 kilometres east of Melbourne. The park is reached from the Princes Highway at Traralgon by following Traralgon Creek Road to Balook. Alternatively the park can be reached from Yarram via the Tarra Valley Road or Bulga Park Road. Roads throughout the area are narrow and winding but offer marvellous scenery with panoramic views from several points, including Mount Tassie.