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Length: 40.7km
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Duration: 4 days
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Grade: 5
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Style: Circuit
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Start: Mount Howitt Carpark
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End: Mount Howitt Carpark
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Location: Alpine National Park
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Closest Town: Licola
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Distance from CBD: 323km
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State: VIC
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Latitude: -37.10921237
Longitude: 146.6816105
Keep the Trail Access info current...







Select items to indicate conditions for access to the trail.


2WD Access


4WD Access


Public Transport


Bitumen Road


Gravel Road


Steep Road


Winding Road


Speed Bumps


Vehicle Ford


Entry Fee


Large Car Park


Small Car Park


Accessible Parking


Accessible Toilet


Public Toilets


Drinking Water


Untreated Water


Picnic Shelter


Picnic Table


BBQ Facilities


Campfire Pit


Camping Area
Keep the Trail Features current...












Alpine National Park...
Select items to indicate features found along the trail.


Concrete Path


Timber Boardwalk


Gravel Path


Sandy Trail


Rough Trail


Undefined Trail


Prams & Strollers


Manual Wheelchair


Motorised Wheelchair


Bicycle Trail


Mountain Bike Trail


Historic Rail Trail


Dog Friendly


Urban Walk


Coast & Beach


Historic Lighthouse


Waterfalls & Lakes


Rainforest Walk


Goldfields & Mining


Heritage Walk


Aboriginal Art


Alpine Region


Alpine Huts


Exposed Ledges


Rock Scrambling


Steep Terrain


Bush Bashing


River Crossings


Scenic Viewpoints


Well Marked


Drinking Water


Untreated Water


Fishing Spots


Swimming Spots


Overnight Campsites


Trail Running


Horse Riding
Hike Summary
The ultimate Victorian High Country hike. The Viking Circuit takes in perhaps the greatest alpine scenery Victoria has to offer. The Viking Circuit is located in the Alpine National Park north east of Melbourne. The area is famous for the inspiration to the land-forms in Tomorrow When The War Began. With some inviting features such as The Crosscut Saw, Mount Buggary, Horrible gap, Mount Despair and The Viking this is not an easy hike.
Over 4 days you will cover close to 40km in distance which includes approximately 2,700m of accumulated vertical ascent. Oh yeah, and all that with a full pack.
The trail passes near Mount Howitt, before traversing the Crosscut Saw to Mount Speculation. It then continues through to Mount Despair and the Razor before ascending The Viking then down to the banks of the Wonnangatta River. The final day will see you ascend back up Wonnangatta Spur to your start point.
Alternatively you can do this hike in reverse which would see you start at the Mount Howitt Car Park in Victoria's Alpine National Park. It then goes down the Dry River Track to Wonnangatta Valley and then to the top of The Viking. It then passes over The Razor, Mount Despair, Mount Speculation, The Crosscut Saw, Mount Howitt and Macalister Springs. Then returns to Howitt Car park.
About the region
The Alpine National Park is a national park located in the Central Highlands and Alpine regions of Victoria, Australia. The 646,000-hectare national park is located northeast of Melbourne. It is the largest National Park in Victoria, and covers much of the higher areas of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, including Victoria's highest point, Mount Bogong at 1,986 metres and the associated subalpine woodland and grassland of the Bogong High Plains. The park's north-eastern boundary is along the border with New South Wales, where it abuts the Kosciuszko National Park.
Getting there
Drive to Licola and at the road junction near the bridge take the Tamboritha Road (don't cross the bridge). You will drive past bush camp sites before the road will turn into a dirt road. 48km from Licola you will reach the Arbuckle Junction, turn left and follow Howitt Road for another 37km to the Mount Howitt Carpark.
Warning
This walk is rated as difficult (Grade 4 and 5) and varies from well marked trails to lightly trekked wilderness. You will need to be fit, well prepared, possess excellent navigation skills. there is very little water along this trail so you will need to carry adequate supplies or have a good understanding of water procurement.
GPX File
Max elevation: 1676 m
Min elevation: 643 m
Total climbing: 2669 m
Total descent: -2667 m
Hikes Nearby
89 thoughts on “The Viking Circuit (40.7km)”
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Alan Dow
Elwyn Campbell
I’ll have to visit Victoria again ?
Craig Grant
Hi, would it be suitable to hike in October? Or better to wait for warmer weather?
This time of year would be ideal due to the increased likelihood of water sources due to snow melt. My only concern would be the Wonnangatta river as this would be impassable after heavy rain or snow run off. We are heading up this way in November for this reason.
The access road is usually closed until the end of October and sometimes longer. It is a long drive when the road is in poor condition so allow plenty of time to get there but you can camp at Howitt carpark to get an early start in the morning. Not a walk for beginners unless they are fit and guided by a competent person.
I love this hike. Had to be one of Victoria’s best
Glen Butler
Craig Thomas Irvine
Kimberly Broadhurst Amy Brown looks like fun!
We should totally do it!!!!
Interesting
Kimberly Broadhurst let’s set a weekend maybe November??
Amy Brown let’s set a weekend maybe in November??
Not to do this. This is extreme.
Haha amy!!!!
I completed the trail over the weekend in 3 days.
Day 1. Started out from Mt Howitt Car Park to Mt Speculation
This is a tough hike, it also happen to be the easiest out of the 3 days. Water source is down at Camp Creek, 15 minutes walk from Mt Speculation.
Day 2. Mount Speculation to Viking Saddle
The track from Mt Speculation to Catherine saddle is no longer visible due to overgrowth. We aimed for Catherine Saddle direction and climbed down from the mountain’s ridges while bush bashing.
Important note: There is a running creek at Viking Saddle. There’s mini trail that will take you there, and it only took 10 minutes. Although it is running water, please ensure to filter and purify it as there are animal faeces nearby.
Day 3. Viking Saddle back to Mt Howitt Carpark
The 3rd day only took us … 18 hours. We started out at 7am got to Wonnangatta River at 5pm. There were lots of bush bashing, and if it wasn’t for the GPS guidance provided by this site, surely we could not have made it. The hike from Wonnangatta River back to the carpark can be really tough in 30C degrees heat. So we were kinda lucky that the sun set at 8:30pm. Got back to the car at 1:30am
As the author has mentioned, you’d need to possess excellent navigation skills, able to keep calm and the patience to bush bash your way through. It is definitely not my favourite Victoria’s hike, but the morning view on top of Mt Speculation of the mists below make it all worth while.
Good luck and have fun 🙂
Awesome feedback. Thank you Tien. Wow, day 3 was a massive day for you.
Rodney how are your navigation skills?
I may have to check this one out too
Not good ?
Maybe we could squeeze it in the calendar for later in year
Maybe we could squeeze it in the calendar for later in year
Spring is a good time as it is more likely that there will be water around.
Emmet I think we should put this on the to do list as something to work towards 🙂
Adeline Dickson
Hayley Gibson you need to follow this page. It’s where I’m getting my trail inspiration atm. x
done! i’m up for some trail inspiration.
Patrick Cooley
Samuel Jc…good times
When it says 3 day walk it’s actually 3 full days.
Three hard, full days. A lot of people choose to do it in four for this reason.
… we did it in two…. it was a terrible idea.
Oh wow. That would have been a massively tiring hike. You would have finished late at night I guess.
A good training walk for us Bev Gaylene
OMG.
Very hard – but great scenery. One for my bucket list
Looks fantastic
Brenda Belfield 🙂
Shayne Gillings get on it
Emma Mickle add it to the list
Sascha Hovens ok! Next hike after the lake!
Angelo Garlitos
Thijs Baarda
Victor Augusto ?
Geordie White the viking circuit!
Harriet Cotton
Suzie Sharp one for when I get all of my overnight gear?
Romana Hoffman
Jennifer Ito smash it out in 1 day?
Manna McLeod let’s do it over 10, 4kms day sounds reasonable. 😉
Jennifer Ito LoL! That sounds so much better.
Patricia Pringlez
Shunyo James
Andrew Chau – another “lazy hike” to talk the ladies into for a long weekend?
Looks good! I’ll get the boots out
Easter weekend?
I’ve done the Viking trail before and it’s awesome ??
Could just run it and be done in 6hrs
No.
There is a section so dense we averaged 1.5k for 6 hours. if you could run the whole thing I will shave off all my hair
Cameron Forrest
Alicja Alice I like the sound of this….think we could do in 2 days! ?
Chris Smith quite possible.i would have to have a look at map first. in general i want to do all great alpine hike
Adam. This looks great.
Nick Whiley Well overdue!
Zac Leversha we work out weekends and respective rosters soon as I’m back. Keely, join us for a bad-ass hike?
Yes, I’m up for it 🙂
Phil Hunter
Mark R Reardon
Short by 60k and no ‘Bastard’ in it
A good long weekend hike.
James Thomas
Leesa Swanson 40 kms lol maybe ask Joanne Daisy Swanson
Leesa Swanson 40 kms lol maybe ask Joanne Daisy Swanson
Suzie Sharp it’s only 10kms per day so what’s the problem ??
Damian Hess
Aaron ?
Natnel Blch
Oh yeah!
Elyse Bell
April Watson
Pepper Carroll
Any update on the Viking Saddle to Wonnangatta River section as per tien nguyen’s comments on 1 February 2017? Heavy undergrowth and blackberries seem to rule this route out except for the most adventurous, or foolhardy.
That section of the hike has always and will probably always be over grown simply due to the number of people who attempt this hike. It is only for experienced hikers (not necessarily foolhardy). It is the only route you can take to complete the circuit.
Hi,
Really interested in doing this circuit in Spring.
Do you need a FWD to get to the carpark, or will a 2WD suffice?
Thanks!
HI Martin, you dont necessarily need a 4WD to access the main carpark. The road is gravel and is rough in places so I would not recommend a car that is low or has low profile tyres.