The Viking Circuit is a 41km, grade 5 hike located in Alpine National Park, Victoria. The hike should take around 3-4 days to complete.
Hike overview
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 3-4 days you will cover close to 41km 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.
Route and GPX file
Max elevation: 1676 m
Min elevation: 643 m
Total climbing: 2669 m
Total descent: -2667 m
Tips
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.
Trail location
Sorry, no records were found. Please adjust your search criteria and try again.
Sorry, unable to load the Maps API.
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.
Access conditions
- 4WD Access
- Gravel Road
- Steep Road
- Winding Road
- Large Car Park
- Accessible Parking
- Public Toilets
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.
Similar trails nearby
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
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.Â
Suggest an edit
Does this hikes information need updating? Sometimes the route, trail features or access conditions change.
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.
1 Review on “The Viking Circuit Hike (41km)”
Started from Mt Howitt carpark clockwise, There is water at camp creek currently (March 2023), would recommend taking the “Speculation road” from lower camp creek to Catherine Saddle in 2023, We didn’t, day 2 we started from upper camp creek, was tough to get through that section along the Aus alpine hiking track, no path was found at any point, very heavy brush on a slope. Maybe even consider camping at lower camp creek if you are feeling a bit sore on day 1.
Not sure if there is water at Viking saddle.
Very hard. Amazing views. Pack as light as you can, lots of up and down.
Talked to somebody who made it from Mt Speculations to Viking and back in a day with a day pack another time, this could be an option with an early start, lets you skip Zeka Spur track but need to be very fit.
Patricia Pringlez
Patrick Cooley
Pepper Carroll
Phil Hunter
Rodney how are your navigation skills?
Short by 60k and no ‘Bastard’ in it
Shunyo James
Shayne Gillings get on it
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.
Sascha Hovens ok! Next hike after the lake!
Suzie Sharp one for when I get all of my overnight gear?
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
Thijs Baarda
Three hard, full days. A lot of people choose to do it in four for this reason.
Samuel Jc…good times
Suzie Sharp it’s only 10kms per day so what’s the problem ??
Romana Hoffman
Spring is a good time as it is more likely that there will be water around.
A good training walk for us Bev Gaylene
Aaron ?
Adam. This looks great.
Adeline Dickson
Alan Dow
Amy Brown let’s set a weekend maybe in November??
Andrew Chau – another “lazy hike” to talk the ladies into for a long weekend?
Angelo Garlitos
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.
April Watson
Brenda Belfield 🙂
Cameron Forrest
Chris Smith quite possible.i would have to have a look at map first. in general i want to do all great alpine hike
Could just run it and be done in 6hrs
Craig Grant
Craig Thomas Irvine
Damian Hess
done! i’m up for some trail inspiration.
Alicja Alice I like the sound of this….think we could do in 2 days! ?