Organ Pipes Walk, Organ Pipes National Park - August 2018

The Organ Pipes

Driving back home on a Friday after one of my little adventures recently, I found myself heading into the city along the Calder Freeway at around 5pm. Now trying to get through the city at peak hour on a Friday is normally a slow and frustrating affair so I was looking for something that would kill a bit of time before I’d brave the chaos. Not being from this side of town my knowledge of the options available were a bit thin, maybe I could cut a few laps on the Thunderdome (hey, I might even be able to give a lift to some of the kids still trying to get home from the Gunners show), or maybe I could go and hang out at the airport food court for awhile, yeah, like I said ‘not much knowledge….'

Just as the traffic warnings started flashing up on the GPS in the ute quicker than I could clear them I motored past the sign to the Organ Pipes National Park, that’ll do me. With the gates of the park due to have closed 30 minutes ago I figured that I’d better park on the outside of the gates if I didn’t want to be joining the Guns n’ Roses crew still trying to get back to the city later tonight. Thankfully walking in along the entrance road only added a few hundred metres to the walk and it was a pleasant enough walk with no traffic about.

By the time I arrived at the gate it was already well past closing time.

It's a pretty small National Park.

The lookout near the visitor centre gives a nice view over the Jacksons Creek Valley if you don't want to drop down to the creek.

As I’ve eluded to already the tiny Organ Pipes National Park is wedged in between the Calder Park Thunderdome on one side and Tullamarine Airport on the other side, in Melbourne’s ever sprawling northern suburbs. A lot of the country west of Melbourne has a volcanic history…literally! The Organ Pipes National Park sits on the Keilor Plains, apparently the site of one of the worlds largest lava flows, looking around at the encroaching suburbia it’s a little hard to get your head around that though. One place that does make the volcanic history of the area a little more obvious is down in the steep valley cut by Jacksons Creek which is now protected by the Organ Pipes National Park. Having taken in my geology lesson at the visitor centre, I wandered along the short lookout track, enjoying the late afternoon winter light before heading down the main valley access track.

The walk down to the creek follows this sealed track, it's a lot easier than you might think.

The Kangaroos were out grazing in the shadows on the far side of the valley.

It’s a very easy walk down the sealed track into the valley and after stopping to get a few photos of the roo’s grazing in the shadows on the other side of the valley I took the short track down to check out my first point of interest, Rosette Rock. With this part of the valley now well and truly in the shade I struggled to do much with the camera here, really I just went for the stock standard shot from the lookout as I was pretty keen to move on to the next attraction before I lost the light all together. With all the attractions down here only spread along around a couple of kilometres of Jacksons Creek I didn’t have far to go to reach the next point of interest, Tessellated Pavement.

It wasn't just the Roos out and about this afternoon, there was also a few Wobblies around as well.

The stock photo of Rosette Rock.

Where as Rosette Rock featured basalt columns spreading out like bicycle spokes, Tessellated Pavement on the other hand is more like your crazy paving. Climbing over the Tessellated Pavement the pad continues under a small basalt cliff before quickly emerging in a bit of an amphitheatre, the rocks above glowing reddish in the setting sun giving this spot a bit of an Australian Outback feel about it. Looking away from the bluffs I could see the setting sun going down through the Red Gums lining Jacksons Creek, it felt like I was miles from anywhere down here, well apart from the planes coming in and out of the airport.

Tessellated Pavement

The pad continues a bit past the Tessellated Pavement.

After a few metres I arrived at his amphitheatre, with the reddish rocky bluffs and Cypress Pines it felt very remote.

Jacksons Creek was flowing a banka today and I now followed the surging water down stream to the main attraction, The Organ Pipes. Framed from a distance by some Red Gums, The Organ Pipes are more basalt columns that, you guessed it, look like the pipes on some massively grand organ. Having the park to myself was a good thing here as I was able to to move around and take it all in without other punters getting in my photos. The sun now lighting up the red bluffs above The Organ Pipes as it slipped below the horizon.

Jacksons Creek was flowing a banka today.

The local's were keeping a close eye on the Feral interloper...

I passed by The Organ Pipes National Park humpies.

The Organ Pipes

After checking out the main viewing spot for The Organ Pipes I picked up a minor pad and continued on down stream a bit further. I’m not 100% sure on whether I was meant to be walking along this pad but if it’s not formalised maybe it should be, the scenery along this little stretch added to my little excursion I think. After leaving The Organ Pipes the pad passes beside some beautiful old Red Gums, with the brown water of Jacksons Creek flowing beneath and the red, yellow and ochre coloured cliffs on the other side of the creek this was a very nice place to be this afternoon, like I mentioned earlier I felt as though I was miles from anywhere down here. It’s easy to imagine that the local Woiworung indigenous people would of enjoyed being down in this little oasis, the flat lava plains above would of made for meagre pickings back in the day, I would think.

This is a magic spot I think.

All good things come to an end though, so with the light rapidly fading I figured that I’d better start making my way back up to the ute. The climb back up is a lot easier than it appears really, although it was no doubt made easier by me stopping frequently to take photos in soft light. Climbing back up onto the plain it doesn’t take long to be jarred back to the real world. The sun now setting behind the huge high voltage power lines in one direction, the heavy Friday afternoon traffic as people headed home from work for the weekend on the Calder Freeway, in another direction and the whole scene backed by the earth banks of the Thunderdome.

There are plenty of gnarly old trees down by Jacksons Creek.

It was getting pretty dark as I headed back up to the ute.

The Dirt.
I walked around 4.1 kilometres and climbed 138 metres on this easy walk. This walk is mostly suitable for the very young and the old, it’s also wheel chair and stroller friendly if you just stick to the main viewing points. I’m thinking if you live in the northern or western suburbs of Melbourne this tiny park should be on your must visit list. Parks Vic have every thing you need for free online to do this walk, if you really want notes then the walk has been written up by Melanie Ball, John and Lyn Daly and Tyrone Thomas among others so walking notes shouldn’t be too hard to find.

Relevant Posts.
Macedon Ranges Circuit, 2016.
The Old River, Lerderderg State Park, 2017.
Plenty River & Blue Lake, Plenty Gorge Park, 2018.

It didn't take long for the illusion of remoteness to be shattered once I'd climbed out of the valley.

The pay off for having to walk the access road was that I had the park to myself and the nice light, not a bad price to pay.