Wychitella Forest & Mt Kerang, Wychitella Nature Conservation Reserve - July 2004

Looking north east, from the open slopes of Mt Kerang.

Now before all my walking friends look at this post and decide that a trip to Mt Kerang is on their 'must do' bucket list, I have to tell you there is an issue. You see the Mt Kerang section of this stroll is now owned by Bush Heritage Australia, now I like Bush Heritage Australia enough that I’ve left a fair chunk of the Feral estate to them when we eventually cark it. Up here though they are trying to rid the country of feral pests so don’t really want people traipsing through their property meaning that nowadays the Mt Kerang section of this walk is off the table, unless you organise to go on a guided walk with them. While the Wychitella Forest section of the stroll is still accessible you’d really have to like your Mallee, Box and Yellow Box Eucalyptus trees to come all the way up here to wander through the scrubby forest.

I started the walk from this old dam.

Being only a few kilometres out of the central Victorian town of Wedderburn, Sam and I use to motor passed fairly regularly on our journeys further afield when we owned our ‘troopie’. We found that this spot was a perfect place, far enough off the highway to bed down for the night after having inevitably left Melbourne late at night after work. This was the last time we visited, I’m guessing it was back in the early 2000’s but I’m a little vague about the exact dates. What I do remember is we camped near a dry dam around 5 or 6 kilometres off the Calder Highway in the middle of Wychitella Forest.

Wychitella Forest

There were glimpses of Mt Kerang through the dry forest as I walked the 4wd track.

The first section of this little stroll follows a quiet 4wd track through the open forest, the dirt track meandering it’s way north west, climbing very gently beside a dry gully. Apart from Skinner Creek Dam which you drive past on the way in (and looks like it might make for a good swimming spot in summer) there isn’t a lot in the way of surface water on this stroll, well at least there hasn’t been on any of my visits. After around two kilometres of walking along the 4wd track, and with Mt Kerang occasionally visible through the open forest, the track arrives at an old fence line. This is the spot where this walk now effectively ends now unless you get permission from Bush Heritage Australia to continue.

On meeting an old fence line I headed off piste up the side of Mt Kerang (the fence line now marks the Bush Heritage property).

The open forest on the side of Mt Kerang made for nice walking.

Back in the day the old fence line marked the spot to head up a fairly open spur, off track, to climb Mt Kerang. This was a delightful off track walk up here, the scrub is very light so there is no scrub massage to worry about and the gradient, whilst getting reasonably steep towards the summit is never super steep. The open forest higher up the mountain allowing for some nice views when, inevitably I’d stop for a breather.

The top of Mt Kerang would make a nice spot to camp, maybe Bush Heritage could open it up to generate a bit of income?

We’re not talking wilderness up here, the Mt Kerang summit is crowned with telecommunication towers which have their own dirt access road. Despite being only a little over 100 metres higher than the surrounding country the view from up here punches above it’s weight a little, possibly because the summit is one of the last hills before the flat dry northern plains of Victoria take over. Looking south and east Mt Kooyoora and Mt Korong draw the eye respectively.

It's not exactly wilderness up here.

Mt Kerang

After taking in the scene from the summit today I reluctantly started my walk back down to Sam, I’ve always thought that, away from the towers the relatively flat grassy summit would make a good campsite, maybe it’s something Bush Heritage Australia could think about to generate a little extra cash? To make this into a circuit I followed the access road for a few hundred metres down the hill before once again heading off piste down the side of the mountain. Like the climb this little off track section is a nice and easy walk, the open grassy slopes making for easy progress.

Wandering back down I followed the telecommunication tower access track for awhile, before dropping off the side of the mountain off piste again.

Looking north towards the flat plains of northern Victoria.

After dropping down the slopes to the south and crossing a dry gully I met the access road again, my walk would now follow this road back to Sam. After a couple of minutes I arrived at the old fence line that I mentioned earlier and from here on the walk was just a retrace. The main interest now was the changing colour in the open forest as the sun got closer to the western horizon.

The descent was as pleasant as the climb had been.

Meeting there access track again lower down I just had to turn left and follow it back to Sam.

The Dirt.
I walked around 7 kilometres and climbed around 200 metres on this easy walk. I originally found out about this walk from one of Mr Tyrone Thomas’ old books, the seventh edition of 120 Walks in Victoria, this edition of the book dates back to 2000 and is out of print now. As I’ve already mentioned whilst doing a bit of google research before writing this walk up, I discovered that Bush Heritage Australia now own and manage a fair chunk of this walk, so if anyone wants to head up to Mr Kerang they will need permission from them. Probably a better option if you are in the area and want to camp or do a bit of walking would be to make the short journey over to Kooyoora State Park.

Relevant Posts.
Kooyoora State Park, 2016.
Moliagul, Moliagul Historic & Cultural Features Reserve, 2017.

Late afternoon in Wychitella Forest.

Wychitella Forest with it's dry open forest is a great spot for bird watching.