Little Forest Walk, Bungal State Forest - March 2021

Climbing Crossing Track first thing this morning. This walk was basically half on tracks like this and half off track.

I've had my eye on this walk over in the Bungal State Forest for a couple of years. A rough plan that had been floating around the dark recesses of my mind had me visiting the park for an easy overnight walk, maybe after work on a Friday. With the Mooroobool River East Branch having cut a gorge through the country I was keen to find myself a quiet bend in the river to camp and swim on. Unfortunately the planets haven't aligned for me over the last couple of years and I've never made it out to Bungal State Forest though.

This week I'd found myself having to work for a full day on the Friday so once again my preferred option for an easy overnight stroll was off the table. With a predicted big dump of rain predicted to arrive at lunchtime on the Saturday I had another look at the Little Forest Walk out at Bungal State Forest. After doing a few rough calculations in my head I figured that if I got an early start from home I'd be able to do the walk and maybe have a swim and then hopefully make it back to the ute by the early afternoon and maybe beat the rain. So that was why I found myself parking the ute at a road closed sign on Crossings Track and setting off down the track to cross Bungal Creek and enter the park very early on this Saturday morning.

I parked the ute at the Road Closed sign on Crossing Track. It should be OK to get a 2wd into here although don't block the cow cockies gate.

This is really a walk in two parts, the first half of the walk is along quiet 4wd tracks through the dry and open forest, the second half of the walk is an off track adventure along high ridges and river flats beside the Moorabool River East Branch. After crossing Bungal Creek this morning Crossings Track climbed solidly for a few minutes before more or less flattening out as I headed first east before swinging around and settling on a northern bearing. As I started to swing from east to north Crossing Track merged with Ballark Track and I'd spend the next twenty minutes or so shuffling along it. Reaching the signposted Koolooroo Track I took it and started a fairly long and easy descent down to the Kooloooroo Picnic Areas on the flats beside the Moorabool River East Branch, it's only really the last 100 metres that gets a little steep on this descent.

I was walking under an overcast sky this morning... although it was a reasonably warm and humid morning.

The huge Moorabool Wind Farm is not far away. 

Dropping down Crossing Track towards the Bungal Creek.

Things are fairly low key over in Bungal State Forest.

Easy going along Ballark Track.

Bungal State Forest.

There are some gnarly old Stringybarks over here.

My descent down to the river was fairly long but gentle this morning.

Bungal State Forest.

Koolooroo Picnic Area marked the spot where I'd leave the tracks this morning and set off across country. Now this may not come as a surprise to any people who drop by this blog occasionally, however I've walked out here a few times before. So having walked here before I had a fair idea of what the off piste section had in store for me, I knew that the river flats while being flatter (obviously) was also infested with weeds and gorse in spots and it made walking them slow. The ridge tops above the river generally make for much easier walking along here although it's not all sweetness and light. The relevant word in that last sentence was above - yes, these ridge tops are a long way above the river so there is a fair bit of effort involved in just getting up onto the ridges sometimes. Leaving the picnic area I actually followed a side gully away from the river for a few minutes before climbing a shallow valley that paralleled the Moorabool River East Branch with the ridge to my left before finally I had a quick little climb up onto the ridge. 

Koolooroo Picnic Area.

The Moorabool River East Branch was flowing at the Koolooroo Picnic Area however I didn't see a good spot for a swim here.

Leaving the picnic area I actually climbed a little away from the river for awhile.

It pays to keep an eye out for open mine shafts - especially on the off piste sections of this walk.

I climbed this shallow valley before climbing up onto the crest of the ridge which was on my left now.

Popping out on the ridge from this direction has the advantage of a nice reveal as I crested the ridge to see the Moorabool River East Branch below me - far below me! I now set off on my long sinuous journey downstream along the ridge tops. The going along the ridge tops is surprisingly easy (for an off piste walk) as the scrub is fairly light and the country pretty open, any thicker bands of scrub, and there were a few, were normally pretty short and easy enough to get through. Navigation along the ridges was also pretty good as really I had to just keep the river in sight on my left, although keeping an eye on the map can make things a lot easier as I could short cut some of the rivers bigger meandering bends. 

Once I crested the ridge the view suddenly opened up.

The drop off to the Moorabool River East Branch is extremely steep in places.

The river was a long way below me for most of the walk.

Now when I talk about walking the ridge tops along here it's not all flat walking with great views, the ridgeline is cut in numerous spots by gullies of varying depth meaning that I had to cross them. Now while some of these gullies were pretty shallow, in a couple of spots I had to virtually drop down to the river level get across which certainly got the heart rate up a bit. Around half way along my ridge walk between the Koolooroo Picnic Area and Ballark Picnic Area I stumbled upon a unmapped 4wd track that allowed for some easier walking for a short while, although it wasn't long before the track started dropping down a gully towards the river and I decided that it was time to head back up onto the ridge tops. Back on the tops I entered an area that looked like it had been mined pretty heavily back in the day however the walking was generally pretty easy. I was able to keep an eye on my progress along the river by the nearby wind farms on the rural land on the other side of the gorge, with the turbines slowly getting closer and then just as slowly receding into the distance behind me.

At one stage on my ridge walk I followed this un mapped 4wd track for awhile although it wasn't long before it started descending towards the river....

... so I climbed back up onto the ridge.

Nice off piste walking as I headed south above the Moorabool River East Branch.

It's not exactly un-touched by man up here.

When the sun did emerge from the clouds this morning the light was pretty good for photos.

Looking down to the river from the ridge.

After avoiding a spur dropping down to a big looping bend in the river (my most likely camp if I ever get up here for an overnight walk) I soon arrived out of the bush onto Ballark Track and dropped down to the deserted Ballark Picnic Area. It had taken me around 1.5 hours to walk from Koolooroo Picnic Area to Ballark Picnic Area this morning which is probably around 5 or 6 kilometres walking so it's not a super tough scrub bash. Dropping down to the Moorabool River East Branch at the picnic area I decided it was time for morning smoko and after finding a sandy beach leading into a small pool in the river a swim was also enjoyed. Thankfully the predicted rain was yet to arrive and the morning was still, warm and humid, although looking at the gathering dark clouds I could see that the change in the weather wasn't too far away.

Eventually I emerged from the scrub onto Ballark Track and dropped down to the picnic area.

Ballark Picnic Area. There isn't much in the way of facilities here - just an informal table.

The Moorabool River East Branch at Ballark Picnic Area.

There is a reasonable pool and beach on the river here. The scum on the water is pollen so it's not an issue.

After drip drying for awhile I pulled on my clothes and shuffled off on the last section of today's stroll. I had a couple of options now, the easier but slightly longer and maybe less interesting option would of been to follow first Ballark Track and then Crossing Track back to the ute. The harder but potentially more interesting option was again to climb to the ridge tops over looking first the Moorabool River East Branch and then a bit later Bungal Creek and scrub bash my way back to meet Crossings Track north of the ford over Bungal Creek. I'm guessing everyone knows which option I'd choose, yes I headed up onto the ridge tops again. After the initial climb away from the Ballark Picnic Area the walking was pretty reasonable again as the open forest didn't provide many impediments, again it was only the gullies that I had to get around that really caused any issues along this section. Once again there was evidence of mining along this section too and I shuffled past at least one open mine shaft, so caution is the order of the day along this bit of the walk I think.

Leaving the picnic area I climbed back onto the ridges.

Conservative politicians seem to think these wind farms are utterly offensive... I actually think that they have a certain elegance about them - certainly better than a coal fired power station.

More easy off piste walking.

There was a little more evidence of the old mining activity down the south of the park.

Around half an hour after leaving Ballark Picnic Area I emerged from the bush onto Crossings Track and completed the circuit part of today's stroll. Almost as soon as I'd joined Crossings Track I started to descend reasonably steeply down to the ford over Bungal Creek. It was also about now that the predicted rain arrived in earnest, up until now I'd had a couple of light showers pass through but now as I climbed back up Crossings Track to the ute the rain was more persistent. Arriving back at the ute I hurriedly pulled my boots and socks off trying to stay as dry as possible, throwing them into the back of the ute before climbing in and setting off for the two hour drive home.

This kind of open country makes for some nice walking I think.

Eventually I emerged from the bush back onto Crossing Track.

On meeting Crossing Track it almost immediately dropped down to cross Bungal Creek.

Bungal Creek wasn't flowing today although there was a pool of water at the ford.

The Dirt.

Ok, according to my GPS I walked around 13.6 kilometres and climbed about 390 metres on what I'd call a medium grade stroll. Now while the length of the walk and the amount of climbing involved doesn't appear to tough you need to be aware that around half of it is off track - it is by no means the hardest off piste walking if you get the navigation right, however if you find yourself boxed in by bluffs along the river then the walking could get very tough indeed, still I can only tell it as I did it so I'm going with a medium rating. The 4wd tracks at Bungal State Park (the ones that I walked anyway) are all signposted. The two picnic areas have a table and not much else. If swimming is what you want then Spring would be the best time for a visits by Autumn the river is getting pretty low, Ballark Picnic Area is where I got wet today. I used Mr Tempest's notes and map today along with my GPS topos. Tyrone Thomas has also written up a variation of this walk that is a bit longer in one of his old books (a walk that I may come back and do as an easy overnight walk in the future).

Relevant Posts.

Lal Lal Forest Walk, 2015.

Arriving back at the ute on Crossing Track just as the rain set in.

The rain wouldn't worry me much now!