Goldie Bushland Walk - April 2021

Nice walking along No. 3 Creek this afternoon.

Flicking through one of Tyrone Thomas' old books one day (yes, I lead an exciting life!) I stumbled upon the description for this little stroll. The thing that got my attention about this walk was just how mundane it all looked, an out and back walk along a 4wd track that featured quite a bit of rural land. Wondering to myself why this particular stroll would feature in book purporting to represent the best walking in Victoria I decided that when the planets align one day I'd have to head up and see what was going on at this Goldie Bushland place... and the planets aligned this afternoon.

I parked just off the Lancefield - Kilmore Road on McGraths Lane.

Leaving the ute beside McGraths Lane near the spot it left the Lancefield - Kilmore Road I re-set the GPS and shuffled off towards the low afternoon sun. I was following McGraths Lane pretty well north, heading along the gentle valley of the nearby No. 3 Creek. As Mr Thomas had suggested I was passing through mostly rural land initially, although after passing a farm house and crossing over a very low rise the track spent most of the remaining distance in a corridor of bushland. 

I followed McGraths Lane for a fair chunk of the walk this afternoon. 

I passed by a fair bit of rural land on this stroll.

The Goldie Bushland Reserve is fairly small, however it's still a pleasant spot to spend a little time exploring.

With the No. 3 Creek to my left and the old alignment of the Kilmore to Lancefield Railway line to my right it was pleasant enough wandering along the deserted 4wd track, although I was still questioning the top walks in Victoria rating. The further north I shuffled this afternoon the rougher the 4wd track became however, apart from a couple of decent sized mud holes it was all pretty strait forward. After entering the Goldie Bushland Reserve I avoided a track to the left that branched off down to No. 3 Creek and continued my journey along McGraths Lane, the little reserve being home to a decent size mob of Roos as well as the usual noisey Cockies. 

Late afternoon in the Goldie Bushland Reserve.

You've got to use a bit of imagination however this is the alignment of the old railway heading into the bush.

This rural land signified the northern extremity of this afternoons walk.

Almost as quickly as I'd entered the Goldie Bushland Reserve I emerged from the northern end, and with some farm land and houses starting to appear I crossed over the old railway easement and shortly after arrived at the end of McGraths Lane - still a little perplexed at this walk inclusion in Mr Thomas' book. Heading west down another quiet 4wd track I arrived at the spot the old railway line crossed over No. 3 Creek. Mr Thomas suggested that the walk back should be enlivened by following the creek side flats for some of the distance, although the sight of some big infestations of Gorse along with an electric fence that I had to negotiate had me a little doubtful. Still I'm nothing if not stubborn determined, so I carefully negotiated the electric fence, managing to get across without giving my nuts an electronic kick. Once over the fence I followed the old railway easement for a couple of minutes passing through the worst of the Gorse infestation before I dropped off the easement and headed off south along the valley, now off piste. 

Arriving at No. 3 Creek the infestations of Gorse quickly scuppered any plans for ambling back beside the creek.

The remains of the old railway bridge at No. 3 Creek.

I followed the old railway easement away from the creek for a few minutes...

... before I dropped off the easement and headed south down the valley off piste.

Now when I say that this bit of the walk was off piste then what I mean was there was no one track, although there was quite a lot of animal pads to follow. After five minutes or so of fairly nice walking I emerged from the bush back onto MacGraths Lane for a little while, although after entering the Goldie Bushland Reserve again I veered west again across country back down to No. 3 Creek. This section of the walk was arguably the best walking of the day as the open creek side flats were now mostly devoid of Gorse and there was a faint pad to follow along the creek's bank. All good things come to an end though and it wasn't very long at all before I had to leave the creek and I re-joined MacGraths Lane to shuffle my way back to the ute. Walking the last few minutes back to the ute I once again contemplated why Mr Thomas had included this walk and I'm thinking that I might have got it. I'm starting to think Mr Thomas may have a similar outlook on walks that I have, yes it's interesting enough to write about the bucket list walks (The Prom, The Grampians, The High Country, etc) however it's sometimes the less well known and written about spots that can give you a real sense of discovery....maybe?

Nice walking in the Goldie Bushland Reserve.

No. 3 Creek, Goldie Bushland Reserve. 

The old railway alignment was never far away for most of the walk.

Mount William Range (no not the Grampians one!).

Back on McGraths Lane and heading for the ute.

The Dirt.

According to my GPS I walked around 7.4 kilometres and climbed about 91metres on this easy stroll. This walk can be best described as an inoffensive stroll in the bush, there is nothing spectacular on offer however there was nothing to shitty either (apart from maybe the electric fence!). It would be easy enough to walk an out and back job along MacGraths Lane and avoid any off track walking if you wanted to, if anyone reads this and does want to do the off piste stuff then this is a good walk to practice your navigation, as the off track stuff is shoehorned between No. 3 Creek and MacGraths Lane so getting too geographically embarrassed would be pretty hard. Apart from the inoffensive native bush there is also the old railway easement and the native animals to add interest on this stroll. As I've mentioned Tyrone Thomas has written this stroll up in his old book 150 Walks in Victoria and I used the notes and mud map out of that books as well as my GPS topos.

Relevant Posts.

Cherokee to Lions Head Walk, Macedon Regional Park, 2020.

There were a lot of Roos on this walk along with plentiful noisy birdlife.

The late afternoon light always helps my photos.

Time to jump in the ute and head home after what had been a pleasant little walk.