Short walks from Balook: rainforest, tall Mountain Ash and a canopy bridge
Photo: Lindsay Evans, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
15 minutes to 1.5 hours · All start at the Tarra-Bulga National Park Visitor Centre, Balook
Check track conditions before you set out
Sections close for storm damage, harvesting and roadworks. See the latest track conditions on the homepage.
Only have a few hours? These short walks start from the Visitor Centre car park at Balook, in Tarra-Bulga National Park. They take you through tall Mountain Ash forest and cool temperate rainforest, and most can be joined together.
Choose a walk
| Walk | Distance | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Fern Gully Nature Walk | 720 m | 15 min return |
| Corrigan Suspension Bridge | 1.2 km | 25 min one way |
| Lyrebird Ridge Track | 2.4 km | 45 min return |
| Forest Track | 4.4 km | 1.5 hrs return |
Distances and times are from Parks Victoria.
Fern Gully Nature Walk
720 m return · about 15 minutes
An excellent introduction to the plants and wildlife of the Mountain Ash forests and cool temperate rainforests of Tarra-Bulga National Park, with interpretive signs along the way.
The walk starts where Ash Track meets Wills Track. From the Visitor Centre car park, follow Lyrebird Ridge Track, then Ash Track (680 m, about 15 minutes one way), past remnants of logging from the early 1900s.
It’s an easy add-on to the Corrigan Suspension Bridge walk, which uses the same tracks.
Corrigan Suspension Bridge
1.2 km one way · about 25 minutes
The Corrigan Suspension Bridge stretches through the rainforest canopy, with views of the fern gully below. Come back the same way, or return along the Scenic Track, past the biggest trees in the park.
Lyrebird Ridge Track
2.4 km return · about 45 minutes · First 300 m suitable for wheelchairs and prams
Lyrebird Ridge Track leads through regenerating and mature Mountain Ash forest from the Visitor Centre, with seats along the way. Tarra-Bulga has more than 100 bird species, including lyrebirds, so listen as you walk.
- Accessible start: the first 300 m is a flat gravel track, suitable for wheelchairs and prams. After that, slopes make it hard going for unassisted wheelchair users.
- Make it a loop: carry on along Forest Track, which starts at the end of Lyrebird Ridge Track and loops back to the Visitor Centre.
- Ash Track branches off Lyrebird Ridge Track towards the Fern Gully Nature Walk and the Corrigan Suspension Bridge.
Forest Track
4.4 km return · about 1.5 hours · Unsurfaced, with some steep sections
The longest of the short walks, recommended for the more serious walker. Forest Track winds through Mountain Ash forest and a rainforest gully, then completes a circuit back to the Visitor Centre along part of the old Yarram–Balook Road.
- Forest Track starts at the end of Lyrebird Ridge Track, so the two make a loop from the car park.
- Mountain Ash forest, a gully of cool temperate rainforest and a Hazel Pomaderris thicket.
- The loop with Lyrebird Ridge Track crosses Macks Creek on a low boardwalk.
- The track is unsurfaced and has some steep sections. Wear good shoes.
- Forest Track is also part of the Tarra Valley Loop and the Macks Creek Loop.
Read Richard’s walk on the Forest Track and Scenic Track (2020).
Visitor Centre and facilities
These walks start from the Tarra-Bulga National Park Visitor Centre car park at Balook.
- The Visitor Centre is run by Friends of Tarra-Bulga volunteers. It opens on weekends and public holidays, 11 am to 4 pm (3 pm in winter), and closes on severe-weather days.
- Public toilets (including accessible toilets) and water, picnic tables, electric barbecues and a shelter.
- There are no rubbish bins in the park, so take your rubbish home.
- No dogs, except assistance dogs. No wood fires.
Getting there
Balook is about 2.5 hours from Melbourne. Take the Princes Highway to the Yarram / Loy Yang exit, turn right at the traffic lights just before Loy Yang Power Station, then follow the brown tourist signs to Tarra-Bulga National Park and Balook. The Traralgon–Balook Road from Loy Yang is sealed.
From Yarram, follow the signs north through Tarra Valley to Balook. More options, including public transport, are on Plan your hike.
More walks nearby
Want a full day? Try the Mount Tassie Loop, Tarra Valley Loop or Macks Creek Loop. Plan your hike has everything else you need.
Something easy with some history? The Duff Sawmill Heritage Trail starts on the Traralgon–Balook Road, about 2.3 km from the Visitor Centre. It’s 3.7 km one way, about 1.5 hours, through Blackwood forest and old sawmilling country.
Photo credits: beech canopy by Lindsay Evans, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).
