TRAIL

Oxfam Trailwalker Melbourne 2013 will be held 19-21 April and see more than 700 teams walk from Wheelers Hill to Wesburn, in Melbourne’s outer eastern suburbs.

Melbourne_Trail_Overview_2013

 

The trail begins in the wide open spaces of Jells Park in Wheelers Hill. Passing through the Corhanwarrabul Wetlands, Churchill National Park and Lysterfield Park, the trail then ventures through Belgrave and into the beautiful Dandenong Ranges National Park.

From here it travels along the Warburton Trail and along the beautiful O’Shannassy Aqueduct Trail in the Yarra Ranges National Park and on to Warburton. Then it’s a few short climbs and a steep decline over Mt Little Joe before finishing in the expansive Wesburn Park.

Churchill National Park
Churchill National Park at Rowville in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs is a remnant of natural bush and an example of the original landscape before clearing and settlement. Although most of the park is open regrowth woodland, there are small areas of original forest. The area that is now the park was part of the lands of the Bunurong Aboriginal people. Today members of the Wurundjeri community of Melbourne are involved in park management and recovering Aboriginal heritage.

Dandenong Ranges National Park
In 1987, Sherbrooke Forest, Doongalla Reserve and Ferntree Gully National Park were combined to form Dandenong Ranges National Park. Covering 3215 hectares, the park plays an important role in protecting a population of famous lyrebirds and other fauna, as well as protecting the forests and fern gullies of the Ranges. Since June 1997, Olinda State Forest and the Mt Evelyn Forest have also been included in Dandenong Ranges National Park.

Yarra Ranges National Park
Yarra Ranges National Park is home to forests of Mountain Ash, rainforest and fern gullies as well as the endangered Leadbeater's Possum. Stretching from Healesville to Warburton, from the headwaters of the Yarra to Marysville, this National Park was declared in 1995 and is a vital catchment for Melbourne's water supply.

Excerpts from the website of Parks Victoria

For more detailed information about the trail, check out Hitting the trail