Victorian High Country

Crooked River Trip

August 2011

Day 1. Met up with friends from Frankston at Traralgon & travelled through to Kingswell Bridge on the Wonnangatta Road.
Crooked River Track takes off to the right & eventually passes beside a homestead (always have empathy for those buggers with the traffic that must pass by) just prior to the first river crossing.
Looked at this crossing a few years back but as the water was high & flowing fast we opted for Randalls Track which heads off to the right before the crossing . . .  but thats another trip.
The majority of 'Crooked River Track' on the southern side of Talbotville is easy with a number of camp sites & large open spaces along the river towards the talbotville end - past the Cynthia Range Track turnoff. From memory, at the first very open area beside the river that you get to there is a track in the southern end that crosses the river (Wongungarra) & continues through for around half a km & dead ends back on the river. Fits around 5 vehicles.
All this area is leased property so look out for the Herefords.
There's a shortage of firewood but the waters handy with small brown trout looking for a hook.

Second river crossing

Wongungarra River beside campsite

  

Day 2. Through to Wonnangatta Station.
 Backtracked around a km & turned right up Cynthia Range Track. This Track has a relatively steep climb at the start, which would be rated at moderate to easy in the dry, with a good outlook for some snaps at the top. The rest of Cynthia through to Wombat Spur Track is uneventful but the scenery from up on the range is something to write home about.
We opted for Wombat Spur track to descend into the valley. You can take a shorter route down Hernes Spur Track into the southern end of Wonnangatta but I have had previous experiences with Hernes . . . once again thats another trip . . .so we opted for a 'cruisier' trip.



Top of Wombat Spur Track looking back to the north.

If you do take Hernes Spur there are some excellent camping & fishing spots down on the Wonnangatta River, before you meet up again with the extension of the Wombat Spur loop.
At the bottom of Wombat Spur you meet up with the Humffrey river Track and the Tea Tree Range Track coming in from the right. Tea Tree Range Track can be easily seen on the descent of Wombat.
Sharp left and you meet up again with Hernes Spur track after 3 river crossings.After the fourth crossing it's around 8 km to the Homestead.
There's an upper and lower track along the majority of this section with the lower track, although liable to get muddy and greasy with a bit of traffic, gives access to a number of campsites on the Wonnangatta River.
Just before you cross Conglomorate Creek, where the valley opens out, there's good camping in the 'horse yard' area with a canopy of what I assume are english trees.
Failing that, turning right after crossing Conglomorate leads down to the river with campsites and toilets.
Wonnangatta Valley . .  what can be said to extol its significance as to one of the major 'have to go to places' in the High Country. Steeped in mystery & an iconic part of Victorias heritage.
I met up with a vehicle (nearly literally) coming down the old 'Devils Staircase Track' in the mid '80's with South Aus number plates - when I mentioned that they were a long way from home they replied that the word had spread that 'Wonnangatta' was the place to go to.
The north west exit from the valley is now up Zeka Track. I've lost track (no pun), but when I first visited, the way up to Howitt was further north up Devils Staircase. At some stage it was rerouted along Zeka Creek & then to its present location.
There used to be a shipping container at the far top end of the valley behind the homestead that (I beleive) housed aviation fuel for rescue choppers based at Sale. Maybe someone with more knowledge can refute or acknowledge this. Anyway on this trip there was no sign of it having ever been there.
As much as I have enjoyed Wonnangatta over the years I can't help but feel that it has lost it's ranking as a place to go to & be seen in. Long drops have been installed & the grass is slashed over summer.
On the last trip into Wonnangatta, around early 2009 coming in from Butcher Country, all the grass area in this section of the valley had been slashed by the DSE. Maybe it would have been better to leave the cattle in there rather than cancelling the leases.
If all the good campsites are taken, which is not unusual unless you get in early, there are places to get down to the river further up the valley - the water can be assured of being cleaner upstream which is a bonus.
Way back in the '70's when I first ventured into Wonnangatta it was not unusual to meet other 4wd's many of whom were deer hunters, but now the numbers that get in there, even on a normal weekend, is mind blowing.
It won't be long before campsites are numbered and you'll need to book beforehand.

Wonnangatta Valley looking north from Conglomorate Creek







Failing to find a camp site in the 'main' area, there are a few good sheltered places along Conglomorate Creek. Follow the track past the Widow Maker beside the Homestead site and the side valley opens up to follow the creek.
I believe this area of the valley was where crops were grown by the Bryces who acquired the lease in the 1860's.
For those heading back via Licola, the Zeka Spur track,leading up to the Howiit High Plains, is at the far northern end of the valley and clearly marked.
We left Wonnangatta mid afternoon and retraced our route back up Wombat Spur. Travelled along Cynthia and then turned left down Station Track doing a loop via Pioneer Racecourse, Talbotville and back to the campsite on the Wongungarra.
One of our vehicles did a CV joint and lost front wheel drive just as we were starting up Wombat and had to be towed up to the range and then eased down Station Track. It was drizzling rain but the tracks were still firm.
Station track, as with most in this area, is clay based and can need some attention if there's a bit of moisture around but overall it would rate as 'moderate'.
From the bottom, at Pioneer Racecourse, the track is easy and could comfortably be taken in 2wd (with ground clearance).
Had a brief look in at Talbotville and couldn't see the grass for the tents and vehicles. Made us cherish the fact that we'd opted to camp lower down.
There's 2, maybe 3, river crossings to handle into Talbotville and then to continue down the Crooked River Track but at the 'track open' time of year these generally have insignificant water levels.
Day 3. Bulltown along Crooked River Track.
Ventured back to Talbotville and continued along the eastern side of Crooked River. There's toilets at Talbotville, no firewood and McMillans Track which heads up to Grant and then back onto the bitumen down to Dargo.
The Crooked River Track north from Talbotville would be rated as 'easy'for most of the 'open' season. From memory there's around 13 crossings with some requiring decent suspension clearance. Other than that it's a pretty average track as far as scenery goes. Fairly typical of 'bottom of the valley tracks'.
For keen fishermen after a feed there is an abundance of small brown trout.
The main thing that struck me was the amount of scrubby regrowth along the valley. On previous trips before the fires the landscape was completely different.
Possibly, other than crossing it of the list of places to go to, the main things to look out for are the numerous shafts dotted along the track - many have been fenced off - and the Good Hope Mine which is to the right of the track. There's a carpark area and then a stiff uphill trek to get to the mine.
The Bull Town track, at the end of the Crooked River Track, climbs up to join McMillans Track. I haven't had the oppertunity to do this track but note that it is rated at double diamond - extreme. Maybe someone can comment.
Reversed our track back to camp.
Day 4. Talbotville - Grant - Dargo.
Nothing more needs to be said about Talbotville - on a quiet weekend it's a good base for drives into Wonnangatta or up Basalt Knob towards Blue Rag. On a busy weekend, if you like your bit of solitude, . . .don't
McMillan's Track on a busy weekend needs traffic lights. Be prepared to pull to the side every few minutes if there's traffic coming down. It's a relatively narrow track (road) with very steep drop-offs and it's easy to get involved in a traffic snarl with the possibility of up to a hundred plus people exiting the valley from a long weekend.
At the top of the range, the Grant township area - formerly Mt Pleasant - is worth while calling into for a look as is the Grant Cemetery which is a kilometer or so further along on the left beside the road.
Back on the bitumen it's a downhill run to Dargo.