Category: Grampians National Park

Parks Victoria Update November 2025

Entire Grampians Peak Trail NOW Open 10th November for Day Walkers!

Parks Victoria, with the help of dedicated volunteers, completed essential maintenance on the Grampians Peak Trail from October 27–31. These works have paved the way for the entire trail to reopen on 10th November —initially for day walkers only.
Campgrounds along the trail are expected to reopen sometime next year, which will be welcome news for overnight walkers keen to camp along the route.

Trail Running Event – GPT 100 (6-9 November 2025)
The GPT 100 long-distance trail running event was held from Thursday 6 November to Sunday 9 November 2025, traversing the entire Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park along the Grampians Peaks Trail. Participants covered the full 162km route from Mt Zero (Mura Mura) in the north to Dunkeld in the south, split across several race formats and stages. Over four days, runners tackled designated trail sections in daylight, … Read the rest

Asterolasia phebalioides

Aster Greek meaning star and lasios hairy, because of the stellate hairs covering the leaves and stems of plants in this genus, phebalioides meaning it resembles the genus Phebalium. Both genera are in the family Rutaceae which contains plants like Boronia, Correas and citrus.

Downy Starbush is one of many of the Grampians rare and threatened plants, it is listed as Vulnerable under the Federal EPBC Act, it also occurs in the western Black Range and the Little Desert. It flowers in Spring, predominantly in October, with eye catching yellow flowers. For the uninitiated, at first glance you may mistake it for a Hibbertia, but it has distinctive foliage with downy covered stems and foliage. The grey green leaves are crowded, cuneate – obcordate (with a blunt or notched tip) and make it readily identifiable without flowers. If you have a look at the hairs under magnification, they look like … Read the rest

HEALING COUNTRY TOGETHER: ROCK ART PROTECTION IN THE GARIWERD CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Parks Victoria Release: Millennium Cave restored :  Monday 20 November, 2023
(Eds edited version)
“Today was five years in the making as we begin healing Rock Art places in Gariwerd after inappropriate and no consent access by climbers over a period of decades. With the help of climbers, today we took that step together toward looking after Country. The proper way,” John Clarke, General Manager of Bio-cultural Landscapes, Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation.
The work represents a turning point in efforts to protect the nationally heritage listed bio-cultural landscape led by the Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (BGLC), Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation (EMAC) and Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (GMTOAC) in partnership with Parks Victoria (PV). Traditional Owners, Cultural Heritage Advisors, and Rock Art Protection Specialists worked on the removal of chalk and graffiti. Bolt removal, chalk removal and patching work was done by specialist Industrial Rope Access Trade … Read the rest

Official Park Update 17-01-2025 Pest Control Operations

 Grampians (Gariwerd) aerial pest animal control operation

20th – 24th January 2025

Parks Victoria is conducting a conservation program to respond to the ecological impacts of the Yarram Gap fire.

An aerial shooting operation will be undertaken between Monday 20th – Friday 24th of January 2025 to target pest animals and to support the recovery of the park and its native species.

The fire affected over a third of the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park impacting native plants, animals, aquatic species, and invertebrates.

Urgent action is being taken to reduce predators (foxes and feral cats) and introduced herbivores (deer and feral goats), threatening the survival and recovery of vulnerable native plants and animals.

Foxes and feral cats’ prey on Grampians native animals such as the Brush Tailed Rock Wallaby, Long Nosed Potoroo, Southern Brown Bandicoot, Smoky Mouse, Heath Mouse, and Grampians Mountain Dragon. These native animals are now … Read the rest

Gariwerd rock art in the Australian context presented by ben Gunn: June 2023

Friday 16th June : Gariwerd rock art in the Australian context presented by ben Gunn.
A well attending group were presented with a PowerPoint talk on how the rock art of Gariwerd is both different from that anywhere else, but still fits within the broader pattern of Aboriginal rock art across the continent. As so many of the public have seen the well-preserved and visually spectacular rock art of northern Australia, the immediate reaction to seeing that in Gariwerd is one of disappointment; a problem not assisted by the near lack of any suitable on-site interpretation. The problem, however, is not unique to Gariwerd, as most of the rock art across southern Australia is similarly small, hard to see, and poorly preserved. But Gariwerd is unique and very
significant because, unlike other areas of southern Australia, it has a particularly high number of rock shelters used for rock art (160+ … Read the rest

Raising Rarity

Raising Rarity:

Preventing extinction of Victoria’s threatened flora The Royal Botanic Gardens of Victoria (RBGV) was successful in procuring a grant to fund this 3-year project. The project starts on 1st June this year and covers 24 threatened species across Victoria, 11 of them occurring only in Western Victoria. RBGV are partnering with a number of organisations and there is a community engagement component to help with searching for and monitoring of these species. There will also be conservation genetics work done on collections already at RGBV as well as the collection of additional material to ensure the species diversity into the future. The gardens will also do work to optimise methods of germination on 11 species which are currently difficult to grow. For 10 species, little is known about how they are pollinated, so baseline data will be collected on pollination for these species; a researcher based at La … Read the rest

Mystery Mounds In The Mud

One of our favourite areas in the region is the open forests east of Gariwerd. Over the years Di and I became increasingly intrigued by numerous round earth mounds we were seeing in these magnificent Red Gum forests. Our son, Tom and partner Matilda regularly join us on our walks and have helped us to map and record our observations.

Over the last year we have drawn on the insights of our local archaeologist Ben Gunn, and Jake Goodes from Parks Victoria who have been assisting us to better understand the mounds. Apparently, the “donut” shaped mounds are similar to the remains of Aboriginal dwellings found elsewhere in Victoria.

An invitation from Ben and Leigh provided us with the opportunity to take a stroll in one area of Red Gum forest between Halls Gap and Stawell, with 22 FOGGS members, to talk about the earth structures.

On 10 April our … Read the rest

Who is Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park there for?

Article From Parkwatch March Edition (Shortened)

Parks Protection Campaigner Phil Ingamells takes a look at the Greater Gariwerd Landscape draft management plan.

After a bizarre group of bare-chested neo-Nazis stormed Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park in January, burning a cross and waving supremacist symbols atop the landscape, it might be time to take a deep breath and consider, coolly, whose park it actually is – and why we manage it.

Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park is public land, but that requires a bit of clarification. There are many categories of public land established under various old or new laws, and though the “public” might own these areas, activities on that land are commonly restricted.

With a management plan for Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park well overdue, Parks Victoria faced a bit of a dilemma: Traditional Owner status has not been legally established, but almost certainly will be during the life of the new … Read the rest

Grampians Landscape Management Plan review

Parks Victoria is excited to share dates and locations of upcoming community engagement activities for the Grampians Landscape Management Plan review.

The new management plan will underpin strategic planning for the Grampians landscape over the next 15 years to ensure that precious environmental and cultural values of this iconic landscape are preserved for future generations to enjoy.

Those interested in the Grampians landscape are invited to take part in a community workshop through September 2019. Workshop dates and locations are as follows:

  • Halls Gap workshop, Thursday, 5 September 2019, 6.30-8.30pm
  • Laharum workshop, Tuesday 10 September 2019, 6.30-8.30pm
  • North Melbourne workshop, Thursday 12 September 2019, 6.00-8.00pm
  • Halls Gap drop-in, Tuesday 17 September 2019, 12.00-3.00pm
  • Dunkeld workshop, Tuesday 17 September 2019, 6.30-8.30pm
  • North Melbourne workshop, Thursday 19 September 2019, 6.00-8.00pm

At the workshops, participants will learn about the management planning process, explore the challenges and opportunities for managing this highly valued landscape … Read the rest

Extract from Grampians National Park Newsletter

Park staff produce a most informative newsletter each season, with information about what is happening with plants and animals plus Park news and updates. It’s too long to include in full here but here are some extracts.

Road maintenance: Mount Zero Road is in the process of being graded. A long, dry summer followed by winter rains has led to lots of potholes and corrugation. Be cautious when travelling this
road as operations to repair the surface continue. Be sure to check the weekly road report and monthly park access update on the Grampians page on www.parks.vic.gov.au.

Annual goat monitoring: Rangers have been working hard conducting feral goat monitoring to gain a better understanding of their population size in the Grampians National Park. Feral goats cause significant harm to environmental and cultural values in the park. Impacts include compaction
and erosion from their hard hooves. Their browsing techniques are … Read the rest

Friends of Grampians Gariwerd