Offtrack weekend hiking trip within 2hr of Melb

[RhysG]

Hi all, I've been lurking this site looking for some good recommendations to go hiking in Victoria. There are a lot of wonderful circuits put up by members that look promising and I have bookmarked plenty of good ones to do in the future.

However, I am trying to organise an overnight hiking trip with some mates who are after a more offtrack experience and some of my friends might not be aware of just how thick the regrowth can be in some of the bush around Melbourne.

Can anyone recommend a likely spot to go for an offtrack hike where we can camp overnight in a secluded spot somewhere? It needs to be within 2 hours of Melbourne, preferably less than that because we only have the Saturday and Sunday to work with.

My friends aren't exactly super well equipped so please don't recommend anywhere that would be above the snowline at this time of year.

P.S. To give you an idea of what I consider acceptable for offtrack bushwalking as far as undergrowth density is concerned. This is taken in State Forest just south of the Alpine National Park, just north of Dargo. The ferns are pretty sparse up there, we were around 1300 metres in elevation though


Cheers,
Rhys

[RhysG]

FYI, I am a very responsible hiker and enforce similar behaviour amongst my companions. Leave no trace. (Just saw the notice about areas with no trails)

[bmak]

Plenty of areas west of Melbourne.
I'd recommend mt cole/Pyrenees and grampians as you can't get lost but some areas you feel like no one else is around.
I'd also recommend closer to melb maybe lerderberg or around that area

[Snowzone]

Ditto the Lerderderg, lots of off track away from the hoardes. What about the Otways? Could be a challenge off track.

[Hallu]

Yeah the Otways in winter would be a nightmare I think. This is the wettest place in Victoria, so we're talking a lot of mud, and a lot of leeches. Lerderderg would be the classic (and safe) choice. You could also try something always forgot by hikers, French Island. In winter there shouldn't be many people too, you could have huge parts of the island for yourself. It's not very diverse though, it's mainly flat. If you're looking for hills, rivers, with isolation, but many roads not to get lost, lerderderg is the way too go. The Northern part of Wilsons Prom is good for off track too but the swampy parts can be waist high in winter, and it's a bit far for you.

[vicpres]

Try Kooyoora State Park near Inglewood (NW of Bendigo). If you live in the northern or western suburbs it's just on 2 hours drive. You can walk just about anywhere in the park, with very few tracks and there is no undergrowth and only a few small patches of scrub. You could also camp almost anywehere and at this time of the year pretty much guarantee that there would be nobody else around. There isn't much water around though, so I would recommend carrying drinking water at least, but you should be able to find some surface water around for cooking and washing purposes.

The ridge line from Mt Kooyoora to the WNW is a really nice walk, and the summit has some nice views, lots of interesting rock outcrops and there are some small caves aroud too, along the ridge. About 200m from the summit of Kooyoora there are a couple of aboriginal wells too.

[bernieq]

Lerderderg – I was there last weekend. An hour from Melbourne, as much off-track as you want.

Between O'Brians Crossing and the Weir, you are unlikely to encounter anyone.
Although it's easy travel along the river (albeit slow), it's a very intermittant track (mostly non-existant, really).

Lerderderg Gorge - typical off-track descent to the river - Jun 2013

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Lerderderg River - Jun 2013

The river is flowing (but low so can be crossed anywhere). Lots of great campsites along the river (at the bottom of Ah Kows Track, Bears Head Tk, 500m downstream of the weir). The water is of good quality but should be filtered/treated as it drains farmland.

[dplanet]

Lerderderg - I second it. Recently done two enjoyable offtrack walks and here's the link http://dztrek.blogspot.com.au/search?up ... -results=1