On Walkabout On: The Keppel Track Outside of Marysville, Victoria

Just a few months before the devastating bushfires that struck Victoria last month, I had took one of my many trips to go and bushwalk in the Marysville area.  This time I decided to go and hike the Keppel Track which provides a panoramic lookout of the Marysville area.  The trail begins near the beautiful Steavenson Falls and then climbs up a hill before descending and climbing up another hilltop to Keppel Lookout:

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From Keppel Lookout I then took an alternate trail back to Steavenson Falls to create a loop hike.  The Marysville area is filled with many great bushwalking routes which can be combined in a variety ways to make for a great day out.  Here is a Marysville State Forest Map that shows the various trails in the Marysville area.  Hopefully as the city and surrounding forest recovers from the bushfire these trails will open again.

From the start point for the Keppel Track near Steavenson Falls, the trail instantly begins a steep ascent up the hillside:

From the hillside I had a great long distance view of Steavenson Falls, which is the tallest waterfall in Victoria which features five cascades that fall for a total 122 meters:

Here is a closer look at the falls:

I continued to ascend up the hillside and eventually came to a clearing known as the De La Rue Lookout that looked right down on Marysville:

Marysville was a small town of just over 500 people that was a major day trip destination for people living in Melbourne:

Looking at the picture above, it is hard to believe that this city is no longer standing because of arsonists:

From De La Rue Lookout I continued to follow the trail on top of the hill until it came to yet another clearing known as the Oxlee Lookout.  From this lookout I had a great view looking North towards the impressive peaks of the Cathedral Range and the Murrindindi Scenic Reserve to the West:

From the lookout the trail now descended down the mountain and entered into a thick forest of gum trees:

Eventually the trail began to ascend again up another hillside and the trail opened up to the Keppel Lookout:

The Keppel Lookout has an incredible view overlooking Marysville as well as the mountains that surround the city:

This lookout can also be accessed by vehicle which there were a few that pulled up to the lookout while I was there.  As the lookout began to fill up with people that is when I decided to take off and complete the last half of my loop hike.  From the lookout the trail descends down the hillside and I was once again engulfed by the thick forest:

The lower down the hillside I went the thicker the underbrush became:

Much of the underbrush consisted of swaths of fern trees:

Some of the fern trees that grew on the lower slopes of the mountain were just absolutely enormous:

The further down the trail I descended the thicker the brush became.  Eventually the trail linked back to the main trail that runs from Marysville to Steavenson Falls:

This trail follows adjacent to the river and looks like some place velociraptors would be hanging out at:

Fortunately I made it to the end of the trail without running into any velociraptors where a view of the always beautiful Steavenson Falls opened up before me:

It is sad that this is all now been burned down, but on a bright note the Australian bush can recover extremely fast from bushfires.  I have shown before on this site with the photographs I have taken around prior bushfire ravaged areas: Mt. Buller, The Bluff, and Mt. Buffalo that the bush recovers extremely fast after these fires.  I just hope the city of Marysville recovers just as fast so everyone can once again enjoy this beautiful city.