You Yangs Regional Park - Branding Yard Track

Branding Yard Track is a 5.5 km signposted circuit trail in the You Yangs Regional Park, 55 km SW of Melbourne.

The Track is one of the four major walking trails in the Park, and starts at the turntable car park.

It descends steeply from the car park, then follows woodland and scrub around the eastern flanks of Flinders Peak and the North Range.

It passes several dams, but these were totally dry during my visit.

The Geoglyph Aboriginal feature is passed - this was constructed in 2006 to commemorate the Commonwealth Games, and consists of formations of large stones arranged in the shape of a huge bird. To appreciate this feature, it should be viewed from the top of the cliff face, which is a separate walk.

There are good views from the track of the rock formations on the eastern side of the Range.

There are spectacular panoramas to the east and south from the top section of the track, to Corio Bay, Portarlington, the Werribee Plains, and Avalon Airport.

My visit was on January 6, 2009, a hot day!

See the complete set of Photos of my trip!

You Yangs Regional Park - East West Walk

On September 6, 2008, I visited the You Yangs Regional Park, 60 km SW of Melbourne.

The well-presented colorful information board at the Turntable carpark and picnic area provides many details about the history, discovery and development of the Park, much of which had been destroyed in bushfires in the 1980s.

There are four main interesting walking trail routes in the Park - some at the base of the mountains, others higher up. In my opinion, one of the best is the East West Walk, which starts and finishes at the Turntable carpark.

Travelling anti-clockwise, I did this walk, about 5 km, which circles Flinders Peak (340m) at a mid-level of elevation.

The views are excellent, with splendid panoramas to Melbourne's skyscrapers, Port Phillip Bay, Corio Bay, Avalon Airport, Geelong, the Western Plains and the Brisbane Ranges. From the Saddle, there are good views across the northern peaks. The track passes large boulders, winding its way through sheoaks, yellow and redgums.

From high up on East Walk, the Bunjil Geoglyph cultural feature is seen way down below at the foot of the mountain, adjacent to Branding Yard Trail. This is a distinctive placement of rocks in the shape of a wedge tailed eagle (Bunjil) - it was created by artist Andrew Rogers to commemorate the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The Bunjil is the creator spirit of the Wathuarong peoples.

The track is stony and steep in parts, and care is necessary after wet weather.

East Walk ends at a junction with Saddleback Track, then continues around the mountain as West Walk, and arrives back at the car park.

A newly constructed viewing platform is on the West Walk.

See the full set of Photos