Gresswell Forest, - Watsonia

Gresswell Forest, with an area of 52 ha of Crown land, was originally set up as a buffer zone around the Mont Park Hospital in the early 20th century when tuberculosis was a common disease and patients needed to be isolated from surrounding housing.

It was transferred to the management of La Trobe University in 1978 to provide residents with an insight into the University’s commitment to maintain a role in the wider community through its work in restoration biology.

Gresswell Forest was the primary model for the restoration of the La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary.

The only other surviving large tract remnant of a River Red Gum Woodland on Silurian geology being on the Simpson (Watsonia) Army Barracks.

I visited this Forest on February 17 2013, on a 3 km hike along the Central, Swamp Gum, Antitechnus, Billabong, and Danielle Tracks.

I disturbed two large kangaroos who bounded off into the bush!

For details about this Forest, see

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/wildlife/land-management/gresswell-forest-ncr

See all of the Photos of my visit!