Manna Gum Track - Olinda

The Hamer Forest Arboretum is adjacent to the Olinda Section of the Dandenong Ranges National Park, 30 km east of the Melbourne CBD.

The Manna Gum Track passes through the Arboretum.

On January 27 2009 I undertook a 2 km circuit walk, starting at the junction of the gated Mathias Rd and Silvan Rd, near the Woolrich Lookout, Olinda.

This took me along the Manna Gum Track, downhill into the Olinda Valley, through the Arboretum, then back on to Mathias Rd, passing the quaintly named Red Dog Hut!

See the full set of Photos of this trip.

The Scenic Gingpo Track, Olinda Forest

The Gingpo Track is in the Olinda Section of the Dandenong Ranges National Park, 35 km east of Melbourne.

It is so named due to an extensive plantation of Gingpo trees in the extensive Hamer Arboretum, which adjoins the Park.

Many of the walking and management tracks in the Arboretum are named after the various tree plantations through which they pass.

I explored this scenic track on November 27, 2008, on a 4 km circuit hike from the Valley Picnic Ground, which took me along gated Yallambie Way, Simmons Avenue, and Boundary Rd. Parts of this circuit are steep, and sections of Simmons Ave are overgrown.

The RJ Hamer Arboretum land is a small part of the original Dandenong and Woori Yallock State forest, proclaimed over 110 years ago. A succession of fires destroyed the original eucalypt forest and during 1948 -1955 softwood trees were planted on site as part of plans to improve Victoria's timber supplies.

The fires of 1962 destroyed the majority of these post war plantings and the government then investigated the future use of the area. Plans were developed for the establishment of an exotic forest Arboretum to be used as part of a firebreak for the Olinda township.

The RJ Hamer Arboretum is the first known occasion in which a forest style Arboretum was completely established by planting. A basic planting design was completed in 1970 and planting was carried out for the next 15 years.

Sadly, (2008) large tracts of the Arboretum are becoming choked with weeds and other unwanted plants, and it appears that maintenance is minimal.

The Valley Picnic Ground was once a farm prior to about 1958, and is reached from Silvan Rd, then along Boundary Rd.

See the full set of Photos of my trip

The scenic Hamer Arboretum, Olinda, in spring

On November 5, 2008, I went out to the Hamer Arboretum, in Olinda, adjacent to the Dandenong Ranges National park, 45 km east of the Melbourne CBD.

My 4 km exploration started at the junction of gated Mathias Rd and Silvan Rd, taking me along Mathias Rd, Simmons Avenue, Boundary Rd, and Manna Gum Track.

The famous Arboretum is always very pretty in spring, with plantings dating back to the early 1970s, from all parts of the world.

Manna Gum track is very steep, with a change of altitude from 325m to 485m!

See the full set of Photos of my trip