The Badger Weir Picnic Reserve is in the Yarra Ranges National Park, 7 km east of the town of Healesville, about 60 km from Melbourne.

Named Coranderrk after the local Aboriginal reserve, the Weir and pipeline system were officially opened in January 1909, and supplies water via the Corandeerk Aqueduct to the Silvan Reservoir.

Walking tracks pass through the forest, on both sides of the Badger Creek, reaching the Weir.

The original Weir was replaced by the current facility in 1929, upstream. Its remains may be inspected, just off the Lyrebird Track, partly covered by vegetation and detritus.

I visited the Reserve on Monday afternoon January 23, 2012, on a 3 km circuit hike which took me along the Lyrebird Track and Coranderrk Aqueduct Track.

Access to the Weir has recently been reopened to walkers, following a period of several months when it was closed to allow pipeline works to be completed.

In the picnic area, hordes of brightly colored parrots and cockatoos congregate, waiting for seeds!

The name "Badger" was introduced by the early settlers. One version is that they thought that the wombats were like English badgers. Another version suggests that the name was that of a horse, which had become bogged!

The Weir and its surrounds are listed in the Australian Heritage Database - comprehensive information about its history, construction and evolution is at

http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahdb/search.pl?mode=place_detail;place_id=102623

See all of t he Photos of my visit, and check out my YouTube video!

Badger Weir hike in summer

The Badger Weir Park is 65 km east of Melbourne, near the town of Healesville, in the Melbourne Water catchment area.

Walking tracks lead from the picnic ground to the Weir, passing through superb sub-tropical rain forest and tree ferns.

The Lyrebird Track has been reconstructed and passes along the creek.

The area is a habitat for lyrebirds.

The picnic ground is excellent, with innumerable rosellas and cockatoos!

I visited the Park on January 27, 2011, on a 2 km summer circuit hike along the Lyrebird Track.

See all of the Album Photos, which ncludes one of Parks Vic staff removing dead branches from near the top of a very tall tree in the picnic ground.

Badger Weir Park - reopened after the bushfires

The Badger Weir Park is 65 km east of Melbourne, near the town of Healesville, in the Melbourne Water catchment area.

Three walking tracks lead from the picnic ground to the Weir, passing through superb sub-tropical rain forest and tree ferns.

The Lyrebird Track has been reconstructed and passes next to the creek.

The area is a habitat for lyrebirds.

The picnic ground is excellent, with innumerable rosellas and cockatoos!

I visited the Park on April 2, 2008, on a 3 km early autumn hike which took me on a circuit along the Lyrebird, Coranderrk and Slip Creek Tracks.

The Park had been closed for several weeks after the disastrous bushfires of early February 2009, which threatened Healesville, and was reopened on March 31.

Thankfully, the Park was spared from the fires.

See the full set of Photos of my visit.

Badger Weir park in Spring

The Badger Weir Park is 65 km east of Melbourne, near the town of Healesville, in the Melbourne Water catchment area. Walking tracks lead from the picnic ground to the Weir, passing through superb sub-tropical rain forest and tree ferns.

The Lyrebird Track has been reconstructed and passes along the creek.

The area is a habitat for lyrebirds.

The picnic ground is excellent, with innumerable rosellas and cockatoos!

I visited the Park on October 25, 2008, on a 3 km spring-time hike which took me along the Coranderrk, Lyrebird and Slip Creek Tracks.

"Coranderrk" refers to the the site of the early Aboriginal Reserve, and the name survives in the "Coranderrk Aqueduct", the "Coranderrk Weir", the "Corandeerk Bushland", the "Coranderrk Cemetery", the "Coranderrk Homstead" and the "Corandeerk Walking Track".

Coranderrk was established in 1863 as part of the ‘protectorate’ for original Aboriginal inhabitants. But increasing pressure came from neighbouring farmers wanting the fertile land. From 1886, the government sought to integrate ‘half-castes’ into white society.

Activist William Barak and others sent a petition on behalf of the Aboriginal people of Coranderrk to the Victorian Government in 1886.

Regardless of the residents’ protests, Coranderrk was scaled back. It continued as an Aboriginal reserve until 1924, when the remaining community was relocated to Lake Tyers in Gippsland. Healesville Sanctuary now occupies part of the original Coranderrk reserve.

The large remaining part of the original Reserve is gazetted as Public Land, but, amazingly, public access is prohibited. A high steel fence surrrounds it, with "entry prohibited" signs prominent.

The original Coranderrk Homestead survives, on private property, off Barak Lane, to the west of the Koo Wee Rup Rd. At the end of Barak Lane is the Coranderrk Cemetery, open to the public. The private land nearby is known as "Barak Park", near the commercial "Big Bouquet".

See the full set of Photos of my trip, which include some historical images of the early 1900s.