Exploring Mt Donna Buang on a sunny winter 's day

These pix were taken on July 23 2012 at Mt Donna Buang, 80 km east of Melbourne.

They show the scenery and environment along the Mt Donna Buang Tourist Rd, which links the township of Warburton with the Summit, altitude 1280 m, a distance of 26 km.

My visit was to inspect points of interest in support of my forthcoming on-line Heritage Research Project "The Early Sawmills of the Warburton Forests"

Two Lookouts are passed on the ascent, offering spectacular views of the Yarra Valley and Warburton, far below.

These Lookouts are sited near the tops of logging inclines of the 1920s.

See the complete Slides Show of my visit!

Good snow at Mt Donna Buang

On July 14 2008 I went up to Mt Donna Buang, 90 km east of Melbourne, on a cold, windless and cloudless day!

The road was closed at the main car park - to reach the summit is about 500 m further up. The summit road past the carpark was frozen solid ice, and the surface was like a skating rink.

There was about 20 cm of snow at the summit, with lots of interesting snowmen being built, and toboggans everywhere!

There is no cross country or downhill skiing at Donna Buang. In winter, the resort offers snowplay, sightseeing, and tobogganning. The walking tracks at the summit to Mt Boobyalla, Dom Dom Saddle, Aceron Gap, Mt Victoria and Ten Mile picnic ground are often buried under winter snow. The Dom Dom Saddle track is signed as "no entry during the snow season".

Until the late 1930s, there was a ski village at Donna Buang, near the present day main car park, and downhill skiing was popular, but this was almost totally destroyed in the Black Friday bushfires in 1939. What remained was dismantled and rebuilt at other snow centres, such as Mt Buller.

The Donna Buang Rd was built in the 1920s, and members of the newly formed Melbourne University Ski Club, formed in 1929, visited the region often.

The downhill ski-run was subsequently closed down and became the toboggan run.

The lookout tower is the third generation - the first was a wooden structure built in the 1920s - this was replaced around 1940, itself later replaced by the present steel tower.

There are good views from the tower - I have a vertigo problem with heights and am not able to get to the top, but there are interesting panoramas from ground level.

There are good signed lookout points on the Donna Buang Rd on the way up, past the Acheron Way turnoff.

See the full set of Photos - I included some historical photos, dating back to 1910, for comparison purposes!

Snow Trip to Mt Donna Buang

On July 8, 2008, I went up to Mt Donna Buang, in the Yarra Ranges National Park, 60 km east of Melbourne.

This was the first day this year on which snow had fallen on the mountain. The summit road had been closed off by the authorities at the Ten Mile Picnic Ground, as it was impassable for conventional vehicles.

The temperature at 2 pm was minus 2 degrees, and the picnic ground and car park were covered in about 10 cm of fresh snow. During my visit, snow fell steadily, keeping the snow plough very busy!

As it was not permitted to drive up to the summit, I went down the mountain to a warmer environment (3 degrees!), below the snowline, and visited the amazing Rainforest Gallery and Overhead Walkway.

This is a 500 m walk on a steel gantry above the Forest and Cement Creek.

See the full set of Photos