Hikers can once again tackle the full length of the Grampians Peaks Trail, with the entire 164 kilometre route officially reopening this week following months of recovery work after the devastating 2024–25 bushfire season.
While large sections of the trail reopened by July last year, the more remote central and southern sections remained closed to overnight hikers while significant repairs were carried out.
The fires burned through more than 135,000 hectares of Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park, damaging infrastructure and large sections of track along the popular long distance walking route.
Five hike in campgrounds at Barri Yalug, Duwul, Durd Durd, Yarram and Wannon have now reopened, joining the Bugiga campground which returned to service last year. Their reopening means hikers can once again walk the entire trail from Mount Zero (Mura Mura) in the north to Dunkeld in the south.
Kyle Hewitt, Recovery Project Officer – Assets, said rebuilding the damaged sites presented a number of challenges.
“There was varying levels of damage to the campgrounds with Barri Yalug and Duwul being the most affected, although none of them were completely destroyed.”
Repair works included installing new timber tent pads, replacing tank landings and water tanks, repairing plumbing and solar systems, and adding new windows to the Yarram shelter.
“The remote nature of some of the camps required two single-day helicopter sling-load operations to transport tools and new materials in, and the old, burnt materials out. The height of the windows on the Yarram shelter required professionally-erected scaffolding up to 7m tall.”
Track crews also worked to restore sections where the trail had effectively vanished.
“The post-fire inspections of the track quickly identified large sections which no longer had the cut-vegetation corridors which once guided people on their journey – it was like the track had disappeared,” Kyle said.
Around 20 kilometres of trail required stabilisation and redefinition, while more than 600 yellow wayfinding markers were installed to help guide hikers safely through the recovering landscape.
