Last Visited: 08/03/09
Length (km): 4.5 km
Time (hrs/min): 1 hour 30 mins
Grade: Easy
Return / Circuit / One-Way / Partial Circuit: Circuit
Region: South-West Victoria
Park: You Yangs Regional Park
Closest Town: Little River
Maximum Elevation: approx. 250 m (according to MapMyHike.com)
Total Ascent: approx. 100 m (according to MapMyHike.com)
Car Access: From Melbourne, take the Princess Freeway and turn-off at the Little River exit (towards Little River). In Little River, follow the signs to You Yangs Road and then to the You Yangs. Once inside the park gates, stick to the bitumen road and follow the signs to Flinders Peak and Turntable.
The track starts from the north end of the car park. The walk circumnavigates Flinders Peak and although it is not as physically challenging as the summit climb, it boasts far more interesting scenery. Soon after the track begins, there is a signed turn-off to the left after the first short section of granite steps.
The walk is very easy to follow from here as there are few crossings. Along the way, there is an aboriginal shelter but this might be difficult to spot. The track will turn around to the east and there will be a few larger granite boulders. After a very large boulder on the left, look out for a few wooden steps on the way down the hill to the shelter (also look for an orange arrow – I can’t remember whether it’s on a tree or the ground). Unfortunately, the shelter has been vandalised and badly littered.
Now follow the track to The Saddle Picnic Ground and on to the west side of Flinders Peak. Features of this section of the walk include many more granite outcrops, views of the Melbourne CBD and of the geoglyph (which is also a feature of the Flinders Peak walk).
This section of the park is a bit quieter than the Flinders Peak walk but I still didn’t spot much in the way of wildlife.
Part of the track
- Flinders Peak is another walk that starts from Turntable carpark
Have you visited the You Yangs? If you have any stories, updates or corrections, please let us know by commenting below.
Hi Helen,
Thanks for the comments. It’s a bit long ago now for me to recall, but I definitely don’t remember any rock scrambling. There have been floods and possibly even fires in the You Yangs since my visit, so things could have changed.
Great to hear that the shelter has been cleaned up a bit!
Cheers
Neil
I did the East-West walk the other day on a lovely sunny winter day. I did it anti-clockwise, that is, West-East. I think there needs to be a warning about the steep granite shelf just after the Wautharong shelter (or just before it if you are walking the way you did.) It’s a steep step down of between 1-2m? with no hand holds and you land on a knife sharp piece. the only way I could get down was to slide and have most of the skin removed from one of my forearms. THerefore, I wouldn’t describe this walk as easy. Maybe it is more easy to scramble UP if you’re walking the other way but the VNPA etc only classify walks as “easy” if there’s no rock scrambling.
It’s a great walk though. The shelter was nice and clean with only one hard to see piece of graffiti. Maybe the Parks people have been at it.