Summary

A 2.4km return walk for great views. Fortunately, everyone can enjoy one. It has two levels of difficulty. A short, easy 600m rotunda return or a 1km moderate climb. The next 1km being all downhill.

Description

Enjoy this walk for the landscapes and for the rewards associated with making the effort to be here. Whether you stop at the rotunda or go all the way to the top, you will be rewarded with gorgeous vistas, tangible, natural and cultural history.

Balmattum Hill Bushland Reserve was established in 1979. It consists of 78.6h of Crown Land managed by Parks Victoria. The Euroa Rotary Club completed this track in 2001 to commemorate the Centenary of Federation.

Funded by an Australian Government Landcare Program, interpretive signs were installed along the track in 2019. Cooperation between Parks Vic, the Victorian Government, Taungurung Land and Waters Council and Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority has created an interesting information trail.

The short walk offers pleasant valley views. The longer walk follows trail markers along an uneven rocky track. This is quite steep in places. The reward is a great bird's eye view of Euroa and surrounds.

Along the track, extensive revegetation work has been damaged by bushfire. Observe the results of recovery works.

About half way up you will come to series of rock stacks. These rocks were loaded and unloaded from training soldier’s backpacks as they trekked up and down the hill. These exercises were in preparation for WWII, fighting the Japanese and other rigours of New Guinea, including the Kokoda Track.

The Balmattum Hill vegetation community is Grassy Woodland. White Box is the dominant tree species and Grey Box, Red Box and wattles are also present. Kangaroo, wallaby and spear grasses, lichens, mosses and herbs cover the ground along with different types of shrubs.

The reserve is home to many kinds of native animals such as mammals including microbats, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, possums, gliders and phascogales. Reptiles include tree goannas, snakes, blue-tongued lizards, skinks and geckos. Birds include owls, parrots, honeyeaters, finches, tree creepers and kookaburras.

Granite boulders and rocky outcrops are prominent in the reserve’s landscape. Weathering and erosion of the hard granite over many years has created sheltered habitats among the soil and debris at the base of the rock formations. Invertebrates such as ants, centipedes, beetles, crickets, slugs and spiders live here. This means good food for birds and reptiles.

Invasive pest plants and animals also live here. Exotic grasses, weeds such as Paterson’s Curse, St John’s wort and thistle accompany pest animals like rabbits, Indian mynas and foxes. These pests all compete against native species for the same limited resources.

Enjoy this walk at any time of year, although summer can be very hot, so go early or late in the day, take water and a hat. Sturdy footwear is advisable.

Amenities
Rotunda
Car parking
Bench seat at top
Dogs must be leashed
Nearest toilets Euroa, Seven Creeks Park

Restrictions
No camping
No potable water
Take your rubbish with you

7091 Views

Points of Interest

1. Seven Creeks /Balmattum Hill Walking Tracks link

Either drive or walk from Euroa to the Balmattum Hill Walking Track. As an extension to the lovely Seven Creeks Walking Track, Balmattum Hill makes for a walker's crowning glory.

2. Zig Zag to the Rotunda

The first 300m are easily walked on a smooth granitic sand track to a rotunda providing shelter, a table, benches and an excellent view of the Seven Creeks valley.

3. The Rotunda

For those less able, this short walk presents a wonderful opportunity to view of the broad Seven Creeks valley enclosed by rolling hills. It is a good place to await others who head on up to the top

4. View of the Hume Freeway

In such a picture perfect rural scene, you might see a freeway as a disruptive feature. However, the arcing sweep of the Hume across the valley and past the hills somehow fits gracefully.

5. Interesting interpretive signs

The interpretive signs installed in 2019 have had a lot of thought put into them. Cultural and natural history is relevant, thoughtfully presented and interesting.

6. WWII training rock stacks

As the Japanese made their way through New Guinea, invasion looked imminent. Australian soldiers prepared for fighting on the likes of the Kokoda Track by backpacking these rocks up and down the hill.

7. Parts are steep and rocky

From the rotunda, the climb is steadily up 1km of rocky dirt track guided by white plastic markers. There are plenty of granite boulders to rest on, but know this walk requires exertion.

8. View from the top

From an elevation of 475m, gaze down on the township of Euroa and out into the plains beyond.

Features

Seating available

Historical interest

Nature trail