Warm morning light highlights Cathedral Rock against the blue-tinged Serra Range

Five things you need to know about the Grampians Peaks Trail

1. Give me an overview of the trail?

The Grampians Peaks Trail is a 164-kilometre walk traversing the Grampians National Park (Gariwerd). It provides panoramic views north/south along the ranges and east/west across the plains. Walkers will experience a stunning diversity of landscapes, including rocky ridges, alpine communities, dry and wet forests, heathlands and rivers. There are always some wildflowers blooming and Spring puts on a dazzling, ever-changing display.

The first rays of sun light up the summit of Mt Difficult / Gar on the Grampians Peaks Trail
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A walker stands on a mountain silhouetted by the sunset

5 things you need to know about the Grampians Peaks Trail loop

1. Give me an overview of the trail

This is a two-night / three-day 36.6km circuit walk that can be shortened to an overnight walk by arranging transport from Borough Huts Campground back to Halls Gap. 

(Note: the full length of the Grampians Peaks Trail, a 160km 13-day walk, is now open).

For the three-day walk, we carried 2 days’ food by having breakfast at a cafe the day we started and arrived back in Halls Gap for a late lunch on day 3. Fuel stoves must be used at Hiker camps. Water tanks are located at each camp. Parks recommends treating the water.

A line of cliffs glow red in the early morning light

Day 1: Day 1: Halls Gap to Bugiga Hikers Camp: 8.6km. A well-made track that climbs nearly 500 mostly well-graded meters. It takes in some of the most popular sights in the Grampians including the Grand Canyon and the Pinnacle, so expect plenty of day-walkers in the Wonderland Carpark to Pinnacle section. The trail marking is very good but you’ll need to pay attention when leaving the Pinnacle as there are a few tracks and not every intersection is marked.

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Sun lighting up the red rocks of the Heysen Range

Walking the Heysen Trail, South Australia: Episode 1.

The Heysen Trail winds between Cape Jervis at the southern end of the Fleurieu Peninsula and Parachilna Gorge, 1,200 kilometres to the north. The trail traverses beaches, sea cliffs, national parks, rural landscapes, historic towns and the ancient, rugged peaks of South Australia’s largest mountain range. It is named for the artist Hans Heysen, renowned for his paintings of majestic gum trees and the arid, beautiful Flinders Ranges.
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New Zealand: Two Islands, Two Walks. # 1, The Heaphy Track

Aotearoa, New Zealand, the land of the long white cloud. We fly in over the rugged snow-capped southern alps to breathtaking glimpses of Mt Aspiring, Lake Tekapo, ice-blue ribbons of water and the grey scoured ghosts of long receded glaciers. A dramatically beautiful landscape. Then the wild country vanishes and in its place are the neat, green fields and hedgerows of the Canterbury Plains. We’ve come to tramp two of New Zealand’s ‘great’ walks; the five-day Heaphy Track in the north-west of the South Island and the four-day Tongariro Northern Circuit in the centre of the North Island.  
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