How wild are wild walks?
Is the 'Wild' being taken out of 'Wild Walks'? What do you think of a new north–south Grampians walk aimed at the 'comfort bushwalker'?
Our sources tell us that there is a proposal currently with Parks Victoria for a new 148 kilometre north to south multiday walk through the Grampians. The proposed walk starts at Mt Stapylton and winds it way down the Mt Difficult Range in the north and the Mt William Range in the south, all the way to Dunkeld. The walk, which will also be guided by licensed tour operators, is aimed at bushwalkers who want a ‘bit more comfort’, with campsites (which will have to be pre-booked) featuring tent platforms and possibly some kind of shelter.
While it would be good to have a long distance walk that traverses the Grampians north-south, there are a number of concerns with the proposal. The current proposal would add more tracks to an area that is already heavily transected, leading to more weed invasion, particularly as many of the new sections (including pretty much everything south of Halls Gap) would be on new tracks that parallel existing roads or tracks. The proposed shelters also seem unnecessary, while there are concerns that the walk seems aimed at the top end of the market rather than people who don’t have ready access to national parks, and could do with some government-funded programs to encourage them.
‘Wild Walks’, linked to the high-end nature-based tourism market, are also proposed from Hotham to Falls Creek in the Alpine National Park, and along the Croajingolong coast. At least one expectation for the alpine walk is that walkers will be well fed at ‘wilderness camps’ (outside the national park) along the way, and ferried back to their starting point by helicopter. Helicopters are also proposed for the ‘wilderness Coast’ experience at Croajingolong. The whole concept of using a helicopter over a wilderness area seems antithetical to the concept of a ‘Wild Walk’, so we await further developments with interest.
