walking tracks

Travelling east along Mogriguy Forest Rd from Mogriguy Rd the track starts at the very beginning of the forest on the north side of the junction with Reedsdale Rd. There is a parking bay right on the corner and a narrow track leads diagonally into the block from here. At the very beginning of the track you pass through one of the most threatened and unique habitats in the forest, a remnant of Western Grey Box (Eucalyptus microcarpa) with a grassy understorey. There are quite a few large box trees here with a different understory of native hops and Calytrix, also some mistletoe. This is a good area for birds. Striated Pardalotes and a Brown Falcon are regularly seen here. Pretty soon you will notice a stand of mature tea-trees on your right and eventually the trail comes to the first of a number of closed shrubby/mallee patches. These areas are usually quite wet underfoot and contain a wide mixture of flowering shrubs. As you proceed these patches are interspersed with the more common Ironbark / Native Pine forest and the occasional Western Grey Box. In these wooded areas there are signs of human activity along the trail, old logging camps and clearings. Early on on the left is a pile of rocks including some half bricks, cement floor remnants and a large roll of barbed wire. Opposite this and a little way into the forest is what looks like an old abandoned logging truck. Continuing through patches of dense shrub and Ironbark forest you eventually enter a quite dense and dark Ironbark forest with a very thick but low grassy understory. This is also a good area for birds. This area can be quite damp and there are significant signs of pig damage here. There is a creekline 50 metres to your right. The junction with Riley’s Trail soon appears.  

From this point you can continue back the way you came or follow one of the following routes back to your starting point.

1. Turn right along Riley’s Trail. There is immediately a creek crossing with a large reedy and froggy pond when wet. Continuing on through a dense Native Pine forest the Ironbark eventually returns with a low shrubby understorey and as you go up a gentle slope you come again to shrubby mallee area with many flowering shrubs on both sides of the trail. As the junction of Rileys with Hendersons trails comes into view there is a wide track on your right leading back into the forest. This track soon narrows as it goes through a thick shrubby area of ti-tree and the prickly Acacia triptera.

Coming out of this area into a large round clearing there are three tracks, two faint ones to the right and a more prominent one straight ahead. Taking the prominent path there is a further branch to the right just a few metres on. Taking this path you will come to an eroded gully about 50 metres on as the track turns westward. In this area there is what appears to be an old collapsed wooden bridge which although significant in size would seem to have been hardly fit for use when constructed and it also doesn’t appear to connect with a trail on the far bank. The gully leads down to where it joins a larger gully, the headwaters of the creek crossed on Rileys trail. Across the gully the trail continues, soon broadening out into a much wider and easily followed pathway. It is predominantly Ironbark forest here with a very sparse understory, in many places the ground being covered in just leaf litter and branches. Promising country for Spotted Quail Thrush. There is very little sign of trail bikes here, probably because of the difficulty in making the gully crossing. A more modern dumped car, perhaps from the 70’s or 80’s indicates that the trail was once much more traversable. 

The trail continues west and eventually you enter another ti-tree area, one that is very overgrown and requires a little bit of scrambling, also boggy when wet. After 150m you will eventually link up with the original path (which is marked by a pair of orange headphones hanging in a tree) between your starting point and Rileys Trail . Turn left here to make your way back to your starting point.

2. Alternatively at Riley’s Trail you could turn left and follow the well formed straight trail west. The forest is particularly picturesque, cool and dark here with a hedge of largish Native Pine on the north side shielding the sun. Pig damage is significant here. Leaving the Native Pine, ti-tree and mallee start to dominate the southern side. At the junction with Reedsdale Rd turn left and it is a straightforward walk down a well maintained and used dirt road to your starting point. It can be quite birdy here with exposed fields on the west side and a succession of different shrubby and forested areas. Hares and birds of prey have been seen along this road.