Distance from Werribee: 114kms (approx.1 hour, 40mins)
We will drive to the Garfield Water Wheel Carpark (North Street, Chewton) with the walk commencing and finishing at this location. The nearest toilet is in Chewton (Fryers Street – across the road from North Street) about 1 km from the carpark. A visit before commencing the walk is recommended.
Bring 2L water, sunscreen, a hat, a first aid kit, morning tea and lunch. You will need hiking shoes and walking sticks are also recommended.
The track involves a number of different surfaces including unsealed roads, 4WD tracks with an uneven surface and loose stones, sections of single lane path on a dirt base and others on a loose stone base. We will cross two bridges over the creek. There are a number of gentle to moderate uphill sections with two short, steeper climbs on loose stone surfaces towards the end of the walk. The majority of the walk is through recovering Box-Ironbark forests with some open areas.
The walk will transition through sections of the Castlemaine Gold Diggings National Heritage Park which is part of the traditional lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung People. Gold was first discovered in the area in 1851 and is has been estimated that gold equivalent in today’s value in excess of $100 million and was mined in conditions that, as we will see, were harsh.
Along the walk we will visit the Garfield Water Wheel, the Puddling Works and view the ruins of the Blacksmith’s Hut as well as the Welsh Village. There will be an opportunity to closely view several mineshafts cut into the ground.
From the Welsh Village, we will cross to the Forest Creek Track and walk up to the Expedition Pass Reservoir where we will take a break and have lunch. Following lunch, we will follow the track beside Forest Creek which was a rich source of alluvial gold.
We will then cut across to return to the Garfield Water Wheel via Taylors Hill and Burns Hill. A short distance from Burns Hill is the site of the Monster Meeting which was held on 18/12/1851. At this meeting, 15,000 miners met to protest against a proposed doubling of the licence fees as well as the conditions set by administrators. This action was the start of the sequence of actions that eventually led to the Eureka Rebellion in Ballarat three years later. As it is just off the road on our return to Werribee (Golden Point Road), we can visit the actual site where there is a commemorative plaque and information board as well as Digger’s Flag flying on the site.
