Benwerrin Nature Walk

Mt Richmond National Park

Length:  2 kilometres
Walk:  1 hour
Track:  Good
Grade:  Easy/moderate
Start:  Mt Richmond picnic area
Finish:  Mt Richmond picnic area
Nearby:  Portland
Best Time:  Spring, summer.

Aborigines who lived here before European settlement called the area Benwerrin, meaning ‘long hill’. This nature walk is a perfect introduction to the diverse range of native plants and animals found in the park’s patchwork of forest, open heath, sand dunes and scattered swamps.

Hardier species such as manna gum, coast beard-heath, Austral grass-tree and showy bossiaea are found on the higher and more exposed areas facing the harsh winds of Bass Strait. It’s a very different environment on the lee side and in wetter and more sheltered hollows, where brown stringybark, shining peppermint, swamp gum, blackwood, silver banksia and silky tea-tree are more common. Colourful wildflowers bloom profusely beside the track, especially in spring.

Tree hollows are home to possums, rosellas and owls, and birds such as yellow robins, grey fantails, honeyeaters, thornbills and finches constantly flit by. Walk quietly and you may see an echidna crossing the track, koalas sleeping or feeding in the manna gums or kangaroos and wallabies drinking at a waterhole or grazing nearby.

Climb to the nearby lookout on Mt Richmond for panoramic views over Discovery Bay and the windswept coastline.

Further information
Parks Victoria
Ph 131 963 (within Australia)