WODONGA - OMEO
(via Mitta Mitta township, Mount Wills, Glen Valley, and the Blue Duck)
(www.northeastvictoria.online)
TRAVELLING TIME: 4-5 hours depending on your interests.
DISTANCE COVERED: About 180km (75km to Mitta Mitta; 132km to Glen Valley; 152km to the Cobungra River).
OVERVIEW MAPS: Spatial Vision, Touring the Victorian Alps.
DETAILED MAPS: Spatial Vision, Touring the Victorian Alps.
SHOPS and SERVICES: Albury - Wodonga has a full range of shopping and services; Tallangatta have a good range of shops and services; Eskdale has a general store and a hotel; Mitta Mitta township has a fuel outlet, a general store and a hotel; Omeo has several fuel outlets, a small supermarket, and some nice eateries.
ACCOMMODATION: Albury - Wodonga has a wide range of accommodation options, including several caravan parks; Tallangatta also has a caravan park, as well as several motels; Eskdale has a caravan park, as does Mitta Mitta (at the confluence of the Mitta Mitta River and Snowy Creek); Glen Wills has a spacious lodge (see text)
The excellent Blue Duck Inn (at Anglers Rest, on the Cobungra River) has motel style cabins. Click here for the Blue Duck Inn website.
Omeo has motels, two hotels, apartments and the Omeo Caravan Park alongside Livingstone Creek Click here for the Omeo Caravan Park website.
As well, there is excellent bush camping on the lower reaches of the Mitta Mitta River, just before it enters Lake Hume; alongside Snowy Creek at Lightning Creek (nice camping area, with a toilet block); at The Walnuts (alongside Snowy Creek); at the Mitta Mitta River at Glen Valley (more nice camping, also with toilet block), Jokers Flat (popular area on the Mitta Mitta River), Anglers Rest (on the Cobungra River) and CRB Camp - see the text for more details.
WHEN TO GO: Avoid any super-hot days, and sustained wet conditions. The roadway is often closed during the winter months because of snow coverage; this makes the warmer months the best time for travel on this route. The Christmas Bush blooms are amazing, usually in January.
ROADWAY DETAILS: A narrow roadway that is now completely sealed. The roadway is quite narrow in places, and is only just suited to camper-trailers, caravans (of less than 16’) and motorhomes.
OTHER INFO: Much of the route being followed in this tour was pioneered by gold miners, and those who supplied the goods and services to keep the gold mines operating. Distances quoted may vary by several kilometres from one vehicle to another, and are measured from the roundabout at the junction of the B400 and B401 just east of Wodonga (near the Bunnings Store).
This is one of the lesser known Victorian high country routes, but features excellent views of the New South Wales and Victorian high country, and a sheltered roadway. There are no fuel outlets between the townships of Mitta Mitta and Omeo, so it is best to take adequate fuel, and something to snack on before setting off.
Although this route uses the Omeo Highway, the name highway is a misnomer; it refers to its intended function as a significant transport route, not to its status in the bitumen hierarchy! However, regardless of status, this is a great drive (on a fully sealed roadway), with plenty of interest as a day out from Albury-Wodonga area, or as a means of accessing the Omeo region.
Lake Hume and Lockharts Gap
Starting out from the roundabout at the junction of the B400 and B401, just east of Wodonga (near Bunnings Store), this is a nice piece of divided road (the Murray Valley Highway), that provides a comfortable run out of the Wodonga urban area.
The roadway soon narrows down, and then meets up with the waters of Lake Hume (to the left) where the Ebden Caravan Park has an excellent lake frontage.
About 25km from town, there is a turn-off to the right (signposted to Mitta Mitta and Dartmouth) and this leads over Lockharts Gap.
[Lockharts Gap is in fact a scenic short-cut, allowing you to by-pass the Tallangatta area; if you want to travel via Tallangatta, then you need to stay with the Murray Valley Highway, to about five kilometres beyond Tallangatta, and then take the Omeo Highway off to the right, just before Tatonga Inlet; this is where the Mitta Mitta River enters Lake Hume.]
Assuming that you take the Lockharts Gap route, this is a very scenic route, climbing up through native bushland, with many great views of the surrounding farm country. As well, the story board at the former settlement of Charleroi makes interesting reading.
At the Gap itself, there is a spacious picnic area (on the left, with some interesting story boards) and this makes a good place to take a quick break.
Making the descent down to the valley floor, the roadway joins up with the Omeo Highway (the C543) at about the 50km mark from Wodonga.
Making a careful right turn here, the route now meets up with the Mitta Mitta River, and follows this scenic waterway for much of the 28km distance to Mitta Mitta township.
The Mitta Mitta rises in the snow country of the Bogong High Plains and parts of Mount Bogong itself. Some of the run-off into the Mitta Mitta catchment is now diverted via aqueducts into the Kiewa Hydro-electric Scheme and from there directly to the Murray River. In the distant past, the river flowed south into the Gippsland Lakes, but was diverted north by faulting in the Omeo area. This means that the Mitta Mitta now makes a huge sweep around the Victorian high country, travelling first to the south, then east and finally north to join the Murray River in the backwaters of Lake Hume.
Eskdale
The small community of Eskdale is about 10km from where you swing right onto the C543, and was first settled in the early 1840s, with the Howman and Maddison Families taking up pastoral runs in the valley at this time.
As you enter the township from the west, there is a memorial (on the right) to the crew of a Beaufort Bomber that crashed up on Eskdale Spur in 1945. There is a spacious car parking area here, with a tourist information booth, and a toilet block.
The memorial to the Beaufort Bomber (and its crew) is very detailed, and this is a good place for a travel break. See "monumentaustralia.org.au" for more details of the memorial.
Like Mitta Mitta, Eskdale township owes much of its origins to gold mining, and whilst Eskdale was very much a gateway to the Mitta Mitta fields (and others further south), Eskdale had its own alluvial fields, as well as some reef mining in the nearby high country of the Dorchap Range (to the right as you drive through town).
Also on the right, the Eskdale Hotel is one of the iconic hotels of the North-east, and is well known for its pub-grub and ambience. The Eskdale caravan park is also on the right, and has a nice position alongside Little Snowy Creek.
The Mighty Mitta Muster is held at Eskdale during the autumn, and features a variety of muster events such as a Classic Car Muster, Woodchop Muster, Whipcracking Muster and a Dog Jump Muster; more details from the shown link below.
See also the link to the Eskdale description.
Lake Dartmouth (optional detour)
Continuing on towards the high country, the turn-off (to the left) to Lake Dartmouth is encountered about 61km from Wodonga. This large lake is located on the Mitta Mitta River 25km from the township of Mitta Mitta, and has a surface area of 62sq/km, extending back 40km from the dam wall. The lake was built as a major irrigation storage for the Murray Darling Irrigation System, and was completed in 1982. The original town of Dartmouth, after which the lake was named, is now inundated.
The new township of Dartmouth is encountered about six kilometres before the dam wall, and has a limited range of services and accommodation, and it is worthwhile phoning ahead if you have any particular requirements.
Continuing on from the township, once at the Lake there is an observation area which provides uninterrupted views of this vast storage, as well as the opportunity to drive over the dam wall.
As well as being used for irrigation, water released from the dam passes through a 150 megawatt hydro-electric power station. A regulating pondage (Lake Bannimboola) occupies the first 10km of the river immediately below the outlets of the dam. An observation deck at the downstream end of the pondage is a good place to view the river.
For boating and/or fishing enthusiasts the lake waters are clear and (reputedly) abound with fish. Combined with excellent mountain scenery, Lake Dartmouth makes a very enjoyable venue.
For the adventurous boater there are two designated wilderness camps along the lakeshore. The first is at Eight Mile Creek (almost opposite the boat ramp, but four kilometres from it) and the second is at Eustace Creek (on the eastern shore) 15km from the ramp. The boat ramp near the southern end of the dam wall is accessible from Dartmouth township (turn south at the Caravan Park) but not from the dam observation area.
Mitta Mitta township
The C544 (alternative access to Lake Dartmouth) is encountered a few kilometres before Mitta Mitta township, and just before the town boundary, The Mill picnic area is signposted off to the left. This is a nice riverside area, and is popular with anglers.
Once in Mitta Mitta there is a limited range of accommodation and services, however fuel is available, as are food supplies. The Mitta Pub (aka, the Laurel Hotel) serves an excellent counter meal, and has a small amount of accommodation, whilst Magorra Caravan Park, just over the river from the township offers very good camping, and some on-site vans.
Not far out of town, the Mitta Mitta Brewery is also well worth a visit (see the Brewery listing on the Home Page for more details).
Pastoral properties in the Mitta Mitta area were first taken up by Europeans in 1840, when Samuel Bowler (and others) journeyed overland from Sydney. Several pastoral runs were soon in operation, all of them clustered around the Mitta Mitta River, a major stream first documented by explorers Hume & Hovell in 1824.
The flatish ground alongside the Mitta Mitta River, and nearby Snowy Creek, was an obvious site for a township, and a fledgling town started to become established in the late 1840s, soon to be spurred on by the discovery of gold.
Gold was discovered during 1851, and this lead to many small scale mines starting up in the area, with a consequent demand for goods and services that only a nearby town can provide. Not only did Mitta Mitta have its own goldfields, but there were other fields close by that contributed to the development of the township, with a constant flow of goods and services passing through the new township on their way to places such as Granite Flat, Sunnyside, Glen Wills and Glen Valley.
In the Mitta Mitta area itself, small scale mining continued for about 30 years, but as the easy pickings faded away, a different form of gold mining (sluicing) began.
Sluicing was comparatively new method of gold mining (it was first used in California, during the 1840s) and was eminently suited to the Mitta Mitta area, given that two very productive (and reliable) streams were close at hand, with some good gradients to provide plenty of gravitational grunt to those jets of water.
The Union Gold Sluicing Company was formed at Mitta Mitta in 1884, and quickly began hydraulic sluicing in the area. Soon after Union Gold was formed, the Pioneer Hydraulic Mining Company also began operations in the area; it subsequently absorbed the Union Gold Company and continued with its sluice mining operations until 1904.
The mine yielded about 15,000 ounces of gold, and the main sluicing site is still visible as the red-orange escarpment backdrop to the town (on the left as you pass through the centre of the township). A documented 45 minute (1.5km) walking track around the mine site leads from near the general store - see below.
After 1904, the Pioneer Mining Company continued its operations in the Mitta Mitta area, but concentrated more on the alluvial (dredging) method, rather than the sluicing. Given the vast expanse of floodplain deposits in the area there was plenty of opportunity for this type of mining, however by 1914 it was all over, and the mine closed down.
So the mines have gone, and present day Mitta Mitta hangs its’ Akubra as much on tourism as agriculture, and makes a great base camp for fishing, mountain bike riding and 4wd trips.
Short Walks at Mitta Mitta township
As mentioned above, there is a 1.5km (30 minute, AWTGS-2) walking track at Mitta Mitta that loops around the Pioneer Mine Site.
This (and other) walks are detailed on the Mitta Mitta website, along with a handy sketch map; see the link below.
Other walks detailed on this website are,
Deep Gully Walk: 90 minute (2.2km, AWTGS-2) walk through two different forest environments; links up with River Walk.
River Walk: 90 minute (2.5km, AWTGS-2) riverside walk.
Upper Pioneer Trail: 120 minute (3.5km, AWTGS-3) walk that offers nice views of the Pioneer Mine, as well as coming into contact with some of the water sluice infrastructure.
Mount Welcome Walk: 5.5 hours (8km, AWTGS-4) - a hard walk, with steep ascent/descent; take plenty of water with you.
Although each of these walks provide plenty of interest, not all are totally suitable for young children, as there are several mine relics still open in the area.
Access to the Pioneer mine site is signposted (to the right) as you first enter the township, and this leads to a Parks Victoria sign, and subsequently to a small car parking area.
An information board here details the history of mining in the area, as well as providing a nice map of the each walk.
Granite Flat
Leaving the township in the rear vision mirror, the Highway now follows Snowy Creek on an intermittent basis for much of the distance to the Lightning Creek picnic area.
Snowy Creek rises on the northern slopes of Mount Bogong, and joins the Mitta Mitta River near the township of the same name. There are not too many places in Australia where a main road follows a scenic river, but this route is one of them, providing many great views of white water rapids, and scenic gorge country.
There is a nice waterside camp (signposted off to the left) about 4.5km from town, and this is another popular camping area for anglers. Some cleared land is now encountered - the site of a former gold mining township, that of Granite Flat.
Granite Flat was once a hive of gold mining activity, all of it centred on the floodplain of Snowy Creek. Little evidence remains of this activity, and whilst there are few buildings to photograph, there are the remains of a Chinese built water diversion wall alongside Snowy Creek. A plaque outside the former church provides some insight to this once bustling community, as do the storyboards opposite the church.
The Walnuts and Lightning Creek
It is now a short run to an informal picnic-camping area at The Walnuts, just after crossing over Snowy Creek for the first time.
There is plenty of flat ground and shade at The Walnuts, as well as creek access, making this a popular stop-over point. It is, however, an informal site, and apart from a small toilet block there are no amenities here; there is a much better site at Lightning Creek (see below).
The road now continues to follow Snowy Creek, with many excellent glimpses of this alpine waterway down to the right (for passengers only), leading into the picnic-camping area at Lightning Creek.
Like the Mitta Mitta Valley, there was much gold mining activity in this area, and there are many relics of the boom times around, but not the former Lightning Creek Hotel.
Dunstans Logging Camp was located near this point (the Lightning Creek - Snowy Creek confluence) and was once home to an enormous water flume, used to divert water from various waterways, so as to provide water (and power) for gold ore sluicing operations.
However, in the modern era, there is a very pleasant stretch of creekside parkland here, with plenty of room to set up camp, and/or stop for a refreshment break.
The usual array of day visitor amenities are provided (including a toilet), and this is a popular venue on weekends, and holiday periods, during the warmer months.
Mount Wills
About 10km after Lightning Creek, the signposted road to Mount Wills leads off to the right. A short drive along the gravel from here leads to the Tallangatta and District Ski Club Lodge, and from here there is a three kilometre walking track [AWTGS-3] to the summit of Mount Wills.
Note that this route joins up with the Australian Alpine Walking Track (AAWT) after about 1.5km, and you need to swing left at this point.
Walking time to the summit is about one hour, and you should allow at least two hours for the complete trip.
The grades are not steep, and this is a very rewarding walk if you have the time and inclination. From the summit there are magnificent views of the high country to the south, including the solitary looking Mount Bogong.
This is a particularly impressive view in winter or spring, as most of the surrounding peaks are covered in snow. There are also distant views of the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains, and of course Mount Kosciusko.
In wintertime the trip to the summit of Mount Wills makes a very enjoyable half-day cross-country ski tour.
For the more experienced bushwalker, a continuation of this walks leads south to Mount Wills South (about three kilometres away, a nice ridge walk).
From there the continuation leads south, and then east for a return to the Omeo Highway, where a car shuttle will save a walk back to the start.
Whilst the walk to Mount Wills is reasonably straightforward, this continuation requires a detailed topo map (for example, Spatial Vision Bogong Alpine Area) a GPS, a formal set of walking shoes/boots and a pair of trekking poles.
En-route to Mount Wills South, the route is unclear in several places, and you need to remember that this is a ridge walk, and that you should not be making any sustained descent to either the left or right (that is, stay on the ridge).
Continuing beyond Mount Wills South, the navigation becomes even trickier, and you should refer to Australian Alpine Walking Track by John Siseman and John Chapman; see www.john.chapman.name for more details. Click here for this website
The Knocker Track (optional 4wd route)
The Knocker Track (4wd only) is signposted off to the left about 10km after the Mount Wills access track, and is an alternative 17km route to the Omeo area.
At the time of the gold rush, the route from Omeo to Glen Valley was much further east, via the Knocker Track (so-called because of the steep climb involved), and a punt over the Mitta Mitta River at the Hinnomunjie Bridge site.
For present day travellers it is a nice 4wd short-cut down towards Hinnomunjie Bridge, passing through yet another abandoned gold mining settlement, that of Staleyville.
The Knocker Track offers a bumpy and rocky ride; it is quite a climb to The Knocker itself (1506m) and then a steep descent towards the Mitta Mitta River, with some excellent views along the way.
Once at the valley floor (at a t-junction) turn right for Hinnomunjie Bridge and Omeo. The bridge at Hinnomunjie is one of the oldest surviving timber bridges in the high country, and had a narrow escape during the disastrous 2003 bushfires. Quick thinking and hard work by the locals saved the day!
Sunnyside and Glen Wills
Staying with the main road, and continuing the descent from Mount Wills, Sunnyside is the first of several gold mining settlements encountered on this side of the range, with gold having being discovered here in the 1890s. Whilst the mines here were very productive, by 1918 all mining had ceased, and the township was abandoned in 1919.
Glen Wills is just beyond Sunnyside, and like its neighbour was a hot-spot for gold (as well as tin) mining in the 1890s, and at a lesser pace, continuing well into the 20th Century. The tin lode discovered here was once predicted to overshadow the lode at Broken Hill, but this was a false analysis of the geology of the area, and the last of the mining operations ceased in the 1940s.
Modern day Glen Wills is also home to the spacious Glen Wills Mountain Retreat.
Leaving Glen Wills, the tripmeter should be reading something like 135km, depending on whether you took the Mount Wills turn-off.
Glen Valley and Mittagundi
Continuing downslope, the scattered settlement of Glen Valley was once the scene of a gold and tin mining frenzy in the 1880s and 1890s, but little remains of this activity today, with the last of the mining operations having ceased by 1940. A few stark chimneys, skeletal timber frames and rusting iron sheets are all that is left of the gold-driven hustle and bustle.
The bridge at Glen Valley (over the Mitta Mitta River) has a nice picnic-camping area (on the right just before crossing the River) and is another popular venue for anglers. A similar area can be found just downstream of the bridge (that is, to the left of the roadway, having crossed over the River).
Shortly before crossing the Mitta Mitta at the Glen Valley Bridge, the entrance to Mittagundi is passed on the right. This is a 200 hectare bushland property which is operated as a school children’s camp and is the dreamchild of its founder Ian Stapleton.
Initially Mittagundi operated from a series of ex-Tramway buses, but now has more formal accommodation, built almost entirely by the many children who have stayed at the camp over the years. More details at www.mittagundi.org.au.
Shannonvale
Continuing to follow the Mitta Mitta River downstream, just before crossing Middle Creek, Shannonvale Station is off to the right; this is a well-known grazing property, owned and operated by the Fitzgerald family.
Edward D’Arcy Fitzgerald came ashore in Australia from America in 1828. He was one of many Americans who came to Australia in search of gold. He worked a claim along Livingstone Creek in the Omeo district for 25 years and eventually bought a 160 acre property in the Upper Mitta Mitta Valley.
Prior to buying what became Shannonvale, Fitzgerald met and married Mary Gallagher, an Irish immigrant, who had arrived in Australia at Port Albert in 1853. George Silas Fitzgerald took over from his father, Edward D’Arcy, and today the station is operated by Brendan Fitzgerald and his wife, the third generation of the Australian Fitzgeralds.
Middle Creek and The Joker
The next landmark is Middle Creek, and just after this, the Bogong High Plains Road goes off to the right; this is at about the 140km mark from Wodonga. See the Mount Beauty - Omeo description for details of the Bogong High Plains Road (also known as the Falls Creek Road) part of the Bogong Alpine Way. There is a nice picnic area, near where Middle Creek joins the Mitta Mitta River, and this can be accessed by a slip road off to the left of the roadway.
The Joker picnic-camping area follows soon after Middle Creek, and is also accessible from a slip road off to the left of the roadway. This is quite a large area, with an extensive river frontage - a very popular area during the warmer months.
Bundarrah and Cobungra Rivers
Leaving The Joker behind, it is a short run to the Mitta Mitta - Bundarrah River confluence, and an informal picnic area (down to the left, just before crossing the Bundarrah River). There are no facilities here, but this is quite a popular area for anglers, and is also used by white water paddlers as a launching spot to tackle the Mitta Mitta Gorge which starts a few kilometres downstream from here.
If you have time, the rugged, and scenic, Bundarrah River is worth exploring; a little bit of rock-hopping reveals some good views of the Bundarrah’s excellent riverside scenery.
Just around the corner from the Bundarrah, the rustic Blue Duck Inn sits alongside the alpine Cobungra River; a great setting, and welcoming sight, for many travellers for almost a hundred years. Just before reaching the Inn, there is a linear camping area alongside the Cobungra River; another great spot to stretch out for a night.
The original (1900) building at the site of the Blue Duck was a slab construction cut from local timber, and operated as a butcher shop, servicing the Glen Valley and Mount Wills Goldfields. Miner Billy O’Connell bought the building in 1912, and obtained a hotel license, on the understanding that the new main road would pass his front door; like many politicians’ promises, this one did not eventuate for a long time (until the late 1920s).
At the time of the gold rush in the Omeo area, the route from Omeo to Glen Valley was much further east, via the Knocker Track (so-called because of the steep climb involved), and a punt over the Mitta Mitta River at the Hinnomunjie Bridge site. The failure to build, what is now, the Omeo Highway induced O’Connell to christen his lodge ’The Blue Duck’ - a mining term for a gold lease that produces no gold.
In the early 1920s, O’Connell transported two houses from Omeo; one became the main building of the Blue Duck, and the other a residence. Billy settled there with his wife Lillian and raised nine children. The small log structure behind the Inn was originally State School Number 4286, and was built by O’Connell in 1926, when five of his nine children were of school age.
Despite a negative start to their enterprise, the Blue Duck was a successful enterprise, and one of their regular visitors was Sir Harold Clapp, head of Victorian Railways. In the 1930s, Clapp arranged for the Newport rail yards to cast the beautiful art deco bronze blue duck at the entrance to the Inn. The O’Connells left in 1946, after which time the Blue Duck had several owners, but relinquished its liquor license in 1967, when local gold mines closed.
The Blue Duck regained its license in 1998, and is now a popular stop-over, both for its motel style cabins, and for its meals. Click here for the Blue Duck Inn website.
It is now about 30-40 minutes to Omeo, and continuing along the Omeo Highway, CRB camp is just around the corner, and is a short distance from the roadway, with pedestrian access down to the Cobungra River.
About nine kilometres beyond CRB camp, there is a signposted walking track that leads down to the Mitta Mitta Gorge at a large rapid. This is an interesting walk, as it leads down to the heart of the Mitta Mitta Gorge, a sight not usually seen by anyone but white water paddlers. The last few hundred metres are quite steep, and this is a tiring walk.
The Home Run
Omeo is now a little under 20km away, and there are occasional glimpse of the Mitta Mitta River way down below to enjoy, and then the pleasing hill country that surrounds Omeo.
Bingo Gap Road goes off to the left, and can be used to view the historic Hinnomunjie Bridge (over the Mitta Mitta River), as well as being a short-cut to the Omeo Valley. Bingo Gap Road itself is unsealed, but the remainder of the route to the Bridge is sealed.
If you don’t want to take the short-cut, the Omeo Valley Road itself is encountered (to the left) a few hundred metres later.
There is excellent bush camping available at the bridge, a linear site, stretching out along the riverside. There are toilet amenities here, and this is a popular place to camp.
Further downstream, there are some other great camps alongside the Mitta Mitta; just follow Kellys Road for a few kilometres.
The route to Benambra, and subsequently Corryong, also goes off to the left a few kilometres after the Omeo Valley Road; see the separate description for more details of this scenic run.
All that remains now is to enjoy the last few kilometres of pastoral country that provides the final run to the township of Omeo. The tripmeter should now be reading something like 185km, but this will depend on how many times you pulled off the road for points of interest, picnic areas, camping areas etc.
GREAT ALPINE ROAD (Wangaratta, Bright, Mount Hotham, Omeo, Bairnsdale)
MOUNT BEAUTY to OMEO (via Bogong Village, Falls Creek and Bogong High Plains)
CORRYONG to OMEO (via Sassafras Gap and Benambra)
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COPYRIGHT © 1995-2023, Chris McLaughlin.