I’ve just moved over to Halls Gap, right in the centre of the Grampians – a hot spot for hiking in Australia. So, I got Guy & Eva to come visit and we smashed out a near 20km day hike starting at and returning to my new forest loft.
Between us, we’ve been to the Grampians National Park hundreds of times, whether it be to go camping & hiking, visit family that live in the area or to take tour groups. We normally drive straight to a campground or the start of a hiking trail, although seeing as I now live here, we thought it made sense to start and finish a trail from my place.
My new villa is just below Boronia Peak, which is more-or-less on the opposite side of Halls Gap to the Pinnacle. We began by walking along creek and then defying death with a pretty gnarly river crossing that you’ll see in the video. Once we made it across the water, we grabbed a coffee from the town centre and headed up to the ridge above Halls Gap. We made it to the highest point, the Pinnacle, then followed the ridge to Sundial Peak before coming back down the mountain, past Lake Bellfield and back to my house.
Take a look at the full video below or follow this link for the short version.
Early into the walk, we came across some Kangaroos, of course – there’s population of about 350 people living in the national park and over 35,000 roos.
After grabbing a coffee and meat pie in Halls Gap, the elevation started and made our way for the Pinnacle.
There were some pretty steep parts to the trail and we lost our breath at time, but only having the day packs on made it all pretty easy, overall.
Once making it up to the Pinnacle, we didn’t see too many more fellow walkers. Most people head straight to the Pinnacle and back the way they came from, whether they hiked up the mountain from Hall Gap or drove halfway up and made the trek from either Wonderland Carpark or Sundial car park (both car parks are 2.2kms from the Pinnacle – the walk from Wonderland is stunning, the trail from Sundial is the easiest).
From the Pinnacle, we headed south to Sundial Peak, which was one the highlights of the trail.
Sundial Peak is totally different to the Pinnacle. Both peaks have similar, impressive views, but completely different flora (or lack ]of it). The Pinnacle is mainly surrounded by huge sheets of sandstone with the occasional dry Eucalyptus tree, where-as most the area around Sundial Peak is protected from the sun with plenty of big-ish trees and loads of shade.
As far as a Halls Gap Loop (if they’re to ever officially create one), this is near perfect. The trail is challenging at times, but never too difficult, there’s a heap of diversity in the terrain and it only takes about 5-6 hours.
If you’re heading to Halls Gap or the Grampians, reach out to us so that we can recommend some trails and things to see. If you’re planning on doing this exact trail, be sure to talk to us first as it’s a mix of a few different ones and won’t make sense if you’re trying to find it on a map.
Come back to the BPTRV Blog soon to see our next adventure to the Grampians as we’ll be heading back there soon.