Chatauqua Peak Loop

Chatqauqua Peak sits 200 metres above Halls Gap, just at the northern tip of the town.

The Grampians is packed with rugged Sandstone mountains, stunning long rocky ridges and dry Eucalyptus forests all with-in a pretty short drive or a long walk from Halls Gap. Hiking to Chatauqua Peak gives you a full taste of the incredible Grampians National Park and you can be back in town, in-time for brunch.

It’s possible to hike directly to Chatauqua Peak and head back down the way that you came from, but by doing this, you’ll miss out on at least one waterfall.

The trail begins from behind the Halls Gap Recreation Reserve, better known as the ‘cricket oval covered in Kangaroos’. A bit over a kilometre into the walk, you’ll arrive at Clematis Falls, which a 20 metre waterfall between massive sandstone cliffs. Getting to the waterfall is easy, it’s a relatively flat walk with a bit of elevation, but nothing that’ll make you sweat.

From the waterfall, the trail gradually gets steeper as you get closer to Chatauqua Peak, which is about 20-25 minutes from Clematis Falls. The trail zig-zags to help with the elevation and then the last 5-10 minutes become very steep where you’ll need to do a small amount of climbing.

The final part of the track before reaching Chatauqua Peak is along a ridge, parts of it can be dangerous – if you’ve bought some kids along, you’ll want to keep a close eye on them. You can walk right along the ridge to the very end, giving you a view down into Halls Gap.

Once you’ve explored the peak, you can head back a few metres along the way that you came from until you find a junction, then turn left and keep following the trail to Bullaces Glen. Bullaces Glen is another waterfall (much smaller than Clematis Falls), the trail then weaves around and finishes up at the Halls Gap Botanic Gardens, just south of the oval and right next to the town centre.