South Steiglitz Loop, Brisbane Ranges

Steiglitz is an old mining town in the Brisbane Ranges National Park, a bit over an hour to the west of Melbourne and 30-40 minutes to the north-west of Geelong. The area is dry with small but steep hills covered in Eucalyptus trees and other natives. It’s a great place to call into and head out on a bush walk, although unless you’re ready to make your own track and cut up your legs from charging through the shrubs, then the South Steiglitz Loop might not be the best walk for you and instead consider the Anakie Gorge Walk or Ted Errey Nature Circuit which aren’t too far away.

The first part of this trail is easy to follow, until you get a few kilometres into it and reach the creek. From there, you’ve really just got to follow the creek bed for a bit more than two kilometres until you make it back to the Burchell Trail.

The South Steiglitz Loop hiking trail begins at the Steiglitz Courthouse. Park just near the courthouse and follow the track that goes slightly down hill. You’ll follow the Burchell Trail for 500 metres, then you need to take Wrixon Street that goes up hill to the left. There’s a timber sign, so it’s easy to find.

Walk all the way to the end of Wrixon Street, which is around 500-600 metres, until you reach a dirt road, which is the South Steiglitz Road. Turn right onto the road and walk along it for 600 metres, until you see the Miners Track, which is a narrow trail veering to the right.

Follow the Miners Track to the end. It’ll be a gradient down hill walk for a bit less than a kilometre and you’ll end up at a creek. You’ll need to cross over the creek and follow it to the north, as there’s no more trail to follow until you reach the Burchell Trail.

As you start walking north along the creek bed, at times you’ll see a bit of a trail and it’s usually a safe bet to follow it. You’ll need to keep on crossing the creek from side to side, finding the easiest terrain to cross, but don’t worry, most of the creek is dried up and you don’t have to get wet to make it across.

At times, one side or the other of the creek bed is a steep rocky cliff, so obviously you’d walk along the other side, although often it’s not an easy choice as one side might be thick prickly bush, the other being a gorge. It’s safest if you download the AllTrails app and follow the Hay, Miners, Native Youth and Mulrooneys Loop.

You’ll need to follow the creek for around 2 kms and will eventually reach the Burchell Trail, just a bit to the west from where you turned off at Wrixon Street. For some people, the bush-bashing will be the most enjoyable part, for others, the enjoyment will start again here, when you walk to the right at the Burchell Trail on a well defined track through some beautiful typical Aussie bush, all the way back to the Courthouse.

Steiglitz is only about an hour from Melbourne, depending what part you’re coming from. The best route is usually along the Princess Freeway, heading out towards Geelong, then at Werribee or one of the several exits after, you’ll head in a north-west direction off the Freeway and make your way around the top of Little River and over to the Brisbane Ranges.

As you’re coming into Steiglitz, there’s a parking area just near the old Steiglitz Courthouse. You can park there or anywhere nearby, wander down to the Burchall trail and start walking to the west.