Branding Yard Walk

Moderate

Family Friendly

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Easy loop trail past the Bunjil Geoglyph with spring wildflowers, per parks.vic.gov.au.

☰ Trail details

Hide panel — map only✕

Distance

5.67 km

Est. time

1 hr 26 min

Elevation gain

40 m

Route type

Loop

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In an emergency

Call 000 for police, fire or ambulance — Australia's emergency number works even with a weak signal, and without a SIM if any carrier has coverage.

You're in You Yangs Regional Park, Geelong region, VIC. Mobile reception in this area is not guaranteed — this is exactly why the offline map and GPS position on this page work without signal.

Tell someone your plan and expected return time before you set off. A PLB is the most reliable backup where there's no reception at all.

Tracks & plans

+ Add to tracks / plans

Species to look for on this trail

Ancient trees and rare flora confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Prickly BottlebrushDocumented on this trail

Callistemon brachyandrus

Endangered — VIC: Endangered, SA: Rare▾

Endangered — VIC: Endangered, SA: Rare

Melaleuca brachyandra, commonly known as prickly bottlebrush or scarlet bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia in Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with narrow leaves and showy red and green flowers making it an ideal ornamental plant in temperate areas.

How to spot it

Melaleuca brachyandra is a shrub growing to 1.5–8 m (5–30 ft) tall with hard bark and a rigid habit. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are 18–61 mm (0.7–2 in) long, 0.5–1.7 mm (0.02–0.07 in) wide, linear in shape, kidney-shaped in cross section and with the end tapering to a sharp point. The flowers are arranged in spikes on the ends of branches that continue to grow after flowering. The spikes are up to 35 mm (1 in) in diameter with 7 to 36 individual flowers. The petals are 2.8–4.9 mm (0

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Callistemon brachyandrus

Swamp Little Donkey-OrchidDocumented on this trail

Diuris palustris

Endangered — VIC: Endangered, TAS: Endangered▾

Endangered — VIC: Endangered, TAS: Endangered

Diuris palustris, commonly known as the swamp doubletail or swamp diuris is a species of orchid which is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has a tuft of between eight and ten twisted leaves and up to four yellow flowers with brown spots and blotches marks and blotches.

How to spot it

Diuris palustris is a tuberous, perennial herb with a tuft of between eight and ten twisted, linear leaves 100–300 mm (4–10 in) long, 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) wide and folded lengthwise. Up to four flowers 15–20 mm (0.6–0.8 in) wide are borne on a flowering stem 50–150 mm (2–6 in) tall. The flowers are yellow with dark brown spots and blotches. The dorsal sepal is erect, curved backwards near the tip, egg-shaped, 7–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long and 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) wide. The lateral sepals are green

Family Orchidaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Diuris palustris

Drooping Sheoak

Allocasuarina verticillata

Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island sheoak▾

Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island sheoak

A small dioecious tree with distinctive drooping, needle-like foliage, occurring across the Flinders Ranges, Gawler Ranges, western Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island. Forms important woodland habitat for glossy black-cockatoos, which feed on its seed cones.

How to spot it

Fine, drooping branchlets to 40cm long with leaves reduced to scale-like teeth in whorls of 9-13, fissured bark, and cylindrical to barrel-shaped seed cones 25-50mm long. Height 4-10m.

Family Casuarinaceae · Source: Allocasuarina verticillata — Wikipedia

KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Silver Banksia

Banksia marginata

Regionally scarce on Melbourne's volcanic plains▾

Regionally scarce on Melbourne's volcanic plains

Widespread across southeastern Australia and IUCN-listed as Least Concern overall, but Wikipedia notes it 'has almost disappeared' from the basalt plains west of Melbourne due to historic land clearing — making surviving stands in volcanic-plains parks like You Yangs and Werribee Gorge ecologically significant.

How to spot it

A highly variable shrub to small tree with narrow, dull green leaves showing a white underside and a prominent midrib. Yellow cylindrical flower spikes 5-10cm tall, made up of up to 1,000 individual flowers, appear from late summer to early winter and fade to grey seed cones.

Family Proteaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Banksia marginata

Photo: peganum (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Wildlife you might see on this trail

Animals confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Southern Whiteface

Aphelocephala leucopsis

Vulnerable — AUS: Vulnerable, ACT: Vulnerable, NSW: Vulnerable, QLD: Vulnerable, VIC: Vulnerable, WA: Vulnerable▾

Vulnerable — AUS: Vulnerable, ACT: Vulnerable, NSW: Vulnerable, QLD: Vulnerable, VIC: Vulnerable, WA: Vulnerable

The southern whiteface is a small passerine found in arid regions across most of the southern half of the Australian continent, excluding Tasmania. Superficially finch-like in appearance, this insectivorous bird is relatively common throughout most of its range, however, overall populations appear to be in decline.

How to spot it

The southern whiteface is a stocky thornbill-like bird with a brown dorsum, white belly, dark brown wings and a black tail with narrow white tip. A grey wash on the belly is sometimes present, along with a grey or rufous tinge to the flanks.

Family Acanthizidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Southern Whiteface

Magpie Goose

Anseranas semipalmata

Endangered — NSW: Vulnerable, VIC: Vulnerable, SA: Endangered▾

Endangered — NSW: Vulnerable, VIC: Vulnerable, SA: Endangered

The magpie goose is the sole living representative species of the family Anseranatidae. This waterbird is found in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. The species is not truly migratory but it sometimes travels large distances to find food and water, especially when not breeding, and is sometimes recorded outside its core range. The species was once also widespread in southern Australia but disappeared from there largely due to the drainage of the wetlands where the birds once bred. Due to their importance to Aboriginal people as a seasonal food source, as subjects of recreational hunting, and as a tourist attraction, their expansive and stable presence in northern Australia has been "ensured [by] protective management".

How to spot it

The magpie goose has black-and-white plumage in both sexes, with a long neck and legs and a long hooked bill. The males are 75–90 cm (30–35 in) in length and weigh 2.76 kg (6.1 lb) on average. The female is smaller, being 70–80 cm (28–31 in) in length and weighing 2.07 kg (4.6 lb). The wingspan of this bird spans 130–180 cm (4.3–5.9 ft). Their voice is a loud resonant honking.

Family Anseranatidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Magpie Goose

Masked Owl

Tyto novaehollandiae

Critically Endangered — NSW: Vulnerable, VIC: Critically Endangered, NT: Endangered▾

Critically Endangered — NSW: Vulnerable, VIC: Critically Endangered, NT: Endangered

Masked owl or masked-owl refers to various owls in the genus Tyto, including:Australian masked owl Tasmanian masked owl Golden masked owl Manus masked owl Minahasa masked owl Moluccan masked owl Taliabu masked owl

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near You Yangs Regional Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 1984) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Tytonidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Masked Owl

Major Mitchell's Cockatoo

Lophochroa leadbeateri

Endangered — NSW: Vulnerable, QLD: Endangered, VIC: Endangered, SA: Rare▾

Endangered — NSW: Vulnerable, QLD: Endangered, VIC: Endangered, SA: Rare

The pink cockatoo, also known as Major Mitchell's cockatoo or Leadbeater's cockatoo, is a medium-sized cockatoo that inhabits arid and semiarid inland areas across Australia, with the exception of the north-east.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near You Yangs Regional Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 2005) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Cacatuidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Major Mitchell's Cockatoo

Grey-Crowned Babbler

Pomatostomus temporalis

Vulnerable — VIC: Vulnerable▾

Vulnerable — VIC: Vulnerable

The grey-crowned babbler is a species of bird in the family Pomatostomidae. They are found in Australia and New Guinea . Its habitats include tropical and subtropical dry broadlife forests, tropical moist lowland forests, shrublands, and savannas.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near You Yangs Regional Park (Atlas of Living Australia, date unrecorded) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Pomatostomidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Pomatostomus temporalis

Plains-Wanderer

Pedionomus torquatus

Critically Endangered — AUS: Critically Endangered, NSW: Endangered, QLD: Critically endangered, VIC: Critically Endangered, SA: Endangered, NT: Critically Endangered▾

Critically Endangered — AUS: Critically Endangered, NSW: Endangered, QLD: Critically endangered, VIC: Critically Endangered, SA: Endangered, NT: Critically Endangered

The plains-wanderer is an atypical species of wading bird, the only representative of family Pedionomidae and genus Pedionomus. It is endemic to Australia. Its historic range included much of eastern Australia, including Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory, but in recent years, it has become endangered with remaining known populations concentrated in the Riverina region of New South Wales and western Queensland.

How to spot it

The plains-wanderer is a quail-like ground bird, measuring 15–19 cm. It is such an atypical bird that it is placed in an entire family of its own, Pedionomidae. The adult male is light brown above, with fawn-white underparts with black crescents. The adult female is substantially larger than the male, and has a distinctive, white-spotted black collar. They have excellent camouflage and will first hide at any disturbance. If approached too closely, they will run rather than fly, at which they are

Family Pedionomidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Pedionomus torquatus