Southern Circuit

Expert

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11km scrambling loop from Cooks Mill over Sugarloaf Peak and along the exposed Razorback ridge to The Farmyard camp area, one of the park's signature hikes.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

29.72 km

Est. time

8 hr 49 min

Elevation gain

841 m

Route type

Loop

✦ Plan route

Steepest stretch: +44m over ~300m (around the 3.4km mark)

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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 Cathedral Range State Park, Cathedral Range, 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.

Orange Bell-ClimberDocumented on this trail

Marianthus bignoniaceus

Endangered — VIC: Endangered▾

Endangered — VIC: Endangered

Marianthus bignoniaceus, commonly known as orange bell-creeper, is a species of flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae and is native to the Australian states of Victoria and South Australia. It is a slender climber with egg-shaped or narrowly egg-shaped leaves and green and orange or salmon-pink flowers arranged singly or in pairs.

How to spot it

Marianthus bignoniaceus is a slender twiner with reddish brown stems that are silky-hairy at first, but become glabrous as they age. Its adult leaves are egg-shaped or narrowly egg-shaped, 12–50 mm (0.47–1.97 in) long and 6–25 mm (0.24–0.98 in) wide on a short petiole. Both surfaces of the leaves have scattered, soft hairs. The flowers are borne singly or in pairs on a slender, pendent pedicel 3–7 mm (0.12–0.28 in) long, the sepals lance-shaped and joined at the base, 2–6 mm (0.079–0.236 in) lon

Family Pittosporaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Marianthus bignoniaceus

Photo via iNaturalist Australia (CC-BY-NC 4.0 (Int)), collected by jak16

Thyme Beard-HeathDocumented on this trail

Leucopogon thymifolius

Vulnerable — VIC: Vulnerable▾

Vulnerable — VIC: Vulnerable

Leucopogon thymifolius, commonly known as thyme beard-heath, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to Victoria. It is a slender shrub with spreading, egg-shaped to oblong leaves and white to pale pink, tube-shaped flowers arranged in spikes of seven to thirteen in leaf axils, or on the ends of leafless branches.

How to spot it

Leucopogon rufus is a slender shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in), its branchlets sometimes covered with fine, soft hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped to oblong and spreading, 2.5–11 mm (0.098–0.433 in) long and 0.5–2 mm (0.020–0.079 in) wide. Both surfaces of the leaves are covered with fine, soft hairs, and the edges of the leaves are turned down. The flowers are borne in spikes of seven to thirteen in upper leaf axils and the ends of leafless branches, the spikes

Family Ericaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Leucopogon thymifolius

Grampians Parrot-PeaDocumented on this trail

Dillwynia oreodoxa

Vulnerable — VIC: Vulnerable▾

Vulnerable — VIC: Vulnerable

Dillwynia oreodoxa is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to Victoria, Australia. It is an erect shrub with glabrous foliage, linear leaves and yellow flowers with red markings.

How to spot it

Dillwynia oreodoxa is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 4 m (13 ft) with glabrous stems and leaves. The leaves are linear, triangular in cross-section, 10–30 mm (0.39–1.18 in) long and 0.7–1.0 mm (0.028–0.039 in) wide. The flowers are arranged on the ends of branchlets in groups of up to six, each flower on a pedicel up to 5 mm (0.20 in) long. The sepals are 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long, the standard petal about 11 mm (0.43 in) long, and yellow with red veins near the base,

Family Fabaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Dillwynia oreodoxa

Ribbed Bush-PeaDocumented on this trail

Pultenaea costata

Vulnerable — VIC: Vulnerable▾

Vulnerable — VIC: Vulnerable

Pultenaea costata, commonly known as ribbed bush-pea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the Grampians National Park in Victoria. It is a spreading shrub with egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves, and dense clusters of pea-like flowers.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Cathedral Range State Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 1920) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Fabaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Pultenaea costata

Photo via National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL) AVH data (CC-BY 4.0 (Int)), collected by Audas, J.W.C.

Dainty Spider-OrchidDocumented on this trail

Caladenia ampla

Critically Endangered — VIC: Critically Endangered▾

Critically Endangered — VIC: Critically Endangered

Caladenia ampla, commonly known as the dainty spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Victoria. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and a single flower which is sometimes yellowish-green flower with red stripes and sometimes entirely red.

How to spot it

Caladenia ampla is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single hairy leaf, 6–10 cm (2–4 in) long and 5–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) wide. A single flower (rarely two) is borne on a spike up to 22 cm (9 in) high. The dorsal sepal is erect, oblong to lance-shaped, 30–37 mm (1.2–1.5 in) long and about 3 mm (0.1 in) wide. It tapers near the end which terminates in a glandular structure 6.5–9 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long. The lateral sepals are oblong to lance-shaped, 30–37 mm (1.2–

Family Orchidaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Caladenia ampla

Photo via iNaturalist Australia (CC-BY 4.0 (Int)), collected by Eamonn Culhane

Oval-Leafed PseudanthusDocumented on this trail

Pseudanthus ovalifolius

Endangered — NSW: Endangered, VIC: Vulnerable▾

Endangered — NSW: Endangered, VIC: Vulnerable

Pseudanthus ovalifolius, commonly known as oval-leaf pseudanthus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Picrodendraceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a spreading to compact, wiry, monoecious shrub with oval leaves and whitish flowers arranged singly in upper leaf axils, but sometimes appearing clustered on the ends of branches.

How to spot it

Pseudanthus ovalifolius is a spreading to compact, wiry monoecious shrub that typically grows to a height of 30 cm (12 in) and has glabrous branchlets. Its leaves are oval, elliptic or more or less round, 2.2–5.0 mm (0.087–0.197 in) long and 1.0–2.1 mm (0.039–0.083 in) wide on a petiole 0.1–0.4 mm (0.0039–0.0157 in) long with reddish-brown, broadly triangular stipules 0.5–0.9 mm (0.020–0.035 in) long at the base. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils, but sometimes appear clustered on th

Family Euphorbiaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Pseudanthus ovalifolius

Glossy HoveaDocumented on this trail

Hovea corrickiae

Endangered — VIC: Endangered, TAS: Near Threatened▾

Endangered — VIC: Endangered, TAS: Near Threatened

Hovea corrickiae is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a shrub or slender tree with densely hairy branchlets, narrowly egg-shaped or elliptic, dark green leaves with stipules at the base, and mostly pale to deep mauve, pea-like flowers.

How to spot it

Hovea corrickiae is a slender shrub or tree that typically grows to a height of up to 5 m (16 ft), its branchlets densely hairy. The leaves are narrowly egg-shaped to elliptic, mostly 30–114 mm (1.2–4.5 in) long and 7–20 mm (0.28–0.79 in) wide with stipules up to 1.2 mm (0.047 in) long at the base. The upper surface of the leaves is glossy dark green, the lower surface densely hairy. The flowers are usually arranged in pairs or threes, each flower on a pedicel 5.0–9.5 mm (0.20–0.37 in) long with

Family Fabaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Hovea corrickiae

Grampians GreenhoodDocumented on this trail

Pterostylis macilenta

Vulnerable — VIC: Vulnerable▾

Vulnerable — VIC: Vulnerable

Pterostylis macilenta is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to the Grampians National Park in Victoria. As with similar greenhoods, flowering plants differ from those that are not flowering. The non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves flat on the ground but the flowering plants have up to six translucent, dark green flowers and lack a rosette.

How to spot it

Pterostylis macilenta, is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of between three and six, egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves, each leaf 10–35 mm (0.4–1 in) long and 3–7 mm (0.1–0.3 in) wide. Flowering plants lack a rosette but have up to six flowers on a flowering spike 150–350 mm (6–10 in) high with five or six linear to narrow lance-shaped stem leaves that are 25–80 mm (1–3 in) long and 3–10 mm (0.1–0.4 in) wide. The flowers are

Family Orchidaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Pterostylis macilenta

Photo via iNaturalist Australia (CC-BY-NC 4.0 (Int)), collected by Shankar Meyer

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