Tarra-Bulga National Park

Tarra-Bulga protects one of the few substantial patches of cool temperate rainforest left in the Strzelecki Ranges, which were almost entirely cleared for farming and timber after settlement. What survives is myrtle beech and sassafras beneath mountain ash, with a dense understorey of tree ferns, some of them centuries old. A suspension bridge crosses a fern gully at Bulga, giving a view down into the canopy, and short walks run to Cyathea Falls and along the Tarra Valley. Lyrebirds are common and often heard mimicking. The park is small, split into two main sections, and the drive in from Traralgon passes through cleared farmland that shows what the rest of the ranges became.

History

In 1903 the Alberton Shire Council asked the Victorian government to set aside the fern-gully forest near Balook as a park, and in 1904 the first 20 hectares were reserved as Bulga National Park, from the Gunai word bulga, mountain. Tarra Valley National Park followed in 1906, named after Charley Tarra, the Aboriginal guide who led Paweł Strzelecki through this part of Gippsland in 1840. The two were joined through a land exchange with a forestry company into Tarra-Bulga National Park, declared on 17 June 1986 and enlarged since. From 1952 to 1963 Kara Healey, the first woman national park ranger in Victoria, collected more than 500 specimens here, including two fungi named after her (Wikipedia, Tarra-Bulga National Park).

What you'll find

• The suspension bridge - the span over a tree fern gully at Bulga.
• The mountain ash and myrtle beech - tall forest above ancient tree ferns.
• Cyathea Falls - a small fall on a short walk in the Tarra Valley section.
• The lyrebirds - heard mimicking through the forest most of the year.

When to go

September to May; the ranges are wet and cold in winter with slippery tracks. Rain is possible in any season and the forest is at its best in mist. Leeches are common after rain.

Things to know

The park is small and the walks are short, so it is a half-day stop rather than a destination. Roads in are narrow and winding. Facilities are limited to a small visitor centre with restricted opening and picnic areas.

Nearby

Traralgon lies north; the South Gippsland coast and Wilsons Promontory are south.

Key facts