Parking
Park at Gar Trailhead on Roses Gap Road, or arrange a licensed tour-operator transfer.
Overview
About Gar Overnight Hike
Why go
- Rocky escarpment camping with broad mountain views
- Seasonal waterfalls along the approach
Heads up
- Rough, exposed footing with an overnight pack
- The return retraces the same corridor
From Gar Trailhead the walking starts gently through dense bushland alongside Dead Bullock Creek, passing seasonal waterfalls, before the climb up to the rocky escarpment of Gar (Mount Difficult) and the campground. The payoff is the camp terrace and its mountain outlook. From camp there's an optional 1.4 km one way spur over steep rocky slabs to the summit, an optional sunrise add-on rather than part of the main route. Next morning you walk the same corridor back to the trailhead.
Parkwolf’s verdictThe sequence and the payoffMap & elevation
The route
Loading the Grampians map
Full mapElevation248–685 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
Safety
5 active Grampians alerts
- ClosureBushfire-damaged walks and picnic area remain closedThe Fortress, Red Gum, Billimina, Chimney Pots and Brownings Loop walks, plus Mafeking Picnic Area, remain closed because of track or site damage from the 2024/25 summer bushfires.Official details
- ClosureMackenzie Falls precinct closed during constructionThe Mackenzie Falls (Migunang wirab) Precinct has no vehicle or visitor access during major construction works expected to finish by the end of 2026.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Grampians Tour Guide
Your drive to Gar Overnight Hike, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Grampians National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this trailhead
Gar and Troopers Creek: Falls or Summit0:00 / 1:04
“You're approaching Gar Trailhead, near Troopers Creek Campground, where it's worth separating the lower waterfall walk from the much bigger climb to Mount Difficult.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Grampians Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Gariwerd and the Grampians
- A Koala's Double Grip
- Why It's Called Troopers Creek
- Beehive Falls: A Ferny Creek Walk
- 233 audio storiesacross Grampians’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Short-beaked Echidna, Powerful Owl, Wedge-tailed Eagle, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 81 trails, 62 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Gar Overnight Hike
What you're signing up forThis is an out-and-back overnight: 15 km total round trip for visitors, split as 7.
This is an out-and-back overnight: 15 km total round trip for visitors, split as 7.5 km each day with a night at Gar Hike-in Campground. Because the second day retraces the first, the map holds the physical corridor only once, about 7.12 km one way from the trailhead to camp. Double it for what your legs actually do.
Difficulty and footingGraded Grade 4, and it earns it.
Graded Grade 4, and it earns it. Expect steep rocky steps and slabs, rough footing, and escarpment sections with cliff edges nearby. You'll be carrying overnight gear on that terrain, which changes how the climb feels. Boots with grip and careful foot placement matter more here than speed.
Exposure, camp, water and fireThe open rocky sections are exposed to sun and wind, so carry more water than a flat 7.
The open rocky sections are exposed to sun and wind, so carry more water than a flat 7.5 km would suggest and think about layers. Gar Hike-in Campground must be booked and is charged. There's a rainwater tank at the campground, but the tank water is untreated, so treat it or carry your own. Fuel stoves are allowed; open campfires are not.
Access and dogsStart and finish at Gar Trailhead on Roses Gap Road, where you can park, or arrange a transfer…
Start and finish at Gar Trailhead on Roses Gap Road, where you can park, or arrange a transfer with a licensed tour operator; the official access transfer runs about 30 minutes each way. Ordinary dogs are not permitted in the national park. Assistance dogs are covered by separate rules.
Drawbacks and a shorter alternativeThe logistics are committing: a campground booking, an overnight pack, water treatment and a…
The logistics are committing: a campground booking, an overnight pack, water treatment and a return over the same rocky ground. If what you really want is the Gar summit outlook without any of that, the shorter Gar/Mount Difficult summit walk is the better fit. It is a different walk from this trailhead-to-camp overnight, so don't mix the two up when planning.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Grampians
157 sightingsShort-beaked EchidnaMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
37 sightingsPowerful OwlMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
59 sightingsWedge-tailed EagleMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
24 sightingsEastern Brown SnakeMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
10 sightingsTiger SnakeMost seen around noonSighting map
29 sightingsRed-bellied Black SnakeMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Grampians. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
