Haggarts–Allardyce Tracks

The route starts among brown stringybark, shining peppermint and scent-bark, with grass-trees, ferns, silver banksia and low flowering plants beneath them. As the trees thin, the heath opens to broad views over Anglesea and the coast. Shining peppermint becomes more common here, with sweet wattle in the understorey. A damper pocket of dense manuka and prickly teatree follows, close to swampy ground in the Anglesea River system.

After the heath, the route descends, climbs through woodland, then descends again before joining Allardyce Track. The last stretch passes paperbark and tall eucalypts, with wattles, pomaderris and daisy-bush below them. The broad heathland opening is the clearest place to pause for the view. Parts of Allardyce are badly eroded and the track is seasonally open to vehicles, so expect rough footing and watch for traffic.

Park on Gum Flat Road at Haggarts Track, then leave a second vehicle on Gum Flat Road near the start of Allardyce Track. Follow the route from Haggarts toward Allardyce; it is not a loop. Dogs are not allowed in Great Otway National Park. This is a longer outing than the short vehicle-track names might suggest, and its shuttle and uneven Allardyce finish are part of the commitment.