Madsen’s Track Nature Walk

Madsen’s Track Nature Walk is a roughly 0.9-mile (1.4-km) loop from Melba Gully Picnic Area. It follows the Johanna River through a cool-temperate gully of tree ferns, moss and Myrtle Beech, reaching Anne’s Cascades. Allow about 40 minutes. The published figure is 1.2 km and 35 minutes; the full mapped circuit back to the picnic access measures closer to 1.4 km, so use the longer figure for planning. I’d choose it for a short rainforest stop, not a big waterfall payoff or a long hike.

The shaded approach stays close to the Johanna River, with a timber footbridge, damp forest floor and roots underfoot. Anne’s Cascades is a small woodland cascade rather than a tall waterfall. It’s a good place to pause; if you take a photo, include the ferns and mossy wood around it so the little stream has some scale.

The circuit climbs about 100 steps toward the former Big Tree site. Most of the walk is short and sheltered, but this stair section is steeper than the distance suggests. The dirt track can be wet and rooty, so take care on the uneven sections.

The landmark that gave this part of the walk its draw was an Otways Messmate, once estimated at about 300 years old and 27 metres around its base. It fell around 2010. The stairs still lead to its former site, but don’t expect a standing giant tree there.

Melba Gully is also known for glow worms after dark. Treat that as a separate reason to visit the gully, not a guaranteed sighting on a daytime loop.

Use the day-visitor parking at Melba Gully Picnic Area, off Melba Gully Road west of Lavers Hill. Toilets, picnic tables and a gas barbecue are beside the start. Dogs aren’t permitted in Great Otway National Park.