Distillery Creek to Moggs Creek Walk

This 7.5 km (4.66 mi) one-way walk links Distillery Creek Upper Picnic Ground with Moggs Creek Picnic Ground through eucalypt forest, past Painkalac Dam and over the inland ridge. Allow about 2.5 hours, plus time at the dam. Arrange a car shuttle or other return transport before you start.

Start on the signed forest track near the upper picnic ground’s toilets. After about 1 km, turn left onto an unsealed access road; Painkalac Dam is about 3 km from the start. Cross the bridge below the spillway, pass beneath the dam wall and climb to its far end. The gravel climb beyond is steep. At the unsigned Gentle Annie Track crossing, cross over and take the walking descent, not the bike line. At Moggs Creek, keep to the left branch through ferny forest and across the creek to the picnic ground.

A signed Barwon Water spur to the right, about 200 m after the dam wall, reaches a water-and-birdlife viewpoint and picnic table. It adds about 2 km, so leave it out if you are keeping to the point-to-point walk.

The dam once supplied water to Aireys Inlet. The route crosses below its spillway and passes under the wall before climbing to a view over the reservoir and wooded slopes. This is the walk’s defining photo stop: frame the water with the eucalypts from the bank or dam-side viewpoint.

The opening track passes through eucalypts beside farmland. Blackened trunks recall the 1983 fires and later fuel-reduction burns. The higher, more open section has grass-trees, wattles, Narrow-leaf Bitter-pea and orchids; the final descent cools into ferny forest, with tall Blackwoods and Blue Gums.

The upper picnic ground has toilets, an information board, tables and wood-fired barbecues; bring your own wood. Picnic tables and wood-fired barbecues are also reported at Moggs Creek. No refill point is confirmed along the route. Dogs are not permitted on this walk in the national park.