Outer Edge Magazine

Located just over an hour from the Melbourne CBD, these parks host some of the most varied and challenging day hikes in the state, if not the country.

The guidebook contains tracknotes to 20 of these walks, from the popular Werribee Gorge Circuit Walk to the lesser-known tracks around Steiglitz National Park. With succinct descriptions and handy warnings, each leg of each walk is identified with GPS coordinates and lovely, clear instructions. Recently, some friends and I took this book out to do the Western Bluff & Falcons Lookout walk. It’s a difficult-rated four-hour walk and we finished it in just under four hours incorporating plenty of rests. Markers on the trails were very difficult to see and without descriptors in the book plus GPS, we would’ve been wandering around a lot longer.

Sometimes guidebooks place too much emphasis on the walk itself and ignores the fact that for a lot of remote walks, getting to the start isn’t so easy. But Melbourne’s Western Gorges incorporates very specific driving directions, truly making it an all-round guide. This handy little book is a must for anyone thinking about heading into this patch of Victoria.