Endeavour Fern Gully Walk, Red Hill

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Posted 2019-01-28 by Lorraine A ⇒ follow

Red Hill is a popular rural township located in the hinterland of the Mornington Peninsula. Although a popular tourist destination for its wineries, restaurants, farm gate produce and of course the Red Hill market, it still manages to retain a quiet country charm.

For the most part, the landscape consists of undulating green pastures, vineyards, orchards, and livestock, though there are still a few places with remnants of the original bushland to be discovered.

One such place with rich indigenous flora and fauna is the National Trusts Endeavour Fern Gully . An enchanting example of one of the rare surviving types of bushland found on red basaltic soil on the Mornington Peninsula.

The Endeavour Fern Gully covers 17.5 hectares of lush rain forest, with a meandering creek, and fern gully within a 27 hectare property. The remainder of the land is being successfully re-vegetated by dedicated volunteers with the help of various grants.

The property has a long history and includes being the sight of a former sawmill, and in later times was donated to the Trust by Mr John Douglas in 1973. The Gully was opened to the public in 1989, but for the most part was inaccessible due to the bush reclaiming ownership to the paths and boardwalks. In 2007 the Gully was classified by the National Trust.

Since then there's been a lot of work that's gone into preserving the Gully, as well as reinstating a 2km nature trail, with boardwalks to provide easy access along the Gully and through the woodland.

You'll be amazed that this hidden gem of an area still exists on the Mornington Peninsula!

The trail has interpretive signage, there's picnic tables, a shelter, large parking area, and toilets located at the Red Hill Reserve (opposite the property).

This trail is perfect for teaching little explorers about the local flora and fauna and is a gentle start to their bushwalking expeditions. Whilst the path is prominent, it does have sections of grass, uneven ground, roots and tripping hazards of a natural bushland environment that may be unsuitable to those with mobility issues. This trail is not wheelchair or pram friendly.

Red Hill is an easy one hour drive south of Melbourne, and is the perfect place to escape the city for a relaxing day trip, or weekend away.

Other nearby places of interest include: The O.T Dam walking and mountain bike trails, some of the best tourist attractions , and don't forget the newly opened Petite MP Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery . For more information on the Peninsula visit www.visitmorningtonpeninsula.org or view all of our Weekend Notes articles on all things Mornington Peninsula here .