Lake Mountain Alpine Resort 2017 Snow Season Guide Lake Mountain Alpine Resort Snow Season Guide | Page 21

g Trails
Summer Walks
Snowy Hill Walk - 4km walk
one way 4
Begin at the upper Snowy Hill Car
Park, pass through the gate and follow
signage to the right. Here begins the
climb gently up onto the ridge leading
to Snowy Hill through Snow Gum and
Alpine Ash. Ignore the old pole numbers
and arrows these are from an old ski
trail, follow the main trail. Once on top
of the ridge you will see a fine strand of
Alpine Ash which was not burnt in the
2009 fire.
As the decent to Arnold Gap starts the
track becomes damper, you’ll see a
beautiful stand of Myrtle Beech on your
left. These trees are a Gondwana relic
surviving in rainforest gullies in Eastern
Australia. As the decent becomes
steeper it drops down to reveal
stunning views of Mts Juliet, St Leonard
and Monda.
Just before you arrive at Arnold Gap,
you’ll see a number of impressive old
Alpine Ash trees which have survived
both the 1939 and the 2009 fires.
Mt Arnold - 4km one way 5
Heading south from the Arnold Gap
Car Park, sharing part of the Cascades
trail, this walk passes through stunning
tall forests of Alpine Ash as it climbs
towards Mt Arnold. This was the
route taken by the first skiers who in
the 1920’s carried their skis from the
Woods Point Road, for a day’s skiing at
Snowy Hill. They were a hardy group of
enthusiasts!
Sections of this walk follow the Strategic
Fire Break, constructed after the
2009 fires, as a future protection for
Melbourne’s water supply. In places
the track deviates from the fire break
to ensure that it does not descend
too steeply, walkers should use these
sections to ensure they stay on the
route.
A highlight of this walk is the ‘tunnel’
section where the canopy of Mountain
Bitter-pea almost encloses the track as it
follows along an old logging road. You
are very likely to hear, and maybe even
see Lyrebirds along this section. The
track descends steeply to join the Lake
Mountain Road just before the Lake
Mountain Ticket Box.