Distillery Creek Nature Trail Walk (Aireys Inlet)
A lovely easy 1.5km circuit walk that is marked with a series of interpretive signs introducing features and giving explanations of the area. QR codes at many of the signs provide additional information. It is a walk to be taken slowly, as bird life is abundant and there is plenty of vegetation to admire. Some seats along the way encourage you to sit, listen, look and appreciate the area.
Walk Summary
Starting Point: Lower car park at Distillery Creek Picnic Ground
Time and Distance: 1.5 km circuit (45 minutes)
Level of Difficulty: Easy, a walk all age groups can enjoy.
Walk Route Map
Walk Notes
Begin the circuit walk at the Nature Trail sign in the lower Distillery Creek Picnic Ground. Turn left as directed by the trail sign and follow the track around until it returns you to your starting point.
You will cross a well-formed track, Ironbark Drive, in two places. The first section of the trail takes you through the ironbark forest with its understorey of Dusty Miller and Hazel Pomaderris. In late winter and spring the delightful yellow flowers of the Prickly Moses and Varnish Wattles will be flowering together with the glorious white flowers of the Dusty Daisy-bush and nearer the ground the white starry flowers of the Prickly Starwort. Tall Greenhoods are plentiful along the sides of the trail and the rarer, Brown-tipped Greenhood has some fine colonies.
Once you come to the Currawong Falls Track that goes off to the left you will notice a marked change in the vegetation, with Swamp Gums, peppermints, messmates, Manna Gums and tall Mountain Grey-gums appearing.
There is a viewing spot above Distillery Creek. The creek is often dry but you may be fortunate enough to see water there.
There is a boardwalk to protect the damper environment from being trampled along the edge of Distillery Creek.
Once back at the Picnic Ground it is interesting to notice the grey-brown furrowed trunks of the ironbarks compared with the blackened ones that were burnt in the 1983 bushfires. You may like to sit near the waterhole and observe the birds that frequent the area. You are almost certain to see honeyeaters, Superb Fairy-wrens, Eastern Yellow Robins and Grey Fantails. Perhaps you might see an Eastern Spinebill.
Take a moment to stop and look from the treetops to the forest floor.
Do you want to go on a Nature Scavenger Hunt? There are so many wonderful things to discover! You can use this list as a starting point for your explorations. See how many you can find!
How to Get There
Turn off the Great Ocean Road at Bambra Road, just east of the bottom shops in Aireys Inlet. Follow the bitumen road alongside the Painkalac Creek Valley for 2.5 km and then turn left at junction of Bambra Road and Distillery Creek Road.
The lower car park and picnic area is on the right-hand side and the upper car park and picnic area on the left-hand side has an information board and toilets. Both have picnic tables and wood-fired barbecues (supply your own wood).
Guide to Walks in the Great Otway National Park Eastern Section
You can also purchase a full colour booklet produced by the Friends of Eastern Otways containing detailed track notes and maps for 38 walks in the area from Great Escape Books in Aireys Inlet, the Anglesea News & Lotto or the Angair website.
Location
115 Bambra Road, Aireys Inlet 3231 Map
Web Links
→ feo.org.au/walks/walk-12-distillery-creek-nature-trail
→ Friends of Eastern Otways
