Kurth Kiln Regional Park (Gembrook)

Located a short distance from Melbourne, the park is mostly known for its kiln used during the Second World War to make charcoal for gas producer units fitted to motor cars. The park contains a range of forest types and is popular for picnicking, camping, walking and horse riding.

Things to See & Do

Picnicking

Several picnic grounds have fire places, tables and toilets, making them ideal for picnics or just getting a breath of fresh air.

Camping

Camping is recommended at Kurth Kiln Camping Area. Kurth Kiln is one of the closest bush camping opportunities to urban Melbourne. The Scout Loop Track and Magazine Track (east of the picnic ground and kiln) offers convenient access to dispersed sites in attractive natural settings.

There is good vehicle access for car based camping at Kurth Kiln.

Walking

Walking is the best way to get to know the park and there are several tracks with a variety of walks for all groups. Information on walks is available at the Kurth Kiln Picnic Ground.

Tomahawk creek circuit (2km return, Grade: easy) Starting from Kurth Kiln picnic ground the circuit follows the Tomahawk Creek, providing picturesque scenery of the creek flowing through the moist messmate valley.

Thornton Walking Track (2km return, Grade: moderate) Also starting from the Kurth Kiln picnic ground, walk Thornton Walking Track north then east, parallel to Tomahawk Creek. Enjoy seven different plant communities on the way and the various sounds and smells of the bush environment. To make a loop return via Scout Loop Track and Soldiers Road.

Ship Rock Falls (300m return, Grade: easy) From the Ship Rock picnic area a short walk from the car park will take you to the falls, where water tumbles over the weathered slabs of granite.

Horse riding

The park has many kilometres of tracks suitable for horse riding. A horse corral is located at Scout Loop Track.

Bike riding

There are good opportunities for mountain bike riding on "Horses, Walker & Bicycle Only" designated tracks.

History

Kurth Kiln was built during the Second World War to make charcoal. It was developed and patented by Professor E. E. Kurth of the University of Tasmania.

Most of the charcoal was used in gas producer units fitted to motor cars to produce a combustible gas as a substitute for petrol, which was heavily rationed during the war. Display boards around the kiln explain the process used to produce gas.

The cottages nearby housed the early workers and their families and at a later stage, Forest Commission crews.

Access for Dogs:

Dogs are allowed on leash.

Location and Access

Kurth Kiln Regional Park is 65 kilometres east of Melbourne. You can get there via Launching Place Road or Beenak Road, Gembrook. Kurth Kiln Picnic Ground and Camping Area is seven kilometres north of Gembrook.

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To find the park go to the corner of Soldiers Road and Kurth Kiln Track in Gembrook.

There are quite a lot of camping and picnic areas but overnight camping is not allowed in the area close to the historic kiln at the Kurth Kiln Picnic Area. Use the designated camping area via Magazine Track or Scout Loop Track, east of the Kiln historic huts.

In the kiln area there is a car park with three unshaded tables and drop toilets south of the pond and another small car park and single unshaded table north of the pond. There is a shelter with information boards and maps in this area.

A path from the corner of the picnic ground north of the pond leads to the Thornton Track which is 1.1 km to Thornton Bridge with return via Scout Camp Track making the walk a total of 2.0 km. The track is quite narrow and passes through vegetation which comes right up to the track. There are regular distance markers and information boards along the way. When you get to the bridge there is a cool little creek with gravel / sand bottom which you can have a paddle in on a warm day.

Information boards along the Thornton Track display the following information:

The Thornton Track is a moderately difficult 1.1 km, 1/2 hour walk. A return circuit walk to Kurth Kiln is possible via Scout Camp Track and a further 1 km for one hour walking. The walk travels through seven plant communities and is a great place to observe the tracks, traces and sounds of the park's wildlife. Ron Thornton was a man who loved Kurth Kiln. He adopted the site as his own and looked after it for nearly 20 years. In his retirement he lived in one of the historic huts and assumed the role of an unofficial caretaker of Kurth Kiln and its picnic ground. Sadly, Ron passed away in 2000, and to commemorate his dedication to the bush and the Kurth Kiln environment, the Friends of Kurth Kiln, with the support of Parks Victoria, created this walking track through the pristine bush along Tomahawk Creek, upstream from the kiln. Six interpretive signs have been placed at strategic points along the track to highlight changes in the bush environments. There are historic relics along the way that can still be seen, left over from an era when over 100 sawmills operated in these forests. Distance markers are set about every 100 metres.

You enter the Thornton Walk from the Tomahawk Weir and the small picnic ground north of the lake at the corner of Beenak Road and Soldiers Road. The track is moist here at the start of the track, so you can find many types of fungi. The understorey is typical of this area: Tea Trees, some Silver Wattle, Blackwood and Dusty Miller. High above are canopies of Messmate, some Mountain Grey Gums and Narrow Leaf Peppermint. Mountain Grey Gum, Eucalyptus cypellocarpa (also known as Monkey Gum), a straight, smooth-barked forest tree, can reach over 60 metres tall in moist protected gullies. Near the creek to your right you cam see Ferns and Sedges. It is a good area to look for White throated Tree Creepers (Cormobates leucophaeo) and Ground Thrush.

Other information boards are "The 240 Contour Line", "A sheltered, moist habitat, perfect for Hazel Pomaderris", "Lyrebird Gully - A perfect Habitat for Lyrebirds", "Wombat Corner on the Thornton Walking Track" and "The Foot Bridge".

The return route is via Scout Camp Track which is a road which vehicles can drive along. There are plenty of camping areas with tables, wood BBQs and also toilets. Scout Camp Track joins Soldiers Road and goes past the historic Kurth Kiln.

The Kiln area has a number of historical displays and information boards detailing the history of the area. There is also a water wheel.

The Kurth Kiln site was established in 1941 to produce charcoal for use as a substitute fuel. Apart from the kiln itself (the State's largest kiln), a big storage shed and a two room accommodation hut for the men stationed at the kiln - since demolished - were erected at that time.

The Big Shed, originally constructed to store charcoal, had sections of its cladding removed after 1963 to create the large, covered area, but is still used to store implements, machinery and cultural heritage artefacts from the period. The sheds and the forest worker's huts are of historical significance for their association with the operations of the Forests Commission of Victoria, their ability to demonstrate a way of life for forestry workers, and for their cultural and social values attracting visitors to the picnic and camping ground.

There are four huts left today. At one stage, when Kurth Kiln was the Forests Management Base for the area (from 1946 to 1963) there were 18. Originally acquired from army surplus in 1945 the huts were used to accommodate up to 100 forestry workers.

Tomahawk Creek Track leads to the west from where Beenak Road runs beside the pond. The track follows the line of the creek and has more open bush than the Thornton Track. Along the track you can hear the creek running below the track and you can go down to the creek in some places. After the while the path narrows and bushes hang over the path. Then you cross and little bridge over the creek and return back to the starting point. The last part of the track is surrounded by ferns and there are plenty of rocks to trip over and saw grass to cut yourself on.

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