A report on the popular Beeripmo walk, one hour west of Ballarat and 15 minutes north of Beaufort. We completed the overnighter this weekend, 3-4/3/17. There was more than half a tank of water at the campground, drop toilets were tidy and well maintained, fire places in good condition, and all tracks and intersections are clearly marked. This is a top quality, well-maintained walk for beginners to intermediate-skilled walkers looking for a weekend recharge. It's not an adventure, but I'm glad to have walked it.
Day one: Richards to Beeripmo camp (8 km) we walked through heathy dry forest with endless brachen. The walk begins with a stiff knee-lifting climb up granite boulders for half an hour or so, which is described as a "steady climb" in the park note. I'd call it a steep climb; a precaution for beginners to be prepared for. The most inspiring part of the landscape on day one were the granite boulders and inclusions and mossy southerly aspects. Keep an eye out for the massive granite serpent! The landscape around the forest/park is flat and agricultural, which doesn't light my fire but it's nice enough. There's another, more forgiving (one might call it steady), climb to summit Sugerloaf before reaching the walk-in Beeripmo Camp. There were at least 6 other small groups (pairs to family of four); it is a popular walk. If Beeripmo camp was full, we could have walked a little further on to Mugwamp Camp, which was easy to find, close to the track, and empty except one car camp when we passed it the following morning.
Unexpectedly, it was quite cold, windy and rainy overnight despite the day being hot (29 degrees). I believe the elevation is roughly 600 m at camp, so just goes to show that warm/wet weather gear is a must no matter what. I was glad to have pegged out my guy lines when the wind was howling through the tree tops during the night. A thick mist rolled in overnight that was quite beautiful though it silenced the morning bird chorus until a sluggish 9am!
Day two: Beeripmo camp back to Richards (~9 km) sees the landscape vary more with some nice examples of tall wet forest patches and tree fern gullies. The butterflies were freshly out en masse, and the yellow-tailed black cockatoos were screeching, too. Going is easy enough, the summit to Mt Mugwamp is gentle but persistent, then it's all downhill from there back to the car. There's two big trees down on Grevillia Track which required some climbing up and sliding down an steep incline of loose sandy soil. We didn't complete any side trips (e.g., summiting Mt Cole) which meant it only took us a leisurely 2.5 hours to circuit back to the car.
I'd probably try it in the opposite direction next time, heading up grevillia track first. The gradient is more gentle and then sugarloaf can be descended instead. Then, of course, one is left with the final task of descending the granite boulder valley track at the end of a 17km hike, which one's knees might not agree to!