Hidden high up in the Stzrelecki Ranges to the northeast of Foster and northwest of Yarram is the 1625-hectare Tarra Bulga National Park.
The National Park can be described as the emerald of the Strzeleckis, with its towering old-growth native trees, fern-filled gullies, trickling streams and splendid waterfalls, all in shades of green.
It protects a mostly original remnant of the Great Forest of Gippsland that once extended right across the Ranges, from near the eastern edge of Western Port, along the LaTrobe Valley, east to beyond where the Hyland Highway now runs, and almost to the shoreline of Waratah Bay to the south.
Inside the Tarra Bulga National Park is a tall open forest of Mountain Ash, Messmate and Blackwood, which grows on the hills and slopes.
Cool temperate rainforest of Myrtle Beech, Southern Sassafras, Austral Mulberry and Banyallas flourishes within its sheltered gullies, too.


The cool moist conditions to be found under the rainforest canopy also support a diverse community of understorey plants, including more than 40 different species of ferns, as well as many types of shrubs, orchids, grasses, lichens, mosses and fungi.
Among the birds that live in the National Park are the Superb Lyrebird, the Barking Owl, the Powerful Owl, the Pilotbird, the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, the Eastern Whipbird, the Laughing Kookaburra, the Crimson Rosella, the Currawong and the Eastern Yellow Robin.
Playtpus are often seen in the waterways of the National Park, and the Common Wombat and the Swap Wallaby inhabit the forest floor.
Look up into the canopy for a glimpse of the Brush-tailed Possum, the Greater Glider and the Sugar Glider, and at nighttime, the Common Bent-wing Bat.

 
   
HISTORY OF THE PARK
In 1840 the Polish explorer Paul Edmond de Strzelecki, also known by his self-awarded title of “Count” Strzelecki, together with a party of fellow adventurers, set off to find a route from East Gippsland to Wilsons Promontory.
The Count had heard tales of the Prom and its nearby coastal plains from a squatter James McArthur who had observed that part of the South Gippsland coast from a ship driven close to shore in windy weather conditions, and wanted to see it for himself.
McArthur decided to accompany Strzelecki on his mission and also provided £500 towards the expedition.
Strzelecki and his men initially followed a trail first blazed by the Scottish explorer Angus McMillan over the East Gippsland section of the Australian Alps, before heading in a generally southwesterly direction towards the Prom.
Led by the Aboriginal guide Charlie Tarra, the group cut through dense scrub and tall timber across the ranges that now bear Strzelecki’s name.
They eventually reached Western Port, exhausted and hungry after a truly arduous journey but safe nevertheless, mainly due to the knowledge and skills of Charlie Tarra.
Strzelecki named the region Gipps Land in honour of the Governor of New South Wales Sir George Gipps, and his subsequent report on its agricultural potential, along with McMillan’s early grazing pursuits in the Avon River district and glowing newspaper reports were instrumental in starting the Gippsland land rush.
The eastern Strzelecki Ranges were opened for selection in the 1890s, and settlers built their cottages on the ridges while taking on the mammoth task of clearing the forest and planting pasture and crops.
Farmers and their families also had to cope with isolation, difficult access over steep country, back-breaking poor transport, cold and wet winters, mud, short milking seasons and, as time went by, invasive weeds.
In 1903 the Shire of Alberton asked the State Government of Victoria to reserve an area of forest and fern gullies near Balook as a public park.
Almost 50 acres or 20 hectares were reserved in 1904 and given the Aboriginal name “Bulga” meaning “mountain”.
Five years later, in 1909, an area of just under 749 acres or 303 hectares of forest within the Tarra River valley, named after Strzelecki’s guide Charlie Tarra, was reserved, and this park was also given the name of “Tarra”.
In 1986 the two separate National Parks were joined and enlarged through a land exchange with APM Forests to create the Tarra Bulga National Park.
Tarra Bulga will be celebrating its centenary in 2004, and a series of commemorative and celebratory events and activities are planned for the year, including the publication of a volume of historic photographs, documents, anecdotes and visitors’ comments.

 
   
   
 

FEATURES OF TARRA BULGA
Tarra Bulga National Park is ideal as a cool, shady retreat on a hot summer’s day.
Visitors may enjoy an al fresco meal at their choice of three picnic areas within the National Park, and explore a series of scenic walking tracks leading to some spectacular forest features, including fern glades, stands of tall trees and cascading waterfalls.
The Tarra Bulga Visitor Centre’s picnic area is located at Balook, near the intersection of Grand Ridge Road and Bulga Park Road.
Starting from the Visitor Centre, stroll along the Lyrebird Ridge Track through mature and regenerating Mountain Ash forests.
More serious walkers may like to continue along the steeper, unsurfaced Forest Track, which passes through a typical rainforest gully and an unusual patch of Hazel Pomaderris.
The Ash Track also branches off the Lyrebird Ridge Track and leads to the beginning of the Fern Gully Nature Walk.
The turn-off to the Bulga picnic area may be found on the Grand Ridge Road just to the northeast of the Tarra Bulga Visitor Centre.
From the Bulga picnic area, stroll to Corrigan’s suspension bridge, which extends through the rainforest canopy over the thickets of ferns that cover the forest floor.
The Tarra Valley picnic area is located off the Tarra Valley Road, beside the Tarra River.
Follow the Tarra Valley Rainforest Walk through a fern gully and over tinkling streams to the scenic Cyathea Falls.
Allow plenty of time to wander along the many walking tracks to be found in the Tarra Bulga National Park, and take in the sights, sounds, smells and atmosphere of the rainforest.

 
 

HOW TO GET TO TARRA BULGA
Starting from the Promontory district, take the South Gippsland Highway to Welshpool and turn left onto the Midland Highway and continue on to the Grand Ridge Road, which leads to the Tarra Bulga National Park.
Alternatively, follow the South Gippsland Highway to Yarram and from there turn left on to the Tarra Valley Road to reach Tarra Bulga National Park.
Many of the roads in the Strzelecki Ranges are narrow and winding and require careful driving and slow speeds.
Watch out for oncoming traffic, including milk tankers, logging trucks, agricultural machinery and livestock.

Sources: Parks Victoria Park Notes, Tarra Bulga National Park Visitor Guide; and Collett, Barry, Wednesdays Closest to the Full Moon, Melbourne University Press 1994.
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