Organ Pipes National Park

This morning I decided to head on down to the Organ Pipes National Park. This is the smallest national park in Victoria. I basically did the whole circuit in less than an hour with plenty of stops for some photography. The track is only about 2km (return) in total and takes less than an hour.

Organ Pipes National Park is situated along the Calder Freeway opposite the Calder Raceway northwest of Melbourne in a suburb called Keilor North. The tracks here are for beginners but there is one area which may be of concern to the walker. The organ pipe track is quite steep especially when you head back up, let those legs burn!

Just before you start the Organ Pipe track, head to the lookout for some valley views. After that head down the steep organ pipe track and head to the Rosette Rock, then to the Tessellated Pavement. From there head to the Organ Pipes and then keep heading left until you reach the creek crossing. Head back to the organ pipes and then finally back up the steep organ pipe road back to the car.

The Tessellated Pavement is just a section of rocks that looks like steps coming from the creek. The Tessellated pavement is in fact the tops of Basalt columns which were formed by lava flow which cooled and solidified over millions of years.

The Rosette Rock sits opposite the creek, it’s a circular rock formation protruding from the valley walls.

The Organ Pipes were formed through volcanic activity. They were created about a million years ago when molten lava flow down the valley which cooled and solidified.

More photos can be found here.

59 to go!