Endeavour Fern Gully (Red Hill)
Endeavour Fern Gully is a beautiful 27-hectare National Trust reserve at Red Hill, protecting one of the Mornington Peninsula's precious remnants of original temperate rainforest and damp forest.
The reserve contains 17.5 hectares of remnant bushland, including a lush fern gully, meandering creek and mature native trees. Another 9.5 hectares were revegetated by volunteers over a ten-year period from 2007 and are developing into self-sustaining bushland.
The reserve provides an important wildlife corridor in a landscape where much of the original vegetation has been cleared for agriculture and development.
Endeavour Fern Gully Walk
A 2 km circuit walk takes visitors through woodland, rainforest vegetation and an enchanting fern gully with timber boardwalks winding between tree ferns.
- Distance: 2 km circuit
- Time: 30-45 minutes, but allow up to an hour with children
- Difficulty: Easy to moderate, with a steep descent into the gully and climb back to the car park
- Surface: Grassy and dirt tracks, uneven sections and timber boardwalks
- Highlights: Towering tree ferns, creek crossings, native woodland, wildlife and interpretive signs
- Accessibility: Not suitable for prams or wheelchairs due to steep and uneven sections
The highlight is the lush fern gully where timber boardwalks wind through dense vegetation, with the headwaters of Stony Creek flowing beneath and alongside the track.
Wildlife and Natural Environment
The reserve supports a rich variety of native plants and animals, including kangaroos, wallabies, possums, Powerful Owls and numerous other bird species.
Visitors may also discover colourful fungi, orchids, mosses and lichens, particularly during the cooler and wetter months.
The forest includes impressive manna gums and messmate stringybarks, while the understory contains some unusual and locally rare plants.
One particularly significant species is the Austral Mulberry, which was traditionally used by Aboriginal people to make firesticks.
Nearkey Biik Environmental and Education Centre
The Nearkey Biik Environmental and Education Centre opened in 2024 and provides a space for environmental education, community activities and group programs.
The centre is available for community and educational hire through the National Trust.
For information about hiring the facility, contact the National Trust on (03) 9656 9889 or visit Endeavour Fern Gully and Nearkey Biik Education and Environment Centre.
Facilities
- Car parking adjacent to the Nearkey Biik Education Centre
- Picnic tables near the car park
- Interpretive signs and QR code information along the trail
- Walking tracks and timber boardwalks
- Public toilets available across Arthurs Seat Road at Red Hill Recreation Reserve
Getting There
The entrance is at 195 Arthurs Seat Road, Red Hill, directly opposite Red Hill Recreation Reserve.
Park beside the Nearkey Biik Education Centre and enter the nature trail through the gates. Leave the gates as you find them.
The walking track descends steeply from the parking area into the gully, with the return journey involving an uphill climb.
Important Information
- Dogs, horses and bicycles are not permitted
- Stay on the designated walking tracks and boardwalks
- Wear sturdy walking shoes, particularly after rain
- Boardwalks and tracks can become slippery when wet
- Snakes and leeches may be encountered
- The reserve is closed on Total Fire Ban days
Opening Hours:
Open seven days per week. Closed on days of Total Fire Ban.
Check out the conditions of entry.
Cost:
Free public access. A small donation would be most appreciated to help maintain this property.
Access for Dogs:
Dogs, horses and bikes are prohibited in this reserve.
Map of Route:
Review:
This is a really interesting walk which passes through rain forest, fern gullies and remnant bushland. You really feel enveloped within the environment.
There are a few tables near the car park. A grassy track passes initially through bushland and then reaches the rain forest / fern gully area. Orange markers indicate the direction to take.
There's a shortcut track on the left (near the "Ecological Vegetation Classes" information sign) but the best of the walk is reached by continuing on. You'll reach an area with a boardwalk through enveloping tree ferns with a creek bubbling underneath. This is not a place for people who have claustrophobia. After a while you pass through more open bushland and work your way back across the hill upwards gently.
You then reach the other end of the shortcut track. In theory the track goes up hill in a north east direction. However we followed various tracks in this direction and couldn't find a definitive track. So we went down the shortcut track and retraced our initial path to get back to the start.
We did see a wallaby on our walk.
The Nearkey Biik Environmental and Education Centre on the site is available for community and educational hire.
Photos:
Location
195 Arthurs Seat Road, Red Hill 3937 View Map
✆ (03) 9656 9804
Web Links
→ www.endeavourferngully.org.au
→ www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/endeavour-fern-gully
→ Endeavour Fern Gully Rain Forest Walk (Walking Maps)
