Mount Donna Buang (Warburton)
Under 20 minutes drive from Warburton is Mount Donna Buang. Rising to a height of 1,245 metres, it is the closest snow field to Melbourne. Attractions and facilities at the summit include picnic tables, BBQs, walking tracks, toboggan runs, and a 21 metre tall lookout tower.
The summit features a lookout tower which is 21 metres high and gives panoramic views across the park and way beyond. It is also a popular picnic area and starting point for walks on the mountain.
In winter the summit area turns to snow play and three toboggan runs are opened. Toboggan hire and hot food available at the summit gate during the snow season.
FAQ for snow play on Mt Donna Buang
Opening Hours:
Car parking is available at the summit through the day, however the summit gate is locked in the evening when there is snow. At these times car parking is available at the gate and the summit can be accessed by a 300 metre walk along the road.
Cost:
Free
Access for Dogs:
Dogs are not permitted.
Regulations:
Camping, littering and firearms are not permitted.
Shelter:
There is a large shelter at the summit with BBQs, tables and information panels about Mt Donna Buang.
Higher than England
Donna Buang was once Melbourne's great unknown mountain. Although 1260 metres high, most maps of Victoria ignored it until it was 'discovered' by Professor W. Kernot in 1907.
In a speech given to the Victorian Geographical Society and widely reported in the newspapers, Kernot claimed that "within forty miles of the Melbourne Town Hall there existed a mountain...absolutely unknown to the public of Melbourne even though it is higher than any point in England, Wales or Ireland...".
But it wasn't until 1912 that a bridle track was cut and city folk gained access to the summit. Soon afterwards a timber tower known as 'The Lookout' was erected, giving sensational views as far as Port Philip Bay and the Victorian Alps.
The Lookout was replaced with a disused poppet head from one of the Bendigo gold mines in the early 1930s. This in turn was replaced by the current tower in 1963. Although 14 metres high, it gradually became impossible to see over the tops of the surrounding trees, so in the winter of 1995 it was raised to 21 metres.
Melbourne's Winter Playground
Dozens of guest houses opened in Warburton in the 1920s and 30s. The Chalet, (since burnt down), was the largest in Victoria with accommodation for more than 300.
Fresh air, mountain forests and fern gullies were more fashionable than the beach, even in winter. In June 1924 the newly formed Ski Club of Victoria created the first ski run.
Timber workers helped remove tree stumps from slopes already cleared by logging. The Ski Clubs of Victoria and Melbourne University built mountain huts and constructed Australia's first ski jump - but there were no other facilities. Some enthusiastic locals made skis from planks of Mountain Ash; smoothed on a lathe and curved in a boiling copper.
Day trips from Melbourne were very popular in the 1920's and '30s. On 7 July, 1935, 12,000 people watched the Sunday afternoon ski races at Donna Buang, causing chaos on the slopes and congestion on the road.
After World War II, the more reliable snowfall and better slopes of Mt Hotham and Mt Buller eclipsed Donna Buang. The ski run near the summit here was claimed by tobogganists, the rest by the forest.
Search in the Snow
On Saturday 22 August 1953, 20-year-old Jennifer Laycock and Kirk McLeod, aged 22, set off from the summit of Donna Buang to the Ten Mile car park and disappeared.
A massive search was launched in the dank, impenetrable forests amidst heavy snow falls and freezing conditions. Hundreds of people took part while the whole state was gripped by the drama. The couple was found barely alive on Wednesday afternoon. They were huddled in a makeshift shelter of ferns and branches. Although they were only about four kilometres from the summit of Donna Buang, the country was so rugged there was no hope of getting them out that day, so they and their rescuers had to spend another night in the open. The next morning, over 40 men with saws and axes cut a trail through the forest so Laycock, (whom the press called 'the Snow Girl') and McLeod could be carried out on stretchers. It took seven hours.
Laycock, who loved dancing, suffered so badly from frostbite that both her feet were amputated. McLeod made a good recovery and told reporters, "Jenny Laycock was a better scout than I was ... she was as brave as you could get".
What Trees are These?
Mount Donna Buang is the closest alpine environment to Melbourne and the western most peak of the Australian Alps. The Alpine Ash growing here on the summit is smaller than on the lower slopes because of greater exposure to the weather.
Alpine Ash is a cold weather tree. Its seeds need to be cold to germinate and its leaves contain special chemicals to protect the cells from freezing.
The Alpine Ash at the Ten Mile Turntable car park is more sheltered than on the summit and grows taller. Note how the dark outer bark the 'stocking' - which peels away in long strips, is higher on the trunk than with Mountain Ash.
There is a beautiful stand of Myrtle Beech at Cement Creek - a darker, deeper green than the ferns scattered around the towering Mountain Ash. On the lower slopes the smooth white trunks of Manna Gum stand out in strong contrast to the exotic garden trees of Warburton.
Most of the trees on Mt Donna Buang date from the 1939 bushfires. Discover a few of the giant survivors by walking along the Cement Creek track into the forest.
Timber Treasure
When the railway reached Warburton in 1901, it brought the timber industry close to one of the finest forests of Mountain Ash in the world.
Mt Donna Buang was a sawmiller's dream - magnificent trees within easy reach of the train. Within a short time three sawmillers - Anderson, Richards and Robinson - staked logging claims. Over the next few years, many others followed.
A system of tramways and inclines was set up on Donna Buang using gravity to carry the massive logs out of the forest and down to the the mills on the lower slopes. The previously untouched forest was filled with crashing of trees, the whistle of steam winches and the rumble of the bogies carrying logs down the mountainside.
There were several serious accidents. In January 1903 Daniel Crowley was killed when the brake on Anderson's incline failed. On anther occasion some bogies on the incline known as 'Jacob's Ladder' tore off the track and into the bush. To this day a pair of wheels can be seen embedded in a tree trunk in the forest.
Fire in the Mountains
The week ending Friday 13 January 1939 - 'Black Friday' - is deeply etched in the Victorian psyche; 1.4 million hectares of the state burnt.
The holocaust began with a small fire on private land near Toolangi in early January. After simmering for a few days it broke into the state forest and rapidly went out of control. By the night of Tuesday 9 January, the fire had engulfed most of the ranges in the great triangle of Mountain Ash between Warburton, Healesville and Marysville.
On Friday morning, Alex Larkins, a young Board of Works employee, and his work mates were deep in the forest fighting against impossible odds. "In the higher mountains it (the fire) was roaring like one hundred express trains, we could hear great trees crashing to the ground."
That week, most of Mt Donna Buang burnt and fires swirled around Warburton. The only local fatalities were people living and working in the forest, unlike the traumatic 1926 fires when 30 people died in the township. Warburton people, wrote Alex Larkins, "have learned to live with the fire before and since these tragic days".
Review:
The lookout tower at the summit of Donna Buang is very tall and can be scary for kids. If you want to have great views then make sure it is a nice sunny day to ensure that fog or cloud doesn't obstruct the view at the summit. Call into the Rainforest Gallery Skywalk which is 10km before the summit. There are some walks from the summit which start from near the toilets (10 mile is 1.2km and Mt Victoria is 2.5km).
Location
Donna Buang Road, Warburton 3799 View Map
Web Links
→ Mount Donna Buang Summit (Parks Victoria)
→ Yarra Ranges National Park - Healesville Mt Donna Buang Warburton Visitor Guide (PDF)
→ Victorian Snow Report on Facebook
→ The Best Family Activities in the Yarra Valley
