Toolangi - Kalatha Giant Tree Walk
This short 0.5km return walk near Toolangi takes in the magnificent Kalatha Giant Tree, thought to be over 350 years old.
The Kalatha Giant Tree Walk is an easy return trail that takes in the magnificent Kalatha Giant. You'll find it a short drive from Toolangi and 2 hours north-east of Melbourne.
The tree has survived multiple bushfires to stand proud in the 1939 regenerating forest. The large mountain ash is estimated to be over 350 years old and is 73m tall with a circumference of 16m.
This picturesque trail meanders through beautiful tall eucalyptus trees, tree ferns, mountain pepper and wattle trees.
Take the time to read the informative interpretation signs for a greater understanding of the history and ecology of the area. From the boardwalk, take a photo and marvel at one of nature's great treasures.
The walk has occasional steps, gentle hills, well formed track and is clearly sign posted. No experience required.
How to get there
From Healesville, take the Myers Creek road for 13km. Turn right into Sylvia Creek road and continue on this well maintained forest road for 10km. Kalatha road is on your left. Approximately 1.7km down Kalatha road you will see the trailhead for the walk and a small car parking area.
Access for Dogs:
Dogs allowed
Review:
A chance to wonder at a huge Mountain Ash and read about it's life story. Steps near the tree lead to a boardwalk on one side of the tree and a track leads past the other side.
Information Boards
There are a number of informational signs near the tree.
Welcome to the Kalatha Giant Tree Walk
The Kalatha Giant is 73 metres tall and its girth is 16 metres at breast height. It is one of several massive and ancient Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) trees in this area of Toolangi State Forest.
For your own safety and to protect the special tree and the wildlife around it, please stay on the constructed track and boardwalks.
Walk quietly and you will see and hear many forest birds. You will probably notice scratching on the edge of the track, where lyrebirds have been foraging for invertebrates in the humus. Listen for their singing ? including a remarkable mix of a mimicked bird calls.
Eucalyptus trees can drop branches without warning so be alert at all times and be especially cautious in wet and windy weather.
From small seeds, big trees grow
Mountain Ash trees grow from tiny seeds to become one of the tallest plants on Earth, capable of reaching well over 100 metres. In the 19th century some were measured at more 130 metres - the tallest trees ever recorded.
In their race toward the light saplings may grow rapidly. By the time they are sixty years old and they can be more than seventy metres tall and all other plants are left below.
After this they grow more slowly. The trunk grows thicker and buttress-like flutes develop around the base to help stabilise and strengthen the tree.
The crown of the tree becomes fully developed and lower side branches die and fall off, starting a process of decay that will lead to development of hollows in the trunk.
Eventually the very top of the tree dies as it struggles to draw sufficient water up from the roots. The dead top breaks off and the process of decay down the centre of the trunk begins.
Can you see the massive upright limb that has fallen from the Kalatha Giant? Look carefully - it is upside-down!
Survival and Recovery
Mountain Ash trees are fore-sensitive but sometimes survive intense bushfire events. Some have been through many major fire episodes in their long lifetimes.
Can you see the large 'Cathedral Door' at the base of the Kalatha Giant? This is an old fire scar formed when a ground fire burned rapidly uphill, passing by the tree with little effect. However, the upslope side of the tree had probably collected a heap of dry litter that continued to burn long after the main fire had passed. This sustained fire penetrated through the bark and into the heartwood.
As the damage affected only one side of the trunk, the tree survived and healed. Bark regrew around the scar, forming the characteristic 'gothic' shape. The Kalatha Giant recovered and remains alive many decades later.
Home is a warm hollow
Hollows normally begin to form when a tree is around 120 years old and it can take many decades for them to fully develop.
More than 40 species of Australian vertebrates need hollows in Mountain Ash trees for shelter and nesting.
These include bats, parrots, owls, gliders and possums. Each species prefers a particular type of hollow with a specific style and size of entrance, so a wide variety of hollows is needed to support a range of wildlife.
Competing the circle of life
When a natural fire burns through a Mountain Ash forest it does not burn evenly. Some parts will burn hotter, some faster, in some areas there will be a ground fire, in others flames will extend right up into the crowns of the trees.
After a fire, parts of the forest will have been singed or scorched and others partially or completely destroyed. There will even be patches that remain unburnt.
The thin bark of Mountain Ash provides little protection from fire; intense heat can penetrate and kill the living tissue beneath. If this damage encircles the trunk it will break the essential connection between the roots and the crown, leading to the death of the tree.
A dead tree, or 'stag' will take decades to decay. Eventually it will collapse leaving a stump. Slowly it will rot back into the earth, continuing to provide habitat and nutrients for many species as new forest grows around it.
Multi-storey living
The open crowns of Mountain Ash trees allow light to penetrate below, where other plants thrive.
Mountain Ash forests often have a mid-story of wattle and other trees, an under-story of broad leafed plants, climbers and tree ferns and a ground cover of grasses, ferns and mosses.
This forest is a community of many species living alongside and interacting with each other.
Photos:
Location
Kalatha Road, Toolangi 3777 View Map
Web Links
→ www.exploreoutdoors.vic.gov.au/activities/walking-in-victoria/kalatha-giant-tree-walk
