The Baw Baw National Park is a protected area located between the Victorian Alps and Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. The park covers 13,530 hectares (33,400 acres) and is found about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Melbourne and 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the Latrobe Valley. It includes the forest-covered Baw-Baw Plateau and surrounds the Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort.
The Baw-Baw Plateau has several peaks, including Mount Baw Baw, Mount St Gwinear, Mount St Phillack, Mount Erica, and Mount Whitelaw. These peaks are made of weathered granite rocks rising from the plateau, which is covered by forests of snow-gums and has meadows scattered throughout. Mount St Phillack, a granite hill on the plateau standing at 1,566 meters (5,138 feet) above sea level, is the park’s highest peak. This is because Mount Baw Baw, which is slightly higher, is part of the ski resort area. The slopes of the plateau within the national park are the sources of water for the Thomson River and Thomson Reservoir, as well as the Tanjil and Tyers rivers.
History
The traditional custodians of the land around Baw Baw National Park are the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. The Gunaikurnai people also consider the Baw Baw National Park to be their traditional country, based on their cultural traditions.
The area was first explored by Europeans in 1860 by a botanist named Ferdinand von Mueller. He named the peaks Mount Mueller and Mount Erica after himself. During this trip, Mueller studied how the plant life in Tasmania and Victoria were similar or different. The area was settled in the 1880s and 1890s after gold was discovered there. Baw Baw National Park was officially declared in April 1979. On November 7, 2008, the park was added to the Australian National Heritage List as one of eleven areas that make up the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves. Baw Baw National Park is the southernmost part of the sub-alpine environment on mainland Australia.
Geography
Baw Baw is made up of areas with low grasses, snow gums, and heathlands. The Australian Alps also have many mushroom rocks, as well as large granite rocks that stand above the forest.
Flora and fauna
The typical plants in the park include low grasses, heathlands, and snow gums. This type of vegetation is often called sub-alpine. Many animals live in the foothills near the Baw Baw Plateau. One of these animals is the Leadbeater's possum, which is now critically endangered since 2015. This status is due to the damage caused by the "Saturday Bushfires" to the possum's habitat and population. The Leadbeater's possum is also Victoria's official state fauna emblem. Another endangered animal in the area is the Baw Baw frog (Philoria frosti), which is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. Its population has declined, and it now only lives in a small area on the Mount Baw Baw Plateau.
The deciduous Baw Baw berry (Wittsteinia vacciniacea) grows on the plateau. This plant has red and yellow flowers and is the only species of Wittsteinia in Australia. It is also one of four genera in the Alseuosmiaceae family. The berry is found in mountainous regions of Victoria, and its numbers vary in different areas.
The Epracis breviflora, also called drumstick heath, blooms from November to January. This flower is native to the Baw Baw Plateau and sometimes grows in moist rock crevices on the mountain.
Climate
The lowest temperatures at night usually range from 6 to 13 degrees Celsius on average. The average annual rainfall in this area is between 606 and 2344 millimeters. The lowest monthly average rainfall is 44–126 millimeters, and the highest monthly average rainfall is 63–295 millimeters.
Etymology
The national park is named after Mount Baw Baw. In the Australian Aboriginal Woiwurrung language, the mountain was believed to have different names: "bo-ye," meaning "ghost," or "bo-bo," meaning "bandicoot." In the Bunurong language, the mountain was called "Bore Bore," and in the Gunai language, it was called "Bo Bo." Both names mean "echo."
Activities
The park is used for skiing in the winter and bushwalking in the summer. Activities include cross country skiing, downhill skiing, summer bushwalking, rafting, canoeing, fishing, scenic drives, and picnics. The Australian Alps Walking Track goes through the entire park, starting at Walhalla and continuing north toward the Alpine National Park. The Baw Baw section of the track takes about three days to walk and has many sights for people interested in plants or rocks.
Popular ski tours take place on the Baw Baw Plateau between Mount Baw Baw, past Mount St Phillack, and to Mount St Gwinear. A volunteer ski patrol group helps visitors on weekends and patrols the St Gwinear area of the national park. They enter the park from the opposite side of the plateau from the ski resort at Mount Baw Baw. Other skiing activities include Nordic skiing at Mount Baw Baw, which began in 1972 and includes races and a ski school.