Feb 8

Feb 8 Exploring the rocky wonders of Girraween National Park

For years I had seen images of giant granite boulders perched precariously on top of one another showing panoramic views of the Australian bushland beyond. It was a place I absolutely HAD to visit one day and see for myself.

So when planning a getaway close to home, Stanethorpe’s wine region was an easy choice as it butts up against Girraween National Park where you will find this otherworldly landscape. Find your stay here!

There are plenty of different hiking tracks in the park – around 12 in total – so you could be exploring for days.

Given we were travelling with the dog, we didn’t want to be gone for a whole day as he wouldn’t be joining us on this exploration, so we chose to combine the Pyramid and Arch hikes which can be done in about half a day.

In the middle of August, we were blessed with a bright sunny day which is good because I would not want to attempt this hike with any rain.

Most of the trail up to the Arch is easy going but you will need a decent amount of fitness and some grit (and decent shoes with plenty of grip) to make it to the top of the Pyramid.

The walk starts from the visitor centre near Bald Rock Creek, following a well-formed track across the creek and through the trees. You can head straight up to the Pyramid after about a kilometre, but we detoured via the Arch on our way up.

Here the rocks balance on each other in a way that seems like a kid came along and was building a granite city – but this is all nature’s work!

Hiking in winter I was surprised to see so much vibrant yellow wattle and little white flowers that Aiden couldn’t get enough of. It was an amazing contrast with all the hulking granite.

From the Arch, we started to ascend a little more steeply with a series of steps. Don’t get complacent here, this is just the warm-up to the final climb so take your time and enjoy the scenery.

As we finished the last set of stairs, a massive, bare granite rock emerged in front of us. It is huge and a little intimidating when you consider the plan is to climb this exposed, steep surface.

There are little white marks on the granite showing the path to follow but honestly, any way you can get up is the way forward. There are some smaller rocks off to the left we hugged so there was something to hold on to – at least some of the time…

We stopped every now and then to catch our breath and take in the views (and stretch the calves).

Eventually we made our way to the top and the granite levels out. We were rewarded with not only incredible 360-degree views but some insane balancing rocks that defy gravity.

Having some fun with the balancing rocks

It is truly a breathtaking display of nature and we had the summit pretty much to ourselves on a random Thursday. I imagine it gets pretty busy on weekends but we were lucky to take our time at the top.

One of the most impressive sights is Second Pyramid which is the largest single slab of granite in the National Park. It is accessible to proper climbers only so we were more than happy to admire the views from afar.

The climb back down the slab of rock was slow going for fear of slipping – Aiden and I both did a little crab walking at points along the way - but we made it down eventually and headed off for some lunch before collecting the pup for an afternoon of dog-friendly exploring.

Honestly, there really isn’t anything like Girraween National Park that I have seen before in Australia. It is such an impressive display and one I wouldn’t mind visiting again one day.

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