Marthavale

Marthavale Hut is nestled on a bend of the Nicholson River in a beautiful bush setting, approximately 25 kilometres east of Dargo and 60 kilometres north of Bairnsdale. It is just one of a number of High Country Huts a group from the Idlers 4WD Club visited on a 4WD tour of the area mid 2002 [see Baldhead Phipps (Marthavale) State Forest report].

The hut, originally built in 1953 as a base for the timber workers, is a three-roomed building and unfortunately it was in a pretty sad state with:-

The fireplace and chimney virtually burnt out.
Virtually three quarters of the "weatherboards" had been replaced with corrugated iron roofing sheets, loosely/barely attached.
Internal white Masonite walls were either badly damaged or covered in graffiti.
Some internal studs/bearers/joists/floorboards were missing.
A couple of sections required re-blocking.

With the support and approval of the DNRE Bairnsdale, the Idlers 4WD Club "adopted" Marthavale Hut.

About 25 club members contributed their skills to the restoration, such that after much behind the scenes planning and fabrication, plus two 5-day working bees on site, the hut has now been restored.

There is sufficient room for about ten camps around the hut, but there are no facilities (bushcamp).

Marthavale Hut location is at the junction of Marthavale Road, Quarry Creek Road, and Nicholson Creek Track (VICMAP 1:50,000 Brookville-Ensay 8423-S: 55H 546555 S 5855466) on the banks of the Nicholson River.

Lush mountainous country where the tracks are either along the valley floors or ridges. Many tracks rather steeply connect the valleys and ridges.

The direct route is a 56 kilometre drive from Bairnsdale up the Mount Baldhead Road through Bullumwaal. A good 2WD forest road. Turn right at the signed Marthavale Road and proceed down the road for 4 kilometres. There is one slightly chopped up small section of road in the middle which can be quite slushy if wet. Overall quite suitable for Campertrailers and small Caravans.

An alternative interesting route, avoiding Bairnsdale, is to turn left off the Princess Highway 17 kilometres before Bairnsdale onto Meerlieu Road, then travel via Wuk Wuk and Mt Alfred to Bullumwaal or beyond.

For a more interesting and longer (overnight stopover ?) 4WD trip starting at Stratford, see the Baldhead Phipps (Marthavale) State Forest report.

This area obviously is not very popular with 4WDers as evidenced by the overgrown nature of some of the tracks, particularly Quarry Creek Road and Nicholson River Track past Yahoo.

Quarry Creek Road is described Baldhead Phipps (Marthavale) State Forest report. It is badly overgrown in parts and is subject to seasonal closure as it is in a water catchment area.

Pheasant Creek Track to the north of Marthavale is accessed by driving up Mount Baldhead Road to Seldom Seen, turning left down Jones Road then after about 8 kilometres turning right to the track. Don’t miss Calvi Lookout, about 4 kilometres on the right down Jones Road, for some great views. Pheasant Creek track is steep, with a few very sharp sections. Overall it rises about 900m in 4 kilometres. Up the top turn right into Mc Donald Road and slowly follow this road, taking in the views past Mt Baldhead, back to Seldom Seen and to Marthavale. Avoid if wet.

Yahoo is a small mining concern 13 kilometres down the Nicholson River Track. Approximately 5 kilometres down the track from Marthavale you turn left at the Camms Track intersection to follow the river. A relatively easy but very interesting track along the valley floor through some lush forest with a couple of river crossings. A good virtually 2WD road leads from Yahoo up to Mount Baldhead Road.

Woolybutt Spur Track provides another alternative return trip back from Yahoo. It rises about 500m in about 3 kilometres with a couple of short steep stretches over loose shale. Once on top of the ridge the track weaves in between the most magnificent gums before it terminates at Mount Baldhead Road. Turn right and drive about 5 kilometres to Camms Track on the right. Camms Track becomes a reasonably steep descent down to the Nicholson River Track and back to Marthavale. Avoid if wet.

A wonderful track that follows the Nicholson River 33 kilometres down to Deptford. At Yahoo you have to turn left, towards the river going through (despite the "Keep Out" sign) and around to the right of the mining concern, to pick up the rest of the track. There are twists and turns, steep ascents and descents, water crossings, views, it has it all plus overall a good track surface. From Deptford it is a further 35kilometres to Bairnsdale over good 2WD forest roads. Parts of the track past Yahoo besides being a little overgrown should be avoided if wet.

3 trips were to Marthavale during the last half of 2002 for maintenance and exploration.

From Marthavale down the Nicholson Track then around the back of Yahoo to Mc Donalds Road. Continue on to Mount Sugarloaf Road (Barmouth Track, signposted Sugarloaf No 1, to many fallen trees) and on to the Firetower at Mt Sugarloaf. Proceed to Engineers Road then turn on to 20-Mile Track, follow this down to Rouch Road. Could not find Big Bertha Link Track so continue on Rouch Road (overgrown) to Five Mile Spur Track, past the Forktown Helipad, then down Tambo Crossing Spur Road to Conns Track. Conns Track was a long slow 6-kilometre drive down the lefthand edge of a very recently cleared firebreak. The track was quite soft and dotted with rocks all along its length. Conns Track joins the Haunted Stream Road about 2.5 kilometres from its start near Tambo Crossing on the Omeo Highway. Then its up the Haunted Stream Road to the old Stirling town site then proceeded along what is now the Haunted stream Track to Dogtown and Dawson City town site some 18 kilometres further along. A wonderful drive with some 53 river crossings and absolutely wonderful country that surrounding this river. From Dawson City it is now just over the Log Bridge, straight up Boomerang Spur Road, climbing the steep Angora Range (avoid if wet) and then onto the main Bullumwaal Mount Baldhead Road back to camp.A truly great 117 kilometre drive that contains a bit of everything but most of all the countryside, particularly along the Haunted Stream, is just truly magnificent.

Turn off Bullumwaal Mount Baldhead Road onto Morris Track and proceed to Friday Spur Track and continue on to Wallers Hut. Steep sections of this track had just been bulldozed and were very soft. Turn right onto Gidley Track (we had a bit of a squeeze past the dozer) then eventually turn left down Punchen Budwuid Divide Track. Proceed to Tabberabbera Road and then along the river flats beside the Dargo River (great sight in the autumn colours) to Dargo. Return trip was up the Upper Dargo Road to Jones Road and along this via Rudolf Gap to the Wentworth River. To add a bit of 4WD proceed up the steep section of Waynes Track then turn left at the next track and proceed up the long climb to the helipad and back to Jones Road. Complete the trip by following Jones Road, past the Calvi lookout back to the Bullumwaal Mount Baldhead Road and return to Marthavale.

These last two track files thanks to Mr A Phipps coming to the rescue when my computer died.