Tarra-Bulga National Park
Encyclopedia
Tarra-Bulga is a national park in eastern Victoria
, Australia
, 158 km from Melbourne in the Strzelecki Ranges
. It is home to one of the last remnants of the indigenous eucalypt forests which once covered the region.
The area was first set aside as Bulga National Park in 1904. It comprised only 20 hectares. In 1909 Tarra Valley National Park was designated nearby. Over the years the two parks were gradually enlarged and then merged under the current name in 1986.
The deeply-incised river valleys of the park are dominated by wet sclerophyll tall open forest of mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans
), with an understorey of blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon), hazel pomaderris (Pomaderris aspera
) and tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica
and Cyathea australis
). Pockets of the park feature cool temperate rainforest, including Myrtle Beech Nothofagus cunninghamii.
The ridges are dominated by open forest and low open forest of peppermint eucalypts and gums.
The tourist attractions include a large suspension bridge walk over the valley and many bushwalking tracks, and now provides visitors with an excellent example of the sort of forests which were once widespread in the area.
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, 158 km from Melbourne in the Strzelecki Ranges
Strzelecki Ranges
Strzelecki Ranges, also known as Strzelecki Hills is a low mountain range in the Gippsland region of south-eastern Australia between the Latrobe Valley to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
. It is home to one of the last remnants of the indigenous eucalypt forests which once covered the region.
The area was first set aside as Bulga National Park in 1904. It comprised only 20 hectares. In 1909 Tarra Valley National Park was designated nearby. Over the years the two parks were gradually enlarged and then merged under the current name in 1986.
The deeply-incised river valleys of the park are dominated by wet sclerophyll tall open forest of mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans
Eucalyptus regnans
Eucalyptus regnans, known variously by the common names Mountain Ash, Victorian Ash, Swamp Gum, Tasmanian Oak or Stringy Gum, is a species of Eucalyptus native to southeastern Australia, in Tasmania and Victoria...
), with an understorey of blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon), hazel pomaderris (Pomaderris aspera
Pomaderris
Pomaderris is a genus of 70 species of shrub to small tree in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. 65 of the species are native to Australia and the other five are from New Zealand. There is some overlap....
) and tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica
Dicksonia antarctica
Dicksonia antarctica, known as the Soft Tree Fern, Man Fern or Tasmanian Tree Fern, is an evergreen tree fern native to parts of Australia, namely south-east Queensland, coastal New South Wales and Victoria and Tasmania.- Anatomy and biology :...
and Cyathea australis
Cyathea australis
Cyathea australis, also known as the Rough Tree Fern, is a species of tree fern native to southeastern Queensland, New South Wales and southern Victoria in Australia, as well as Tasmania and Norfolk Island. It grows in moist shady forest, both coastal and montane, at an altitude of up to 1280 m,...
). Pockets of the park feature cool temperate rainforest, including Myrtle Beech Nothofagus cunninghamii.
The ridges are dominated by open forest and low open forest of peppermint eucalypts and gums.
The tourist attractions include a large suspension bridge walk over the valley and many bushwalking tracks, and now provides visitors with an excellent example of the sort of forests which were once widespread in the area.
See also
- Protected areas of Victoria (Australia)Protected areas of Victoria (Australia)Victoria is the smallest mainland state in Australia. It contains 1966 separate Protected Areas with a total land area of 33,780 km² . Of these, 36 are National parks, totalling 25,774 km² ....
- Goombala RoadGoombala RoadGoombala Road is a major throughway within Tarra-Bulga National Park in South Gippsland, Australia. It runs the inside border of the park. It roughly parallels Traralgon Creek....