High Country.

Licola to Burgoynes is around 10 to 15 kms , Now you going to Burgoynes gap ? if your planning to cross the mehcalister there , I would say you mad lol at this time of year it is impossible

Hi Allan, assuming you have no problems you could do the trip in a day but it will be a long day! If you are starting at Licola why are you back tracking to Burgoynes? Just head up the Tamboritha Rd to Mt Margaret track as this will save you some time. When are you doing the trip as all this area had snow down to the Wellington River in July so there would have been trees down everywhere but most tracks will have been cut through after this weekend. You don't have to cross the Macalister on your route but any rain will make all of these tracks plus the Wellington crossings interesting. It has been drizzling rain since Saturday night up there so anyone in that area this weekend will have fun coming home today/tomorrow. Re Butcher Country I went from the Caledonia River at the foot of Dingo Hill up on to Butcher Country track then to Zeka Spur and on to the station 13 yrs ago and it took 10 hrs, but I have no idea what its like now.
Regd's Darryn

Butchers country and grimme tracks were tough in april took 8-9 hrs to travel 14 ks The grimme track has had work done on it since then but hopefully the rain has kept it rough .Zeka spur is always good if there has been plenty of rain other wise not much of a challenge .

Thanks guys for your imput. We still have a few options available to us, but my thinking was as follows;

1.If only 10mins from Licola, worthwhile backtracking to Burgoynes as have heard is a very good/challenging track. If we do take this route, anticpate about 9 hrs to Wonnangatta, if no problems encountered.
2. Option of travelling Tamboritha Rd & entering Mt Margaret track, as it will save us a few hours, is still a possibility.
3.Did butchers, (otherway), earlier this year & took us 5hrs from Howitt Hut. Agree that Zeka is nothing out of the ordinary, but will still be challenging enough for some of the vehicles.

Anymore suggestions/advice greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Allan Mac

Hi ! Allan ,

Lot's of tracks are still closed and with all this recent rainfall I would expect many tracks to stay closed for some time .
May I 'suggest' you move out of Licola along Tamboritha Road - Turn left at Arbuckle Junction - follow Howitt Road to Howitt Hut - then take a right turn down the Zeka Spur Track on the right - two klms from Howitt Hut .
Or -
Continue straight on at the Arbuckle Junction - go past the Horseyard Flat campsite and take the Billy Goat Bluff track down to the Wonnangatta Valley .
Zeka and Billy Goat were once very difficult but both have been 'graded' in the past couple of years - - caution is still necessary on the steep and narrow sections just the same .
Both of these routes are about 4/5 hours from Licola to the Wonnangatta in good weather - - do not attempt either of these Spir tracks in the wet ( my advice ) .
Also - you would be advised to check with Victoria Nat Parks to see if these two spir tracks are actually open - before you leave on your trip .
If you take the 'Billy Goat Bluff' track option - make sure you pay a visit to the lonely Ranger who mans the Fire Tower at the 'East Pinnacles Tower' .
Many people just drive past the tower track and miss a great opportunity of getting fantastic photos of the entire valley from the Fire Tower .
The Ranger is a good bloke - and welcomes visitors - it's a very isolated and remote job so he is happy to see some real human beings - instead of staring into the wilderness areas looking for remote tunnels of smoke from the valley floor .
Hope this helps !
All the best ,
Disco Td5 .

We did Zeka Spur yesterday, and it was a little slimey, but a dude in a Jack with Kumho AT's on made it, so anythign else should.

We did Dargo - Talbotville - somewhere else I cant remember - Heyfield Via Licola.

All were easy, water was only grill deep but flowing quite well in some spots.

Be careful there was a track washed out that goes from just outside Licola up to Mt Margret somewhere, began with a H, The other convoy found it had to reverse back for a fair bit.