The Walhalla Cemetery Walk is obviously not one for hardcore hikers, but any visitor to Walhalla would be missing out if they didn’t take in this excellent slice of Walhalla’s history.
A short 500-metre switchback leads visitors to an impressive and unusual hillside cemetery, with over 1300 known burials dating back as far as 1866. The cemetery is bordered by a white picket fence and many pine trees but is mostly surrounded by the magnificent native bushland. Paths run parallel between each row of gravesites, and dry stone walls terrace the rows. A staircase runs up one side and on the other side, rows are connected by rough steps or goat tracks.
The walk to and from the cemetery only takes about 10 minutes each way but you’ll want to allow at least an hour to explore the site. Reading the inscriptions on the headstones – at least those that have inscriptions, many are just wooden crosses – tells a bleak story of the hardship experienced by those that lived (however briefly) in Walhalla during the gold rush. You’ll be inspired, once you return to mobile coverage, to research the stories of those buried there and the rumours of cursed graves.
The most common feedback I get from readers of The Bushwalking Blog is that they “just want more hikes to do”. I get it – hiking is my passion too. I do more hikes than I’d ever have the time to write about, so that’s why I’ve decided Bare Bones Bushwalking is now a thing. Not every hike has a story I can attach to it and some I just don’t get around to writing up, so in an effort to share ALL of (or at least more of) the hikes with you I’m doing this. A more simplified blog post that gives you everything you need to go and do the hike yourself. Make your own stories.
Need to Know
Last Visited: 2019
Length: 1.5 km
Time: 1.5 hrs
Grade: Easy / Grade 3 (according to the Australian Walking Track Grading System).
Style: Return
Region: South-Eastern Victoria
Car Access: As you drive into Walhalla township, you’ll cross over the creek, pass Walhalla Station (on the Walhalla Goldfields Railway) and then a day visitor area on your right. The start of the Walhalla Cemetery Walk is also on your right, just next to Brewery Creek Cottage. Look out for a white picket fence.
Have you visited Walhalla Cemetery? Got it on your bucket list? If you have any stories, updates or corrections, please let us know by commenting below.
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