THIS TWO HOUR WALK explores beautiful Cornish Hill Reserve located in the town of Daylesford. The Cornish Hill river valley, traversed by Smith Creek, is rich in former mining sites including tunnels, mullock heaps, puddling circle, cuttings, water races and mine workings. Explore the goldrush history of this spectacularly successful goldfield from the 1850s that yielded over a billion dollars in gold.
Daylesford, 90 minutes north-west of Melbourne, has also been a popular mountain retreat since the 1880s, famous for its Victorian architecture, lakes, forests, historic guesthouses, mineral springs, rural cuisine and Swiss Italian heritage.
CORNISH HILL RESERVE is rich in fauna and flora. Our tour includes the extraordinary restoration of the Indigenous lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung people from a landscape once ravaged by mining.
WE START from Bonnard’s Mine with a spectacular lookout over the town, lake, forest and mountains. From there we visit several mine sites before descending to the delightful Smiths Creek. Walking along the old water race, we come to the former water wheel site and ascend to the South Cornish Mine site. On route, we pass bushland restoration sites and learn about the rich bird and animal life and traditional Indigenous foods and tools. Traveling west we visit the former mine site of Swiss-Italian pioneer Giuseppe Scascighini before following a scenic ridge back to our starting point.
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