Baw Baw National Park

Baw Baw National Park
View from Mt.Baw Baw
Coordinates: 37 ° 45 ′ 50 ″  S , 146 ° 13 ′ 23 ″  O
Location:	Victoria , Australia
Specialty:	Subalpine mountain landscape
Surface:	135.3 km²
Founding:	April 1979

The Baw Baw National Park is a national park in central Gippsland in the Australian state of Victoria , 111 km east of Melbourne . It includes the Baw-Baw plateau and Mount Baw Baw with its ski area.

There are several peaks on the Baw-Baw Plateau, Mount Baw Baw, Mount Saint Gwinear , Mount Saint Phillack, Mount Erica, and Mount Whitelaw. The plateau has a sub-alpine character with alpine meadows and weathered granite blocks as well as individual groups of snow eucalyptus .

history

The name "Baw Baw" is said to stand for "echo" in the Aboriginal language , but it can also be, as mentioned on early maps, that it is "Bo Bo", which means "big".

The area was first explored in 1860 by the German botanist Ferdinand von Mueller and settled in the 1880s and 1890s after the discovery of gold. The national park was established in April 1979. On November 7, 2008, it was included in the Australian National Heritage List as one of eleven parks in the Australian Alps .

Flora and fauna

The typical subalpine vegetation of the area is grass , heather and snow-eucalyptus trees.

Among the endangered animal species in the national park are the giant martens , the croissant , the frog species Litoria spenceri , Litoria verreauxii alpina and Philoria frosti , the skinkart Pseudemoia cryodroma and the fish species Galaxia olidus and Galaxiella pusilla . The critically endangered croissant can be found in the fauna emblem of the state of Victoria.

The special Baw-Baw berry , Wittsteinia vacciniacea , can be found on the plateau.

free time activities

Nowadays the park is mainly used for skiing in winter and hiking in summer. Cross-country skiing , downhill skiing , cross-country hiking, hunting , fishing , white water rafting, canoeing, picnics and enjoying the beautiful view from the streets of the park are particularly popular . The Australian Alps Walking Track runs through the entire length of the park from Walhalla north to the Alpine National Park . The section in the Baw Baw National Park can be hiked in just over three days.

There is also a lot to see for lovers of botany and geology .

On the Baw-Baw-Plateau there is a popular ski tour from Mount Baw Baw via Mount Saint Phillack to Mount Saint Gwinear. There is even a volunteer mountain rescue service , the 'St. Gwinear Ski Patrol '. On the weekends they patrol around Mount Saint Gwinear. You can get there from the other side of the plateau via the ski area on Mount Baw Baw. Another popular sport is Nordic skiing on Mount Baw Baw, which was introduced in 1972, including competitions and a ski school.

Web links

Commons : Baw Baw National Park  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Baw Baw National Park . Parks Victoria
• Mount Baw Baw . The Age
• Baw Baw National Park Visitor Guide. (PDF; 1.4 MB) Baw Baw National Park. Parks Victoria.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Information about the national parks in the Australian Alps. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (English).
2. ↑ Management plan for the National Park ( Memento of the original from September 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; English)  
3. ↑ St. Gwinear Ski Patrol, Inc. ( Memento of the original from February 20, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ History of the Mount Baw Baw Region. ( Memento of December 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 821 kB) June 2002 (English)