Mount Buffalo National Park

Mount Buffalo National Park
	Plateau of Mount Buffalo from below The Horn of
Location:	Victoria , Australia
Specialty:	Mountain landscape
Next city:	Myrtleford
Surface:	310 km²
Founding:	1898
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The Mount Buffalo National Park is a national park in the north of the Australian state of Victoria , about 200 km northeast of Melbourne and 12 km south of Myrtleford . The Buffalo River flows around it to the west, while the Ovens River forms its eastern border.

This national park is one of the oldest in the Australian Alps . It was established in 1898 when 11.65 km² around the Eurobin Falls were protected. In 1908 the park was expanded to more than 105 km², today it covers 310 km² of the plateau and the foothills of Mount Buffalo.

Mount Buffalo forms a moderately high plateau (up to 1723 m ) in the western part of the Victorian Alpine region. The summit shows large blocks of granite and other rock formations. From the north the mountain is quite imposing, the highest point that can be reached is a clearly separated peak called The Horn . A hiking trail leads up there and visitors can enjoy a 360 ° panoramic view from there.

Until January 2007 you could stay in the historic guest house Mount Buffalo Chalet , which was built in 1910. A consortium is currently negotiating with Parks Victoria to reopen the house. The Tatra Inn at the western end of the plateau near The Cathedral was destroyed by a misdirected forest fire counterfire in 2006. From the chalet you can overlook most of the granite plateau and there are spectacular views down into the valleys of the Ovens River and the Buckland River . The area is popular with climbers and paragliders. You can also go into caves on Mount Buffalo. The campsite on Lake Catani is open from November to April. In winter, Mount Buffalo is a popular cross-country skiing area. In the vicinity of The Cathedral there are several cross-country ski trails (Cresta Run) and a toboggan trail at Dingo Dell , both well suited for beginners. There are also trails for more experienced cross-country skiers. The nearby town of Bight also offers guest accommodation.

Adventure Guides Australia regularly offers courses in top rope climbing, cave climbing and other adventure sports on Mount Buffalo. In winter you can book cross-country skiing courses and snowshoe tours at the Mount Buffalo Ski School .

history

Boulders at The Horn on Mount Buffalo

The Aborigines climbed Mount Buffalo and other mountain ranges in the Alps in the summer to catch and eat the protein-rich Bogong butterflies ( Agrotis infusa ) that gather in crevices, and also to meet and hold ceremonies.

The explorers Hume and Hovell gave the mountains their name in 1824 because they looked like a buffalo . Gold diggers and naturalists later found ways to climb the plateau. With the beginning of tourism in the 1880s, an area was reserved around the spectacular gorge at the Eurobin Falls , which was declared a national park in 1898. The park has been expanded several times and today covers the entire plateau and the slopes up to the foothills. The Mount Buffalo Chalet was built in 1910, soon after the first road to the plateau was built, and replaced an earlier, more “rustic” guest house. The park became a popular holiday area for future generations and a place for early skiing and ice skating. In fact, Australia's first ski lift was on Mount Buffalo. Many Melbourne residents first saw snow on Mount Buffalo before World War II .

As long as the Mount Buffalo Chalet was operated by the Victoria Railway Company, it was an official Railways Refreshment Room . The staff worked in railway uniforms, blew conductors whistles, and banned guests from going out in the evenings. Railway tickets were issued for services such as Motor to Wangaratta (bus ride to Wangaratta) and Skis, steel edged with cane stocks and boots 2nd Grade 8 / 6- (skis with steel edges, ski sticks and boots 2nd grade 8/6).

fauna

There are also different habitats for wild animals according to the different altitude levels in the park. In the forests of the foothills can be found on kangaroos , wallabies and various types of possums and glide bags . Smaller mammals like native rats and mice inhabit the plateau. Wombats are found in all habitats. The Alpine Silver Xenica is a species of butterfly that can only be found on the plateau of Mount Buffalo. Bogong butterflies take shelter in crevices on The Horn , and birds are often seen flying into these crevices for food during the day; at night the bats imitate them. Peregrine falcons sometimes nest on the granite cliffs. Pennant Parakeets can be found in large numbers in the park.

Panoramic view over the plateau of Mount Buffalo with the highest point, The Horn , on the right side of the picture. The rope insurance for hikers can be seen above. The large number of dead trees in the picture is due to the forest fires in 2006/2007, which - as can be seen here - also raged on Mount Buffalo.

vegetation

Over 550 native plant species have been found on Mount Buffalo. The most important vegetation levels are the alpine and the subalpine . There are various types of eucalyptus on the slopes of the foothills , including a. Peppermint and Bogong Gum (Eucalyptus chapmaniana). From about 1100 m these forests change into groups of eucalyptus of the species Alpine Ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis) and from 1300 m into snow eucalyptus (Eucalyptus pauciflora). Most of the plateau lies at a height of about 1500 mm. In the valleys there are mats of grass with peat moss and sweet grass along watercourses.

The endemic Buffalo Sallee (Eucalyptus mitchelliana) grows on higher granite ridges and heads. Other endemic plants are the Buffalo Grevillea (Grevillea alpivaga), the Buffalo Swallow Wattle (Acacia phlebophylla) and the Fern-leaf Baeckea (Babingtonia crenulata). The rare Snow Pratia (Pratia gelida) occurs in a small area on the Hospice Plain .

Grazing of cattle was banned in Mount Buffalo National Park in 1957, one of the first such bans in an alpine national park. Weeds, especially Himalayan honeysuckle (Leycesteria formosa), common yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and blackberries are an ongoing task for the park administration.

2006 forest fires

At the end of 2006, in the first phase of the major forest fires in 2006/2007, parts of Mount Buffalo National Park were hit by forest fires. The fires destroyed the Cresta Lodge , but the historic chalet could be saved, although this house was also in danger.

List of Australian natural monuments

On November 7, 2008, Mount Buffalo National Park was added to the list of Australian natural monuments as one of eleven areas in the Australian Alps.

Web links

Commons : Mount Buffalo National Park - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

^ Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing Pty. Ltd. Archerfield QLD (2007). ISBN 978174193232-4 . P. 49
^ Australian Alps National Parks information . Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts . Government of Victoria

[ATA-1] Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing Pty. Ltd. Archerfield QLD (2007). ISBN 978174193232-4 . P. 49

[2] Australian Alps National Parks information . Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts . Government of Victoria