Blue Rag Range Track, VIC

In this post: Blue Rag Range Track near Dargo in Victoria, Australia: the track, the views, and our route to get there.

This is the blog of Mark Wordsworm, the travelling worm. I’m a 40-year-old bookmark (give or take a few years) and I proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1. You’ll probably want to read all about me and my Travelling Companion (the TC).

Today’s travel notes

Me and the TC recently spent a week and a half in the Victorian High Country, a landscape of mountains and valleys in the state of Victoria, Australia. On 23 February, we tackled a bucket-list four-wheel driving track in the area: Blue Rag Range Track.

The book I’m in

Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K Le Guin. Every time this worm gets into a book by this author, I’m astounded at the cleanness of her style and the smartness of her plots. This book is no exception.

Recommended accommodation

Hinnomunjie Bridge campground in Omeo Valley, Victoria. The site is well laid out on the banks of the Mitta Mitta river, with clean toilets and clear grassy areas to pitch your tent.

Recommended restaurant

Dargo Hotel in Dargo.

Travel tips

Try to avoid pitching your tent on a slope. The TC, bless her cotton socks, kept waking up with her feet hanging over the end of the bed and a big empty space at the top of the bed. She finally worked out that she was sliding down thanks to the slope.

The photos

Me at the trig point at the top of Blue Rag Range Track (elevation 1,700 metres / 5,580 feet):

Observant readers will notice the trophies stuck to the trig tower, by people who’re proud to make it to the top. We didn’t leave a trophy, but it is indeed a great feeling to have made this trip.

Observant readers will also notice that it was windy up there! This worm strikes a jaunty pose nonetheless, with my tassel horizontal and a firm grasp from a friendly hand.

Hyper-observant readers will notice Peg skulking in the book at bottom right. Peg makes occasional appearances in my posts, her firm grip on reality keeping me grounded. But even Peg wasn’t strong enough for the gale at the Blue Rag Range trig point.

The track

It took us three and a half hours (12:30pm to 4pm) to drive the track itself, with a one-hour lunch break and stops for photographs.

At the start of the track is a steep mound with a hole at its crest, ready to trap the unwary vehicle. Most people choose to go round:

https://youtu.be/1QTcw-_lkZk

Another video shows the approach to the trig point at the top of the track:

https://youtu.be/jVQ8oNtN2cg

Friendly locals in Dargo told us that it’s unwise to venture beyond the trig point. Those who do will almost certainly need help recovering their vehicles, and the Dargo police are inundated with calls for help from drivers who don’t realise the risks.

The views from the track are stunning, with mountain ranges all round:

Much of the track runs along the top of the ridge:

A sign post marks the track part-way along, surrounded by white tree skeletons and scrubby grass:

Our route

We started the day by fuelling up in Dargo. This is one of the cars in our convoy:

The Dargo Hotel offers a good feed. Here’s Beetle the Jeep, lined up and ready to go:

We left Dargo in mid-morning, following Lind Avenue along the banks of the Dargo River, then Dargo High Plains Road to the start of the track.

A sign post shows the start of the Blue Rag Range Track on Dargo High Plains Road:

After reaching the Blue Rag Range trig point, we turned round and went back to Dargo High Plains Road, continuing north to the B500.

We camped overnight at Hinnomunjie Bridge campground on the banks of the Mitta Mitta river in Omeo Valley. This beautiful fire barrel was made by one of our travelling companions:

That’s all for today, folks

Billy Goat Bluff Track, VIC

In this post: Billy Goat Bluff Track near Dargo in Victoria, Australia, plus some lovely country and a river to camp beside.

This is the blog of Mark Wordsworm, the travelling worm. I’m a 40-year-old bookmark (give or take a few years) and I proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1. You’ll probably want to read all about me and my Travelling Companion (the TC).

Today’s travel notes

Me and the TC recently spent a week and a half in the Victorian High Country, a landscape of mountains and valleys in the state of Victoria, Australia. On 22 February, we tackled a well-known four-wheel driving track in the area: Billy Goat Bluff Track.

The book I’m in

Jericho’s Dead by William Hussey. This is the second in a series about Scott Jericho, an ex police detective and member of a fairground family who seems to attract serial killers and other nasties. Highly recommended.

Recommended accommodation

Black Snake Creek campground on the banks of Wonangatta River.

Travel tips

Although Billy Goat Bluff track has been graded and is relatively easy driving, many of the tracks in the Dargo area are challenging. Pick your route to and from Billy Goat Bluff with care.

The photos

Crawling the tracks is what yours truly does best. So, let’s start with a video of part of Billy Goat Bluff Track, to give you and idea of what it’s like. The track was graded in late 2024. When we were there in February 2025, the driving was easy. But beware the steep drop-offs on both sides!

https://youtu.be/8AISROQ62bk

The TC, bless her cotton socks, talks about the Billy Goat Gruff track in the video. It’s actually Billy Goat Bluff. Rumour has it that the track got its name because to drive it, you need to be as agile as a goat.

The track features a steep gradient of 27%, climbing 1,200 metres over a distance of 7 kilometres.

The TC’s water bottle compressed as if it had been in a jet plane:

How long does it take? It took us less than two hours to drive the track. We started the track itself at soon after 9am and finished before 11am, with plenty of stops for photographs.

Here’s our convoy on the infamous ridge. Those edges give little margin for error or for passing an oncoming vehicle:

All round us, the peaks and valleys of the high country conspired to make us feel like insignificant worms on the face of the universe (oh wait, I am a worm, and decidedly not insignificant!):

Getting there: On the night before the trail, we camped at Black Snake Creek campground on the banks of the Wonangatta River:

We left the campground at around 8.30am and followed Wonangatta Road northwards for half an hour or so, winding along the banks of the Wonangatta River until we joined Billy Goat Bluff Track.

The lovely Kingwill Bridge on Wonangatta Road:

In case your appetite for Billy Goat Bluff isn’t yet satiated:

After finishing Billy Goat Bluff, we took a short detour to visit Pinnacles Lookout in the Miowera region:

https://youtu.be/gZRIUXVfHtg

There I met my cousin Dilly the Butterfly:

We then explored some of the tracks around Dargo, which turned out to be much more of an adventure than planned. We helped some folks out of trouble, which meant that we were still on the tracks late at night:

We found our way safely to Castleburn Creek campground at midnight, rounding off another day of happy travelling.

Speaking to the locals in Dargo the next day, we heard that many people find themselves in trouble on these tracks. The maps are not up to date, and as a result people don’t know what’s in store for them. Take care out there on the tracks, make sure you’re in a capable vehicle, and travel with some mates to help if you do run into a tricky situation.

That’s all for today, folks