WALHALLA GOLDFIELDS IN COLOUR
Less talk and more pictures of Walhalla than anywhere on the net


Walhalla Goldfields in Colour Picture gallery
Click the pictures to open the picture gallery
Pictures of the main town area
All the pictures in this town section were taken while walking around the Walhalla township and along the tramline walkway overlooking Walhalla. Most of the walks around the Walhalla township are reasonably easy except for the walk to the Walhalla Cricket ground which is quite an effort
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  Places of special interest around Walhalla  
Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine
The Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine is a must see attraction at Walhalla, its hard to believe what the miners went through to excuvate the mine and how much effort was put into removing the gold from Cohens Reef. A tour of the Mine takes about an hour and is worth every cent of the tour cost.

Walhalla Goldfields Railway
The Walhalla Goldfields Railway runs from the Thomson River Station across the Thomson River and follows Stringers Creek Gorge to the Happy Creek Station then on to the Walhalla Station. Along the way there are a few reminders of the gold rush with old house sites and garden beds still visible today
Walhalla Cemetery
The Walhalla Cemetery is listed as one of the states most unique cemeteries and has been recommended for heritage listing due to its historical value to the area. With around 1300 known burials, the earliest in 1866, the Walhalla cemetery is a testimonial to the hardships of life in the Walhalla Goldfields, a walk around the head stones show a lot of people died quite young and as the records show they died from illnesses now treated by vaccination such as Whooping cough and Diphtheria as well as mining related problems like silicosis.
The Walhalla Cemetery is the last resting place for a lot of the real. Gippsland pioneers and the rumour is that quite a few of these pioneers were buried vertically in the Walhalla Cemetery. The Walhalla cemetery is one place you have look around if you are in Walhalla

Walhalla's oldest stone building
This is Walhalla's oldest remaining stone building.
This 1867 miners stone cottage is located on the Right Hand Branch of Stringers Creek on the left at the turning circle,Turn at Star Hotel and go past Winsor house to the end of the road.
NOTE : this house is on private property so respect the owners rights and privacy
bush land. There is also a camping groundat Bruntons Bridge on the Walhalla side of the river. The 30 minute drive to Bruntons Bridge is a must and can be done in a regular car in dry weather but be warned it can be rough so take care.
Horseshoe Bend Tunnel
The name depends on who is talking about the tunnel. Located between the Walhalla Goldfields Railway station and the Coopers Creek. Easiest access is from the Coopers Creek road, where there are signs. The tunnel entry is the easiest walk, 1km back along the old railway track then turn at the sign marking the steep climb down to the tunnel entry. The tunnel exit is a steep climb down to the river and believe me its a long hill on the way out. The exit of the Horseshoe Bend tunnel is in a very beautiful area and well worth a look despite the steepnessof the track in and
out. The Horseshoe Bend Tunnel was made to divert a section of the Thomson River through Stockriders Spur in 1911 so the river bed that ran around Stockriders Spur (approx1km) could be reached to access the alluvial gold in the now dry river bed. The horseshoe tunnel is said to be Australia's longest gold diversion tunnel. In recent months there has been debate over whether or not the Horseshoe tunnel will be blocked off to allow the river to flow in the original river bed for environmental and tourism reasons.

Bruntons Bridge
Bruntons Bridge is located about 10 km south-east of Walhalla.
Bruntons Bridge is the historic remains of an old train bridge located seemingly in the middle of nowhere but was actually on the main route from Walhalla to Cowarr for coaches as well as the train line. There is not much left of the original Bruntons Bridge settlement accept for Bruntons Bridge itself and a few old chimneys in the area. You can walk across the bridge on the pedestrian walkway and see the magnificent view down the Thomson River and surrounding
Winden's house remains
Documented as the home of Chas. Winden. Stockbroker
The remains of the Winden's house is located on the Maiden Town Track above the Walhalla Township. The best way to get there is from the Bruntons Bridge road, turn onto Maiden Town Track, Winden's house remains are 2.8km on the left not long after the few houses up there and at the crest of a hill. Be careful not to miss the track in as there are no signs but you can see the stone work from the road and the track in is usually well worn

Coopers Creek
Located about 10km south of Walhalla, Coopers Creek is another of Gippsland's gold rush towns from the past.
Coopers Creek came to being when a gold prospector by the name of Donald MacLeod, while prospecting for gold found a vein of good quality copper at the junction of the Thomson River and Coopers Creek in 1864. Over the years coopers creek didn't produce much gold but did produce copper, platinum silver, palladium and lime, which was transported to Sale, Port Albert and Melbourne for sale. These days at Coopers Creek the
Copper Mine Hotel has been rebuilt and is now open for business and the Coopers creek area is popular with campers and 4 wheel drivers.
Black Diamond Township site and Black Diamond gold mine
The Black Diamond township site is located on the Mormontown Track, high on the hill above the Walhalla camping ground. Black Diamond was one of the satellite towns to spring up around the Walhalla township in the gold rush in the 1860's and as all the others did, it vanished when the gold ran out and all that remains today is a small clearing. There is not a lot to see these days but a small clearing and a few hard to find gold mines and mine shafts The Black Diamond area is not a good place to go wandering round in the dark either as the area is
dotted with deep mine shafts that seem to go down forever into the ground. Some of the other small settlements around Walhalla were Happy Go Lucky, Mormontown, Maiden Town, Homedale and West Walhalla

Poverty Point Old steel bridge
The Poverty Point old steel tramway bridge is located on the Thomson River about 4km up stream from the Walhalla Goldfields Railway Thomson River station. Built in 1900 for the Long tunnel Mining Company the Poverty Point bridge was used to transport firewood to Walhalla, which was burnt in the boilers used in the Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine to drive the steam powered mining equipment used in the Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine. Today the Poverty
Point Bridge remains as reminder of the huge effort put into the area to develop the Walhalla area in the gold rush. The Poverty Point Bridge can only be accessed on foot these days with the best access being from the Walhalla Goldfields Railway car park at the Thomson River station. Follow the "Old steel bridge" signs from the back end of the car park to the walking track that starts on the hairpin bend in the road about 100 metres from the car park, which is marked with an "Old steel bridge" sign. The walking track to the Poverty Point bridge follows the Thomson River with views over the river, on the way there you will pass through patches of tree ferns up to about 10 metres tall as well as a couple of water falls and plenty of bird life. When You have finished at the Poverty Point bridge cross the bridge and return along the other side of the Thomson River where the track winds along the hillside way above the river with excellent views back to the Thomson River bridge via Maiden town Track. Allow around 2.5 hours for the round trip or you could even have a picnic lunch at the bridge. The approximate distance for the round trip walk to the Poverty Point old steel bridge is 9km, but is reasonably level walking for the area it is located in.
.Old gold mines and mining machinery of the Walhalla area

This section covers some of the hidden mines around the Walhalla township as well as the old gold mining equipment and machinery around the Walhalla township


Weeping Rock
Weeping Rock is on of the little known secret spots of the Walhalla area.
Weeping Rock is a near vertical rock face nearly 7 metres in height and around 8 metres wide, which is located in the steep gully behind the Happy Creek Station of the Walhalla Goldfields Railway. In wet weather the run off from the gully flows over Weeping rock giving it a weeping appearance. Weeping Rock is reached from the Bruntons Bridge road by following the
Sargent's Firewood Tramway #12. On the way you pass a couple of old Gold mines, the first of the 2 is right at the beginning of the track and the second mine named Little Joe is about 100 metres on and is partially blocked off. Also on this track there are a couple of old house sites with some chimney remains.

Other small places in the walhalla area
 
Thomson River marble quarry
  


Webmasters message to visitors
I'm in the process of photographing a lot of the old machinery and mines in the Walhalla area
If you would like to be personally notified of updates to this website send me your details and I'll let you know when and what in this section and also if any other gold mining additions are made to this website as well as my main site Gippsland in Picture are put online.
Also any gold mine and machinery locations are appreciated
Please click here to contact me


Website design and photography by David Charleston




Important site information
Although this website contains pictures taken inside old gold mines, the webmaster DOES NOT recommend the entry of these mines as by entering old gold mines you are risking serious injury or even death from falling rock or mine collapse. If you choose to enter old mines you do so at your own risk