The Fortress

The Fortress is perhaps one of the most spectacular regions of the Grampians in terms of rock formations. There are two ways to get to it, from the east and the west. The western approach is along a track marked on the map as "position doubtful". In other words the track exists, sort of, and goes along here, sort of. The eastern approach is much shorter, with a walking track at the end of a small 4WD track just off the Victoria Range Road. It takes only 20 minutes to reach the base of the Fortress, much to the disgust of the person I met who had spent 3 hours navigating his way up from the west along an overgrown track.

There are cliffs and caves along the walking track around the Fortress and at one point it is possible to follow a small gap in the cliffs up for a view. This is also the first glimpse you get of the Fortress, and from here it doesn't look all that big, there's just no visible way up. Back to the track and north to the steep gully leading down between two large masses of sandstone. The Fortress is popular with rock climbers and there are several tracks leading around the base of the Fortress. It is necessary to navigate using a map to avoid following one of these dead end tracks. Eventually you reach the creek and follow this down to a large overhang/ shallow cave that is obviously used as an unofficial campsite. It's about the only flat, open place around and the dry, sandy floor of the cave means you don't have to set up a tent (although it helps to keep the mosquitoes away).

To the west of the creek, it is possible to walk along the flat, open rock faces up to the top of the next ridge and one of the most impressive views in the Grampians. It's marked on the map but there are no tracks. The easiest way up is to get onto the rock face where you first get to the creek and then head south, zig zagging you way up along the open rock between the trees. From here you can see why it is called the Fortress. Mt Abrupt may have cliffs that are higher than this, but nothing else in the Grampians has the forceful presence of the Fortress. Not only does it tower above you but it appears to lean towards you, threatening to crush you like the march fly you just swatted from your ankle. All around you the bush is punctuated by open rock faces, large columns of sandstone and deep rocky gorges.