Kinglake National Park

Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Australian place The Kinglake National Park is a national park in Central Victoria, Australia. The Template:Convert national park is situated Template:Convert northeast of Melbourne and includes tracks (some with wheelchair access), and camping facilities.<ref name=PV>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>

The national park includes Masons Falls, a picnic area with falls and natural flora. Layered sediment forms the valley, containing fossils from when the area was once covered by the sea. Natural fauna includes wallaby, kangaroo, wombat, possum and echidna. It also includes varieties of birds including cockatoos (sulphur-crested, black and red-headed), king parrots, the rosella and the lyrebird.

Prior to the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, the park was renowned for being home to the tallest tree in Victoria. The specimen of Eucalyptus regnans (mountain ash) stood Template:Convert tall in 2002 and was suspected to have originated after the 1851 Black Thursday bushfires. It was located in the Wallaby Creek closed catchment area in the north-west regions of the park.<ref name="Victoria's Tallest Trees">Template:Cite journal</ref>

History

The area was logged in the early part of the 20th century, and some remnants of logging remain (such as scars on some trees and a sawdust dump).<ref name="Kinglake">Template:Cite web</ref>

In January 2006, parts of the park to the north of the Template:VICcity township were devastated by a bushfire started by lightning during a severe thunderstorm. The blaze threatened to engulf the town, advancing to within a few hundred metres of the northern fringe. The town was saved by further thunderstorms, along with Country Fire Authority volunteers. In 2009 98% of the national park was severely burnt by the devastating Black Saturday bushfires. Much of the town of Kinglake was destroyed and nearly a hundred people died. As of 2010, rehabilitation work is continuing and sections of the park are gradually being reopened.<ref name=PV/>

Books on Kinglake National Park

Stewart, Kath and Hawkins, Deidre Living with Fire: A brief history of fires in the Kinglake Ranges, Kinglake, Vic. Kinglake Historical Society Template:ISBN

See also

• Protected areas of Victoria
• Disappointment Reference Area
• Toorourrong Reservoir
• List of national parks of Australia