sugar pine walk

Sugar Pine Walk - what a place - one of the most fabulously photogenic settings I’ve seen! My first encounter was on Instagram. Some years ago, as I was strolling through my feed, an image that literally took my breath away, stopped me in my tracks. Thinking that I ‘needed’ to experience this majesty for myself, I read the caption and to my surprise, discovered it was in fact in Australia. I could have sworn forests like this only existed in Europe and the most northern parts of North America. I quickly got on the hashtag bandwagon #sugarpinewalk and boy, each post was better than the last! Known as the ‘Pine Cathedral’ and the ‘Fairytale Forest’,  I knew I had to see it for myself. 

Interesting fact -  Sugar Pines are the largest pines on the planet. Native to North America, sugar pines (Pinus lambertiana) remain the tallest of all pine tree species, reaching a height of 60 metres or more. Known as the ‘King of Pines’, this majestic evergreen can survive for up to 500 years. 

Bago State Forest lies at the midway point of Sydney and Melbourne—about a 5 hour drive from either city. Sugar Pine Walk itself is located just north of the town of Laurel Hill (and a 15 minute drive south of the more well-known Batlow). It’s only a small 500m long section of protected forest, planted in 1928. If you’re heading south of Batlow on Batlow Road, you’ll see Kopsens Road on your left. Follow this logging road for about 400 metres and on your right you will see the entrance to the Sugar Pine Walk. Blink and you’ll miss it. Easier still, here’s the link in Google Maps. 

We detoured to Sugar Pine Walk in January 2017, while on a motorbike trip from Sydney through country NSW and on to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road, with our good friends Avi and Alia. It was a trip that was particularly memorable because, unbeknownst to us, Gary had a huge kidney stone attack on the ride from Goulburn to Batlow to Melbourne. He powered through the ride (we didn’t know what it was at that stage) in 38 degree heat and ended up in the Royal Melbourne Hospital. What a man!     

I digress - sorry! 

The best time to get to the pines is early morning or late afternoon, when the light is soft and glowing and the distraction of humans is virtually non-existent (certainly when we were there). With high expectations and a headful of hashtagged curated images, I did not expect to be taken aback with the ineffable beauty of seeing the grandeur of those giant pines with my own eyes. As we walked along the soft carpeted path of fallen pine needles, the golden sunlight glimmered through the fine canopy, flooding the forest floor with a beautiful muted light. The limbless trunks towering above gave the scene an aura of majesty. It was an awe inspiring encounter - one that I want to experience again but next time, in winter. Those Instagram images of snow-dusted pines towering above the snow-covered forest floor have got me hooked to return.