Re: 4wd Track from Tom Groggin (NSW) to Omeo (VIC)

[Paluka126 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Paluka126]

Can anyone tell where the track to Omeo begins at Tom Groggin, and directions to Omeo. Is it via the Davies Plain Track?? How long does it take, and is it a worthwhile trip?

[xvprado Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xvprado]

the track starts at dogmans hut on the banks of the Murray river at the corner of tom groggin station, you get there by crossing the Murray (as in get wet wheels ) from the alpine Way a bit south of Geehi
You can get to Omeo a number of ways, either by davies high plain or Mt Pinnibar
davies high plain will take you via native dog and native cat flats (and a fair number of huts and other camping areas) then on to benambra and Omeo, it is a beautiful trip, well worth the drive and doable with a camper trailer in the dry, you can do it in a day if you wanted, but that would be an awful waste, i would suggest a couple of days to explore the area a bit more, it is just 4wd heaven
Alternatively you can head south from jindabyne to Suggan buggan and then onto Native dog etc...this is a boring drive IMHO
Mt Pinnibar has a number of options as well, all leading back toward Omeo or corrryong as an alternative

Enjoy !!!!

[Guest Close Guest]

There are heaps of tracks in that area, ranging from basic to full double diff locker stuff.

A pretty good book as a starting guide is the Boiling Billy - High Country Tracks (or called some thing similar).

The track at Tom Groggin starts at the bottom of the big decent (heading sth on the Alpine Way from Thredbo) once you stop going down hill you leave the alpine way on the sharp right hand turn, go striaght ahead, and you will need to drive around on the tracks in the grassy area to find the one which leads to the murray river crossing. Drive across the river and this is the start of the Main Alpine tracks.

From here you can go via Davis Plains or Mt Pinnabar. Davis Plains is a bit nicer drive. Go to your left once you cross the river then you will go up and up to you get to the hut. There are a couple of little fishing tracks back down to the Murray once you are on the Vistorian side.

Just a Caution - I have seen many people warp their disk brakes after they sit on them all the way down the hill then go straight into the freezing cold rivers. Give them a couple of minutes to cool down first. The Tom Groggin xing is notorious for this. There are a lot of show off wanna be 4wders that cross here and often get stuck. I have recovered quite a few very expensive 4wds over the years from here.

There is some times a deep rut (on the upstream side) when xing at Tom groggin and you may need to do a bit of an arch as you cross. Just check before you go through.

Sorry no playdo pictures yet. This is the Murry River Xing at Tom Groggin. On the right side of the picture you can see the water is a fair bit deeper (i.e. floating car deep)
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The main tracks are pretty easy but if you get heavy rain you may need to sit it out for a couple of hours to get across some of the xings.

There are some great less popular tracks around Dargo, Wonnangatta Valley and the Devils Playground. If you go to dargo have a drink with the locals who are the best at current track conditions and drinking there own home brew. This stuff will put hairs on ya chest and take them off at the same time !

[halojump Member Find all posts View Profile Close halojump]

I don’t suppose you have GPS waypoints\tracks for this area (or point me in the right direction for them).

I am heading down that way in July and would be keen to explore. I was planning on picking up the HEMA map of the area or would you recommend a better one?

[StormyKnight Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close StormyKnight]

Just so you are aware....

Please note that tracks are subject to seasonal winter closures usually between 31st May to 1st December so check with the Omeo Office Parks Victoria. Phone: (03) 5159 1231

I just returned from this area at Easter & noted many of the roads we travelled on going from Omeo thru to Tom Groggin via Davies Plains will be closed during July. The reason being is more than likely they will be under snow at this time & erosion is a major issue when the tracks are wet or snow covered.

It will pay to phone the parks people & get the run down on what will be open & what will not.

Cheers

[StormyKnight Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close StormyKnight]

Also found this map of the area....

http://www.kosciuskohuts.org.au/Maps/KH ... %20new.jpg

Note that I believe that the only crossing at Tom Groggin that is still open is the one between the Tom Groggin camping Site & the 750m contour marking on the map. The more northerly ones require you to travel on private property.

Cheers

[Fungi2003 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fungi2003]

There are heaps of tracks in that area, ranging from basic to full double diff locker stuff.

I did the Mt Pinnibar track from the Murray river via Alpine Way (right turn):

http://www.pradopoint.com/viewtopic.php?t=2919

Its an awesome drive, I wish I had another day to venture a bit more through the Victorian high country. Unfortunately there aren't any action shots on the way up to Mt Pinnibar. I took up Neiool's advice on letting the brakes cool down before venturing back through the Murray as well.

I'm going to do the Davies Plain track soon as the gates re-open after the snow season.

[D4Dazz Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4Dazz]

If you are heading into the VIC High Country the best maps (IMO) are the Rooftop's Adventure maps. They all the camping area's, the tougher sections of track and also have little tid-bits of history.

There are also quite a number of really good book. My fav wood be Ron Moon's 'Bush Tracks of Victoria'

Happy Travels......