Victoria’s wilderness beckons. Dust off your hiking boots and hit the open road. Forget the pre-planned tours and crowded beaches. This adventure is all about untamed majesty. Victoria boasts some of the tallest trees in the southern hemisphere, and we’re on a quest to find them. Imagine towering giants reaching for the sky, their branches forming a cathedral of nature.
Of the tallest trees in Victoria (that are known), all of them are Eucalyptus regnans, which is commonly known as Mountain Ash. The Mountain Ash is native to Victoria and Tasmania, and a specimen of Eucalyptus regnans is currently the third tallest tree standing in the world. Centurion is a 100.5-metre tall tree that stands in Tasmania. It was damaged in the 2019 bushfires and was thought to be lost, but thankfully Centurion lives on. Eucalyptus regnans can be found in the Otways, Dandenong and Yarra Ranges, as well as the Strzelecki Ranges in Gippsland.
Eucalyptus nitens is another species of gum tree that can grow extremely tall and can be found near the Great Dividing Range. It’s worth noting that a large amount of Victoria’s tallest trees were destroyed during the Black Saturday bushfires that tore through the forests near Kinglake. Read about the impact on The Planthunter.
Finding Victoria’s tallest tree is a bit tough, there has been a great study by Brett Mifsud in 2002 which you can read here. In it, many of the tallest trees identified would have been destroyed during the Black Saturday bushfires. Other trees are not accessible to the public, including those nearby the O’Shannasy Reservoir.
Probably Victoria’s best known tall tree is the Ada Tree, which can be found near Powelltown in the Yarra Ranges. The Ada Tree—which is protected by National Trust—is estimated to be at least 300 years old, and stands at 76 metres tall with a girth of 15 metres.
The walk to see the Ada Tree is about a 1.5-hour return journey.