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About Melbourne Bushwalkers

Melbourne Bushwalkers Inc. (est. 1941) is one of Australia's largest and longest established bushwalking and hiking clubs, with around 425 members and over 71 years of walking history. For those with a keen interest in history, the first fifty years of the club have been documented in an excellent book which has been reproduced on this site. (See: The Melbourne Bushies - Fifty years along the track)

The club offers a full programme of activities throughout the year ranging from our regular easy-graded Sunday Walks with bus transport throughout Victoria, a diverse mid-week program, to week long pack-carry trips. Our activities programme is not limited to walking and includes base camps, canoeing and cycling, with social events all year round.

During 2011 a total of 156 trips were held with 2065 "member participants" along with 384 "visitor participants". One-day walks continue to be the most popular, including the Sunday Walks, held every Sunday. Around 80 different club members contributed their time, effort and expertise every year to leading the trips, for which the club is very appreciative.

The club holds regular First Aid and navigation training sessions for leaders and members to help build their bushwalking skills and safety in the bush.

The club is actively engaged in relevant conservation activities throughout Victoria. Significant highlights and achievements have included: submission to the Alpine Cattle Grazing Taskforce asking for the cattle licences to be stopped, submission to the Shire of Yarra Ranges Forests Policy, submission to VEAC for a greater Otways National Park and Trans-Otway long distance walking track, and a submission to the Grampians Walking Tracks Strategy.

The club supports worthy conservation activities, such as the Victorian National Parks Association, The Wilderness Society and tree planting and nest box monitoring as part of the Regent Honeyeater Project near Benalla.

Melbourne Bushwalkers Inc. is an affiliate member of Bushwalking Victoria and actively engages in track clearing and maintenance activities coordinated by this group.

The club has a small but interesting selection of books available for use by members in the club room or for loan. These fall into the broad categories: