Steiglitz is the most Southerly of Victoria's West Central goldfields.
Closer to Geelong than Ballarat, it sits on the southernmost exposure of the Ordovician slates that host the rich Golden Triangle gold deposits.
To the West these slates are covered by recent volcanic lavas, to the South by more recent Otway sandstone deposits and to the East are faulted downward and covered by the Port Philip sunkland deposits.
It was a very productive field hosting many alluvial and reef workings. At its peak it boasted a population of 12,000 but now only a few of the old buildings remain.
Regrettably for modern prospectors almost all of the goldfield area is designated as National or Historic Park, and no prospecting is allowed except for a small section of creek for recreational panning.
Nevertheless, Gina and I decided to do a walk around the area hoping to get a sense of the topography of this little known goldfield so close to our home in Geelong.
We started out from the old Steiglitz courthouse, one of the few remaining buildings, and chose to walk the Deadman's Track listed as 4.3 Km and medium grade. The first Km seemed reasonable largely downhill and along the level of Sutherland Creek but then as the creek entered a gorge we had to climb the first of many narrow rocky and steep ridge ascents and descents. Wondering whether we should turn back, we decided to continue on until the halfway mark and there the decision would be made for us.
We had no idea of how many side gully descents and ascents lay ahead until we finally began to hear the sound of vehicles on the ridge ahead. and after negotiating the final long ascent we reached the top of the ridge and the main Steiglitz road. We were dismayed to find that the 4.3 Km quoted for the Deadmans walk was not the round trip to the Courthouse car park and we still had over two Km to walk back along the Steiglitz Rd. Fortunately it was all along the main road and better downhill all the way.
Closer to Geelong than Ballarat, it sits on the southernmost exposure of the Ordovician slates that host the rich Golden Triangle gold deposits.
To the West these slates are covered by recent volcanic lavas, to the South by more recent Otway sandstone deposits and to the East are faulted downward and covered by the Port Philip sunkland deposits.
It was a very productive field hosting many alluvial and reef workings. At its peak it boasted a population of 12,000 but now only a few of the old buildings remain.
Regrettably for modern prospectors almost all of the goldfield area is designated as National or Historic Park, and no prospecting is allowed except for a small section of creek for recreational panning.
Nevertheless, Gina and I decided to do a walk around the area hoping to get a sense of the topography of this little known goldfield so close to our home in Geelong.
We started out from the old Steiglitz courthouse, one of the few remaining buildings, and chose to walk the Deadman's Track listed as 4.3 Km and medium grade. The first Km seemed reasonable largely downhill and along the level of Sutherland Creek but then as the creek entered a gorge we had to climb the first of many narrow rocky and steep ridge ascents and descents. Wondering whether we should turn back, we decided to continue on until the halfway mark and there the decision would be made for us.
We had no idea of how many side gully descents and ascents lay ahead until we finally began to hear the sound of vehicles on the ridge ahead. and after negotiating the final long ascent we reached the top of the ridge and the main Steiglitz road. We were dismayed to find that the 4.3 Km quoted for the Deadmans walk was not the round trip to the Courthouse car park and we still had over two Km to walk back along the Steiglitz Rd. Fortunately it was all along the main road and better downhill all the way.
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