When I purchased my first off-roader, a old blue 1984 Hilux plans were immediately made to head bush and test her out in some muddy stuff.

I headed straight to Dads office to raid all his maps and find something close. Along came Toolangi State Forest. The next weekend we packed the swags and within seconds of locking in the hubs for the first time, the off-roading bug had hit.

It’s not hard for me to say, I have a bit of a emotional attachment to Toolangi.

It didn’t stop there, here’s my second off roader a chev powered 60 series being put through it’s paces in Toolangi.

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Fast forward more years than I’d like to admit, sitting on the couch and a text came through on my phone…

“Hey it’s Dave, we’re thinking about heaing out on a day trip where do you recommend we go.”

My responce

“Toolangi and if you’re bringing the 200 I’m coming”

We’ll talk about the 200 series a little later, but once I’d replied, I realised just how long it had been since I hit the dirt on what I think is one the best off-road destinations in Australia. Made worse by the fact it’s pretty much in my backyard. Kinda crazy right?

So to make sure you don’t miss this magic spot on your own travels, or to prompt you to head back there if it’s been a while, he’s my story of a day in Toolangi with some good mates and all 4 wheels turning.

Toolangi, truely remarkable for an off-roader

One of the amazing things about Toolangi is that whilst it’s not the biggest forest you’ll come across it has something to offer every off-roader and rig at any level.

There’s rivers to cross, rocks and ruts to navigate, hills to climb and muddy, slippery clay to test your traction.

At an beginner level and a ‘OMG are you serious’ level.

Our trip featured three rigs. A almost new 200 series sahara owned by a good mate Dave.

toolangi200series

A new triton ute owned by Scotty that I’ve hit Toolangi with a while ago. (both on new all-terrains).

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Along with these two was a kitted out 79 series that’s part of the 4×4 Fever family.

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The idea was to give the 200 series and Triton a good test, so having the 79 series ready to recover we were going to be able to put them through their paces.

There had also been a little rain around that week, which always makes things interesting.

We all met at my place, and then headed up through Healesville and ht the first Toolangi track a few kms north,

There wasn’t much of a plan, we just wanted to have a fun day out so I plotted a bit of a rough route and kept an eye out for anything that looked interesting. We headed north west towards Marginal Rd the old entry point for many a weekend of fun.

We continuted north then turned east. There were a few interesting climbs but had expected a little more moisture around. Further east we stopped for a bite to eat at the top of the Murrindindi waterfall and then continued to explore.

Logging has sadly been a part of Toolangi for a while and we pasted through some recently cleared trees as well as some others that was well through regrowth. Whilst it’s not really a great looks, there’s always a few good tracks to discover around them. But they have gotten better at shutting them down 🙁

ToolangiForestWe hadn’t set seen any good muddy spots but still having fun. It was of course when we’re getting the end off the day as the east side of Toolangi did we find the mud.

And the first recovery was completed

We played in the dirt as long as time would permit, and noted the spot to return there again. Perhaps a little earlier in the day next time.

As we popped out of the forest I started to reflect on the day.

I’d really missed this spot. It’s just in my backyard, and has always been, and always will be lots of fun.

It’s starting to get more and more ‘managed’. In some ways good, in some ways bad. There’s lots of grading that’s going on making a lot of the tracks pretty boring at times compared a 5 or so years ago. But there’s few tracks in Australia that are not in the same situation.

I’ve got to get out more — even on day trips. Sometimes you just need that little push from a mate to get out. I needed that and getting out has done nothing but make we want to get out again.

It’s really weird to not have your own car. On this trip for the first time in a long time I left both my off-roaders in the garage and headed out as a passenger in someone else’s. It was fun, and a great day but in the same breath kinda weird not the have the steering wheel in my hands.
If you’re thinking about hitting toolangi here’s some parting advice.

There’s not much camping in Toolangi itself. There’s one designated camping spot, and you can camp where you want, but this place is full of hills and trees so finding a nice clear spot next to river can take some local wisdom.

The weather can turn mild to wild. The weather and time of year makes it different every time you go. I’ve been on a track in the summer you’d get a forumla 1 car through, and in winter that I’ve struggled with 35’s and lockers. So check out what’s happend the week before you head in weather wise so you know what to expect

Do your research and pick a starting point, but go with the wind. There’s lot of information to gather on tollangi as a destination across forums and youtube, on tracks and other information. But just remeber some if it can be years old and a lot can change. your best bet is to take a local if you can.

… and make sure at the end of the day your Rig looks like this 🙂

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If you’ve headed out to Toolangi be sure to let us know in the comments for others to use.