In the last few years I have walked over 2000 kilometres on some of Australia’s long-distance tracks. These include tracks in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Northern Territory and the ACT. My walking experience in Western Australia is confined to off-track walking in the Kimberley and I have not undertaken a long-distance walk in Tasmania. I have also completed long-distance walks in New Zealand, Italy, Japan and Scotland.

Traversing the Crosscut Saw, Alpine NP along the Australian Alps Walking TrackAll pictures by David Bell

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So I have accumulated a fair bit of experience with long-distance walking and I feel somewhat qualified to offer a few suggestions as to how to make long-distance tracks a better experience for the walker.

Why do I feel that improvements are needed? Well because I have a real sense that the future of some of these long-distance tracks is under threat. This is not from any deliberate intention to close them down or make them unwalkable, but rather just from benign neglect or an unwillingness to commit sufficient resources to properly maintain them. Also, park agencies are often starved of funds with too many competing priorities, sometimes driven by political direction rather than on merits.

Part of the problem is that, in Australia at least, we lack a long-standing culture of independent long-distance walking. It is not something that Australians do and those that do it are regarded as eccentrics or oddballs. Other countries seem to do it better and there is more recognition that long-distance walking is a legitimate and worthy recreational activity to undertake.

But that is just my opinion. Readers are welcome to disagree. So firstly, some definitions.

Long-distance tracks may be defined as anything over 80 kilometres in length, that is, a track that takes at least 3-4 days to complete. These tracks cannot be done in a weekend, at least by those of average fitness. Long-distance tracks include

the very long such as the Heysen Trail (1200 kilometres or so);

long such as the Australian Alps Walking Track (650 kilometres); and

not so long such as the K'gari (Fraser Island) Great Walk (90 kilometres).

My remarks in this article are also primarily directed at what I call the independent, do it yourself walker. Or the “end to ender” or the “through walker”, people who carry their own gear and food and navigate without the assistance of a guide.

I am aware that many long-distance Australian walks permit commercial groups. However, I am not primarily addressing their needs although I do recognise that some of the issues I raise below are also relevant to the commercial sector.

So what follows below are my top eleven topics that track managers or owners should address. In my view they would make the track experience of end to enders, through walkers or independent walkers (whatever you want to call them) more fulfilling, more straightforward, more enjoyable, more viable and, above all, safer.

They are not listed in any priority order. Readers can decide themselves which topics are more important for them. I expect there will be other topics which I have left out here. Let the conversation begin!

1 Understand who are the intended users of the trackIf it is the intention that a track will cater for a variety of walkers then the needs of these walkers need to be understood. A day walker will have different needs to the multi-day or end to ender. One of the chief differences is that day walkers can carry their water in. Longer-distance walkers do not have that luxury. They have to find water along the way, which may be a problem in drier areas.

2 Establishing and maintaining campsitesSome walkers like to camp in the bush with zero or minimal facilities, and good for them. While I like bush camps, many tracks, especially those that carry a fair bit of foot traffic, need formal campsites. In some places these need a water supply such as a tank. Some places may also require a toilet. Circumstances will vary with each track.

Closed campsites are a problem for the long-distance walker

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6 Promotion to increase these economiesIf properly promoted, these tracks could also make a small but important contribution to local economies. People involved in tourism marketing, transport and hospitality should have an awareness of local tracks, who the users of these tracks are and what types of services they are interested in.

One further point is that where a track crosses a main road, then erect a sign to indicate the track crossing. Apart from the safety considerations, it also advertises the track to passing drivers. One of the best examples I’ve seen is where the Great North Walk in NSW crosses the old Pacific Highway at Charlestown. There is a great big sign saying ‘Great North Walk’. Hard to miss.

7 End to end walkers don’t only go in the one directionTrack way marking and information sources should not assume that walkers will only be going in one direction. There is no excuse for having only one marker on a post or gate. Walkers coming the other way will miss it. Similarly, guidebooks should consider walkers going in different directions. The book by Chapman et al on the Australian Alps Walking Track does a good job in presenting information for walkers either heading north or south.

8 Walker safety is importantMy personal gripe is with roads. I never appreciate being forced to walk along a bitumen winding road with a missing or narrow shoulder. In wet or foggy conditions, it can be dangerous. If track planners have no alternative to a road then at the very least, they should install a shoulder to walk along.

9 Someone needs to "own" the trackIt can very frustrating to come across some problem with a track (missing track marker or obstacle such as fallen timber) and then spend a lot of time trying to find out where the problem should be reported. Many tracks cross multiple jurisdictions and, in some cases, they lack an “owner”, someone who can be the first port of call to report a problem. Government departments and agencies can be very difficult to navigate. Reporting a problem would also be made easier if the track web page had an entry point to communicate this information. But many track web pages do not have this facility.

10 Have proper beginnings and endingsStarting and finishing a long-distance walk is a moment to celebrate (or commiserate). There should be a marker where people can assemble and take photos. Track heads should reflect the task completed or the task ahead, irrespective of the direction travelled or to be taken.

Roads like this in the Adelaide Hills with missing or narrow shoulders are dangerous

Road crossing - Great North Walk, NSW

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