Ada Tree – Powelltown.

Despite the repeated suggestions, there are still lots of large and old mountain ash trees in the State forests of the Central Highlands.

One very popular walk is to the Ada Tree near Powelltown. Its massive trunk is thought to be nearly 400 years old with a diameter over 15m and height of about 76m. It has a broken top and may have once been up to 90m tall, but that’s a complete guess.

The Ada River is believed to be named after Ada Christina Mortimore who lived at nearby McMahons Creek and knew the local Crown Lands surveyor.

It seems the Ada River catchment was home to many large trees. In 1888, during a quest on behalf of the Centennial Exhibition to find Victoria tallest tree, a specimen was identified as the “New Turkey Tree” at 326 feet 1 inch (99.4m).

The Ada Tree, which had survived repeated bushfires and storms, was well known to early timber getters and sawmillers but had been left behind presumably because it was believed to be either too large to fell with hand tools and probably too faulty inside to cut into quality sawn timber.

The Ada Tree was “rediscovered” by forest assessment crews led by Peter Woodgate, and then mapped by Peter Black, after the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfire swept the forests.

Werner Marschalek and Ray Wright, both passionate environmentalists and big tree hunters, are said to have pinpointed the exact location of the Ada Tree on the ground in about 1986.

The pair then scrounged some materials (including metal gangways from the SEC power station at Loyang) as well as some funds. Together with other hardy volunteers, they spent every other weekend over the next five years building a path through the thick scrub to the Ada Tree. At one stage, a group of prisoners from Pentridge also worked on the project.

Importantly, Werner and Ray worked closely with local Forests Commission staff from Powelltown on the project.

The “Ada Tall Trees Reserve” was excised from the surrounding State forest in about 1987 when Joan Kirner was the Minister for Conservation, Forests and Lands (CFL). It was then permanently reserved in 1997 under Section 4(1) of the Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978.

Later in 1993, using federal rainforest conservation funds, the Department upgraded the walking track and built a viewing platform circling the Ada Tree to protect its roots from trampling.

The southern section of the Ada River Road ran very close the creek and constantly collapsed into the wet rainforest causing significant environmental damage. It was decided to close this section of road and terminate it at a new carpark at the entrance to the walking track. The rough New Turkey Spur track was upgraded into a better-quality haulage road around the same time.

The easy 3.2 km loop walking track to the Ada Tree was linked to the popular “Walk Into History” and the old Federal sawmill site which is nearby.

The area has received several upgrades over the decades including toilets and improved car parking.

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