Is the Ned Kelly Tree at Stringybark Creek real?

The Ned Kelly Tree at Stringybark Creek in Victoria’s Wombat Ranges supposedly contains a bullet from the Kelly Gang’s 1878 shoot out with police. But it is not the original tree.

The Ned Kelly legend is one of Australia’s most enduring stories. The bucket-helmeted bushranger has been mythologised to such an extent that fact and fiction blur. Travel in Victoria’s High Country, and there are several spots where you can attempt to put the story together for yourself. Most notorious is Glenrowan, where Kelly was finally captured by police. More illuminating is Beechworth, where Ned Kelly walking tours are available.

There was, however, an earlier shootout at Stringybark Creek – and this is arguably where Kelly’s fate turned.

The Kelly Gang in the Wombat Ranges

The Kelly Gang gang was hiding out there in the middle of the peaceful Wombat Ranges. In October 1878, the police came to ambush them.

The police were spotted, however, and the ambush ended up happening the other way round. Three policemen were killed, and Ned was outlawed soon afterwards.

The Stringybark Creek campground, 227km north-east of Melbourne, seems quiet at first, as should be expected in the serene middle of nowhere in.

The drive down through the King Valley from Wangaratta is through lazily rural utopia, where cockatoos flit across roads. The views from the lookouts show a clear divide of farms and vineyards giving way to forest.

Getting to Stringybark Creek

The track to Stringybark Creek is all dust and gravel – the sort that leaves a spectacular mess on your back windscreen as you clatter along it. It’s there for the logging trucks that still sustain the timber industry in these parts, although the odd camper wanting to bliss out in the Wombat Ranges makes gleeful use of it too.

But people also come to see the Ned Kelly Tree, which is a big part of the Stringybark Creek shoot-out story.

The Ned Kelly Tree supposedly contains a bullet from the gunfight.

There’s no way of checking if this is true, because the original Ned Kelly Tree was cut down in 1908. A new one was given the title, largely because it looked pretty cool. The names of the three slain policemen were later carved into it, and a plaque representing Kelly’s armour tacked on.

The original Ned Kelly Tree

But even the original Ned Kelly Tree wasn’t in the right place. The shoot out took place just around the corner, in a clearing cut by gold prospectors.

So, should you come to Stringybark Creek, you’ll be served up a whole heap of tosh. But willingness to hoover up such tosh is a big part in how Ned Kelly became a legend. Should you be after authenticity, just enjoy the serenity and keep an eye out for the wombats that live in the numerous burrows. Or visit one of Australia’s top ten historic sites instead.

More things to do in Victoria

Try a husky dog tour at Mount Baw Baw.

Visit Trentham Falls on the Coliban River near Daylesford.

Go walking at Cape Woolamai on Phillip Island.

Choose from a menu of 101 parmas at the Shamrock Hotel in Echuca.

See Loch Ard Gorge near Port Campbell on the Great Ocean Road.