This ride starts at the Garden of St Erth (eastern end of blue trail) and uses narrow fire trails (purple line) to access Foster's Lookout before proceeding on to Mc Laughlins Lookout (westernmost end of purple line) and then either returning or completing a circuit by heading over to the Heritage Walk (blue line) for the return leg.

The initial climb to Fosters Lookout is quite steep and can be slippery in places in wet conditions.  An alternative is to veer left on the way up and follow the Easter Monday Track as it's not quite so steep and come back down the Fosters Lookout trail. Or you could do the whole loop in the anticlockwise direction as the climbs are a bit gentler this way.

The following photo gallery has been taken in order from the Garden of St Erth car park heading up to Fosters Lookout and then further on to the Mc Laughlin's Lookout area. From the Mc Laughlin's Lookout area, you can either return to the Garden of St Erth via the same route or head northwards on Otties Track to reach the Lerderderg River Heritage Walk to make a circuit out of it. This latter circuit is the circuit documented below.

A further option is to come back down via the Easter Monday Track which provides a fast run back into the Garden of St Erth area - this is a great trail to come down.

From the Garden of St Erth car park, head west and pick up fire trail or alternatively the single track on the left as you exit the car park. They join up about a kilometre on. The single trail is a bit steep for going up but makeable. Good fun for coming down though - just be aware of the "step" half way down if you're not experienced.

You will come to a three way fork in the left picture. Left is Easter Monday Track (nice gradient), straight ahead is Fosters Lookout track (harder gradient) and the right hand track takes you down to the Heritage Track and Lerderderg Road (nice fun downhill with water bars for a bit of jumps practice. Trail is in good condition after grading in the photo. Most of the time the trail is very loose and rocky.

Ascending Fosters Lookout Track. The track keeps winding up the hillside and is very steep in places - it's a real granny gear job. In places during the wet, you may even have to walk in places where you lose traction due to the steepness but these are usually for only short distances. Right photo is Fosters Lookout - quite overgrown now compared to earlier times.

You can get a good view by picking up the trail off to the left just before you get to New Otties Track.

The Fosters Lookout Trail merges with the Easter Monday Track which in turn meets the New Ottie Track as shown in the photo above.

From the intersection above at New Otties Track, head left along the dirt road for approximately 0.5 km and then turn right. Follow this up to Mc Laughlin's Lookout which is sign posted. This is about a kilometre along the road. Views up here are better than the Fosters Lookout but again the vegetation is starting to block the views compared to some years ago.

You can then return to the Garden of  St Erth via the Fosters Lookout Trail or proceed back via Otties Track which cuts across to the Lerderderg River Heritage Trail. To do this return to the Easter Monday and New Otties Track intersection above. The detour across to the Lerderderg River Heritage Trail is described below and in Keiran Ryan's book. The book has a single lane walking track tip as a good secret trail in the Otties Track Area otherwise the Ottie Track can be followed down as well.

Road to and views from Mc Laughlins Lookout. This is the highest point in the forest so it's all downhill from here.

Return to the intersection where you popped out from Foster Lookout or Easter Monday Track and keep following New Otties Track. There are two Otties Tracks here. The one straight ahead is the 4WD track and the one to the right is a less arduous one. If you're heading downhill, take the former for a very steep and rocky descent into the gorge but only if you're an extremely experienced DH rider with DH bike and gear - the other is more gradual, keep an eye out for the GDT arrow on the left which will allow you to pick up the Heritage Trail.

Follow New Otties Track northwards - the photos here are of the Otties Track with the less steep descent.

Follow the gated track. It proceeds for 1.5 km through undulating terrain until steeply dropping away to the gorge below. Take care if very wet as the clayey surface can get quite slippery to the point where the front wheel is a rudder rather than a wheel! Follow this track down towards the Lerderderg Road.

Pick up the Heritage Track at the track marker on the left. Track is shown here after back burning but is well vegetated now.

Movies only available for Easter Monday Track portion of ride.

And this video from reddahaydn's YouTube channel gives you an idea as to what the 4WD portion of Otties Track (very northern end) is like. Refer to Otties Elevator for details on the lower portion of Otties Track (as opposed to New Otties Track shown above).

	Parking is available at Garden of St Erth at the end of Simmons Reef Road.
	Toilet facilities are available at the Garden of St Erth car park.
	No drinking water is available.
	Cafe facilities are available at the Garden of St Erth.
	No local information facilities are available at the Garden of St Erth.