Insta-famous Sugar Pine Walk in the Australian alps will be CUT DOWN due to bushfire damage 

The photogenic Sugar Pine Walk will be cut down after suffering irreparable damage during the devastating bushfire season. 

Instagrammers would flock to take photos with the 75 metre tall sugar pine trees in Bago State Forest near the NSW Snowy Mountains. 

The 500-metre walk resembled a winter wonderland during the colder months when it was covered with snow and a green getaway during the summer. 

But in January, bushfires tore through the forest, leaving behind blackened and burnt timber in its path. The walk is now closed to the public for safety reasons. 

Forestry Corporation, which manages the forest, announced last week that work to remove the 92-year-old Sugar Pine Walk will begin in early June.

A woman poses in the photogenic Sugar Pine Walk before it was ravaged by the Dunns Road bushfire in January. It is is now closed to the public for safety reasons

Blackened trees and burnt stumps in the Sugar Pine Walk in the aftermath of the Dunns Road bushfire. Forestry Corporation, which manages the forest, announced last week that work to remove the 92-year-old Sugar Pine Walk will begin in early June

NSW Snowy Region Manager Dean Anderson said the Forestry Corporation has no other option but to cut down the pine trees.  

‘Pine trees are particularly susceptible to fire and the intensity of the bushfires has destroyed this iconic walk in Bago State Forest,’ Mr Anderson said. 

‘We have no option but to remove the trees — the site is incredibly dangerous due to the burnt standing timber. The site is strictly closed to the public and forest visitors must avoid the area for their own safety.’ 

Once removal work starts in early June, mills and local contractors will be brought in to salvage the bushfire-affected wood. 

Instagrammers are devastated that their beloved photo location will soon be gone and since the walk is closed, they won’t even be able to say goodbye. 

‘Devastating news about the Sugar Pine Walk being taken down. Great memories here,’ one person wrote on Instagram.

A photographer shoots the Sugar Pine Walk during the summer. Instagrammers are devastated that their beloved photo location will soon be gone and since the walk is closed, they won’t even be able to say goodbye

‘I’m so glad we got to visit this magical place before it was sadly destroyed by bushfires earlier this year,’ another person wrote. 

One user said: ‘Such a shame to see the sugar pines burnt to a crisp!’ 

Mr Anderson said the Forestry Corporation ‘shares this loss with the community’.

‘Many of our staff were even married on the site, including the person planning the Sugar Pine Walk timber harvest, and anyone who has visited the site will have appreciated how special it was,’ he said. 

The Forestry Corporation hopes to one day restore the walk to its former glory by collecting seeds and seedlings and replanting them. 

‘Planning is underway for a replacement Sugar Pine Walk, with seed and seedlings in the current site being collected for propagation and replanting for future generations,’ Mr Anderson said. 

A woman throws a snowball at the Sugar Pine Walk during the winter. The Forestry Corporation hopes to one day restore the walk to its former glory by collecting seeds and seedlings and replanting them

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An aerial shot of the Sugar Pine Walk after the bushfires, showing the extent of the damage

But it will take years for the new Sugar Pine Walk to get anywhere near as tall as the original, which was planted in 1928. 

At the time, it was part of a range of different exotic species that were being trialled by the forestry industry. 

Sugar Pine (Pinus lamertina) is native to the west coast of America and is the largest and tallest of all pine species. 

The original was 92 years old when it was ravaged by the Dunns Road bushfire, which burned over 312,000 hectares, in January. 

Although most of the trees are still standing, they are damaged and so unstable they could fall down at any time.   

A woman takes her dog for a walk in the forest during a snowy winter. The Sugar Pine Walk was 92 years old when it was ravaged by the Dunns Road bushfire, which burned over 312,000 hectares, in January