Grampains National Park
The third largest national park in western Victoria, the Grampians offers incredible bushwalking, camping and scenery. Halls Gap is a central tourist destination in this fantastic region, and is a great base for your adventures. If you are travelling from the south, Dunkeld is the ideal entry point and a picturesque place to stay for a while. It is perfect for the driving holiday, with plenty of safe roads and driving routes to take you into the heart of this amazing Victorian paradise. Visit their website here.
It is no surprise that the Grampians region, famous for its mountainous and rugged scenery, also has a number of spectacular scenic lookouts. The landscape of the Grampians, a million years in the making, has formed by wind, water and sun weathering spectacular sandstone ridges and unusual rock formations.
Wildlife in the Grampains
Witness kangaroos, wallabies, emus, echidnas and a myriad of bird species in the Grampians region. The wide range of habitats provides homes for an amazing mix of native animals – over 200 species of birds, 35 mammals, 28 species of reptiles, 11 species of frogs and six kinds of native fish. You can be guaranteed of seeing all sorts of animals at home in their natural environment.
Outdoor Activities in the Grampains
Adventurers have been coming to the Grampians since the mid 19th Century to experience the wilderness. Today’s experiences still relate extensively to the rugged landscapes of the several National Parks and to the extensive network of bush land reserves. Marked bushwalking trails wind across escarpments of the Grampians National Park, offering hundreds of kilometres of interlinked and complementary experiences. Deep, shaded, fern-filled gorges, seasonal streams tumbling off the rock faces, plunge pools below and spectacular peaks in every direction. In other parks and reserves, trails lead to sandstone shelters, ancient, publiclyaccessible rock art sites and remote campsites.
World-class rock climbing is synonymous with Mount Arapiles, near Natimuk, and on some of the rock-faces of the Grampians National Park. More than 2,000 separate climbs are documented in an Arapiles handbook, pitched at either the novice or the experienced climber. There are outdoor adventure companies that can teach you the ropes. Mountain biking is suited to the region’s narrow bush trails. Bring your own bike or hire one locally.
Mountain lakes and rivers also offer adventure of a different kind such as kayaking or canoeing at remote, scenic locations that can be combined with a camping, or maybe a biking adventure. Recent good rains brought life again to the Wimmera River and its tree-lined banks mark its meandering passage across the flat plains. Four wheel drive adventures along the hundreds of kilometres of sandy tracks of the Little Desert National Park are popular with the Springtime wildflowers offering a bonus for the adventurous four wheel drive safaris. Gliding from the Ararat airfield offers a bird’s eye view of the spectacular scenery, while paragliding at Trawalla is also on the adventurer’s menu. A note of caution is to always be well prepared and equipped and know your limitations.
World-class rock climbing is synonymous with Mount Arapiles, near Natimuk, and on some of the rock-faces of the Grampians National Park. More than 2,000 separate climbs are documented in an Arapiles handbook, pitched at either the novice or the experienced climber. There are outdoor adventure companies that can teach you the ropes. Mountain biking is suited to the region’s narrow bush trails. Bring your own bike or hire one locally.
Mountain lakes and rivers also offer adventure of a different kind such as kayaking or canoeing at remote, scenic locations that can be combined with a camping, or maybe a biking adventure. Recent good rains brought life again to the Wimmera River and its tree-lined banks mark its meandering passage across the flat plains. Four wheel drive adventures along the hundreds of kilometres of sandy tracks of the Little Desert National Park are popular with the Springtime wildflowers offering a bonus for the adventurous four wheel drive safaris. Gliding from the Ararat airfield offers a bird’s eye view of the spectacular scenery, while paragliding at Trawalla is also on the adventurer’s menu. A note of caution is to always be well prepared and equipped and know your limitations.
