Our Land Rover Specialists weigh in on the best 4×4 trips in Australia!
With the COVID-19 lock-downs easing across Australia, now is the best time to book your next 4×4 trip. Our Land Rover specialists team have done their research and have the most epic Land Rover adventures sorted for you!
Over the coming weeks we are going to focus on our favorite trips in each state.
VICTORIA: Lerderderg State Forest
About an hour from Melbourne this is a truly epic park. Its range is 201km2 and consists of iron-barks, gum-trees, the Lerderderg rive and gorge – this is a haven for four-wheel drivers, rock climbers, campers and bush walkers. Most of the four wheel drive roads are in the northern section of the park. We were also stoked that the park is dog friendly – meaning the whole family can get in on this adventure.
The parks tracks make for great off roading – steep, muddy when wet, with plenty of water crossings – and you can use them to link the park’s major roads and scenic highlights; O’Briens Road offers some brilliant views of the gorge itself. For this adventure, we’d recommend accessing the park via its southern entry point of Lerderderg Gorge Road, not far out of Bacchus Marsh. This also means you can stop for lunch/morning tea at Mackenzies Flat Picnic Area, which has excellent facilities (toilets, picnic tables and electric barbecues). The picnic area is next to the Lerderderg River, so bring your swimmers for a dip in warmer weather. Be warned, however, this location is (understandably) hugely popular with day-visitors and can get crowded.
A night at Amblers Crossing is our tip, followed by a leisurely morning exploring this area before jumping in the rig and turning northwest toward the park boundary near the town of Blackwood (making sure you stop at Shaws Lake for another dip) and back to the bitumen. Alternatively, you could head east and wind in and out of the state park and Wombat State Forest, before finishing off your visit by tackling the steep, rutted Ratcliffe Track (check conditions first – don’t attempt this track after heavy rain) and then rejoining the bitumen at Bacchus Marsh-Gisborne Road.
It may be small, but Lerderderg State Park promises a couple of days of big fun.
