Bunyip State Park Southern Circuit Hike (16km)

A broad sweep of forested foothills rises behind Melbourne's south-east in Bunyip State Park, where the country shifts from damp gullies and swamps to ridges clothed in tall eucalypt forest. About 65 kilometres from the city, the park protects a sizeable section of the Great Dividing Range foothills, giving this part of West Gippsland a more rugged and enclosed character than the cleared farmland and townships around its edges.

What stands out here is the mix of vegetation packed into one block of bush. Wet Mountain Ash forest, messmate forest, heathy foothill forest, riparian forest, wet heathland, swamp heathland and pockets of cool temperate rainforest all occur within the park. That variety helps explain why the landscape can feel so changeable from one valley or spur to the next, with fern gullies and creek flats giving way to drier ridges and open heath. The Bunyip River and Black Snake Creek are especially important parts of that pattern, shaping both the scenery and some of the park's wetter habitats.

Bunyip State Park also holds an unusually strong conservation profile for a reserve so close to Melbourne. Parks Victoria identifies it as one of the few places in Victoria where the state floral emblem, Common Heath, the state fauna emblem, Leadbeater's Possum, and the state bird emblem, Helmeted Honeyeater, can all be found. The park's heaths, swamps and forested creeklines also support other uncommon species, which is why much of the appeal of the area lies less in dramatic singular landmarks than in the intactness of the bush itself.

The human history is still present, though often quietly. Mining and prospecting reached the area in the 1850s, followed by farming and then timber cutting from the late 1890s, and remnants of tramways, sawmills and related workings remain scattered through the forest. Those traces sit within a landscape that also contains Aboriginal cultural places, reinforcing that this is not simply a patch of bush on Melbourne's fringe, but a long-used and layered piece of country.