Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park 4WD tracks, VIC

The Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park is a beautiful part of Victoria. We have been camping and caravanning there for many years. What we have never done before is to follow any of the 4WD tracks which takes you away from the towns and into some of the more remote areas of the National Park. So we packed up our little dome tent and minimal camping supplies and headed along a tour route set out by 4WD Victoria.

First stop was “Brambuk” the National Park and Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Halls Gap where we found the staff very informed and helpful regarding current road conditions as well as having detailed maps of the area and print outs of the latest road closures (quite a few due to all the rain). The Aboriginal Cultural Centre is a fabulous place to spend a few hours to learn about the history of the area.

The roads vary from sand tracks, to wide smooth roads, to steep rocky paths that really tested our 4WD skills.

The campgrounds along these tracks are truely lovely and worth visiting, some are easily accessible by 2WD during dry weather. They have drop toilets, fire places and picnic tables, but there is no drinkable water or showers. You need to bring in your own fire wood and take all your rubbish home. Booking is essential prior to arrival as there is no internet or phone services in most of these places.

The main reason for doing this trip was to test out how we will manage next year when we head west and travel into some of the more remote national parks, leaving the caravan for several days at a time. To decrease the amount of equipment we need to carry in the car we hope to manage with out a source of refrigeration, so we tried various types of pre cooked meals. Some were very nice.

Buandik Campground

Strachan’s Campground

Boreang Campground

Jimmy Creek Campground

There are many walking tracks through out the Grampians (Gariwerd) including to some of the most significant Aboriginal rock art sites in southern Australia (according to ‘Parks Victoria’). We visited Billimina and Manja Rock Art sites, both are quite spectacular and worth the short steep walk.

Billimina Art Site and Buandik Falls