The largest
national park in
Victoria,
Australia, this region is commonly referred to as simply 'The Grampians'. It covers 167,000 hectares of land and consists of picturesque mountain ranges, waterfalls and native forests. The area was explored by
Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1836, and was named after another mountain region in
Scotland with the same name. Over 1000 species of plants can be found in the park, along with
emus,
koalas,
kangaroos, rock-
wallabies and many native birds.
Some of the mountain ranges that lie within the Grampians include the Wonderland range, Serra range and the Victoria range. The highest peak in the area is Mt. William, which reaches 1167m high (this is pretty tall for a mountain in Victoria). Between Mt. William and Mount Difficult Range lies Halls Gap, which is a popular tourist centre for the area.
When visiting the Grampians, you can enjoy your surroundings by hiking, fishing, swimming, canoeing, rockclimbing, picnicking and/or wildlife observation. The scenic views give fantastic photo opportunities, and the area lies just 250km's west of Melbourne.