Great Ocean Road Tourist Information
Great Ocean Road Tourist Information
the Otways
Mighty trees hundreds of years old, cascading waterfalls, huge tree ferns and a forest floor teeming with life are part of the Otway Ranges National Park experience. The Great Ocean Road takes you through the 12,750 hectare park as it leaves the coast from Marengo. Raised boardwalks at Maits Rest allow you to walk into the forest of giant myrtle beech trees.
Cape Otway is a 13 km trip off the main road where you can inspect the 1848 lighthouse that towers above the rugged headland. The views are spectacular. Nearby Blanket Bay, the pristine Aire River, Johanna Beach and Moonlight Head are also well worth exploring. At Melba Gully State Park, boardwalks take you on a 35-minute journey through lush fern gullies topped with a dense treed canopy. Here you'll see a giant 300-year-old tree that has a 27-metre circumference.
The park is only 1.5km from Lavers Hill, the highest point on the Great Ocean Road. Further inland you can visit Beech Forest, steeped in the timber industry history of the Otways, and Forrest, where you can enjoy a picnic or barbecue at the picturesque West Barwon Reservoir.
