The Best National Parks in Victoria to Explore on Your Next Road Trip

From pink lakes and misty rainforests to alpine peaks and wild coastlines, Victoria’s national parks capture the state in all its raw beauty. Each one tells a different story — of ancient landscapes, rare wildlife, and moments that make you pause and breathe. Whether it’s a weekend dash or a road trip across the ranges, these protected places promise pure escapism and a fresh dose of wonder.

Here’s our guide to the best national parks in Victoria — where nature steals the show, every time.

Wilsons Promontory National Park

Known fondly as ‘the Prom’, Wilsons Promontory marks Australia’s southernmost tip — a wild, breathtaking pocket of coast where granite peaks tumble into turquoise bays and native forest spills down to the sea. Its landscapes shift with the light: golden beaches and windswept headlands by day, starlit skies and quiet cabins by night. Swim at Norman Beach, wander the curve of Picnic Bay, or tackle one of the park’s rugged hiking trails. Every season brings its own unique energy to this beloved Victorian escape.

3 hours from Melbourne

Grampians National Park

The Grampians are one of Victoria’s great natural treasures — a landscape where sandstone peaks, wildflower plains and ancient culture intertwine. Home to one of the largest collections of Indigenous rock art in south-eastern Australia, the park offers glimpses of millennia-old paintings hidden in rocky shelters, each telling stories of Country. Across its vast expanse, you’ll find soaring lookouts, cascading waterfalls, and native wildlife from kangaroos and koalas to emus and wedge-tailed eagles.

With 150 kilometres of walking trails and rivers made for kayaking and fishing, the Grampians invite exploration in every sense.

3 hours from Melbourne

Dandenong Ranges National Park

Just an hour from Melbourne, the Dandenong Ranges feel worlds away — a calm, green sanctuary where time slows and the forest takes over. Wander beneath towering mountain ash and through fern-filled gullies, tracing trails that lead to hidden waterfalls and lookouts with sweeping views back to the city skyline. Along the way, you might cross paths with wallabies, echidnas, crimson rosellas or the elusive lyrebird. Pack a picnic, claim a shady nook beneath the trees, and let the stillness of the forest work its magic.

40 minutes from Melbourne

Murray-Sunset National Park

Pack the snacks and download the podcasts — located in the north-west corner of Victoria, Murray-Sunset National Park is well worth the five-hour drive. One of the world’s last untouched semi-arid regions, it’s home to the famous Pink Lakes, named for the rosy hue created by naturally occurring algae in the water. Beyond this photogenic attraction, you can explore relics of the area’s salt-mining history, go bushwalking, boating, and wildlife spotting, and camp beneath star-filled night skies.

Six hours from Melbourne

Mount Buffalo National Park

Mount Buffalo wears two faces, each as captivating as the other. In winter, it transforms into a snow-dusted playground for skiers and tobogganers; come summer, it reveals a wonderland of walking trails, campgrounds and sweeping alpine views. Dubbed an ‘island in the sky’, this ancient granite plateau shelters more than 550 native plant species — many found nowhere else on earth — alongside sheer cliffs, cascading waterfalls and serene mountain lakes.

Take a dip in Lake Catani, chase the sunset from a clifftop lookout, and savour the crisp, pine-scented air of this remarkable alpine escape.

Four hours from Melbourne

Alpine National Park

Alpine National Park — Victoria’s largest and wildest — is a playground for the adventurous. Home to ten of the state’s highest peaks, it unfolds in a tapestry of rugged bushland, sweeping plains, tumbling rivers and alpine meadows. Here, the air feels charged with possibility: mountain bike through high country trails, raft white-water rapids, carve through snow or ride across wildflower fields on horseback. For the brave, the Razorback track to Mount Feathertop offers a heart-thumping ascent rewarded with panoramic views across the Great Dividing Range — the stuff of pure exhilaration.

Four hours from Melbourne

Port Campbell National Park

Home to the legendary Twelve Apostles, Port Campbell National Park is a showstopper along the Great Ocean Road, where nature’s drama unfolds in sandstone and sea spray. Sheer cliffs plunge into turquoise waters, sculpted over millennia into almost otherworldly formations. Stop by the hauntingly beautiful Loch Ard Gorge, the natural arch of London Bridge, and the mesmerising sinkhole of The Grotto before arriving at the Apostles themselves — rising 45 metres above the Southern Ocean in quiet defiance. Stay till dusk for the chance to see fairy penguins scuttle ashore or whales breaching beyond the breakers.

Three hours from Melbourne

Great Otway National Park

A journey along the Great Ocean Road isn’t complete without losing yourself in the wild beauty of Great Otway National Park. Spanning from Torquay to Princetown and reaching inland to Colac, it’s a landscape of dramatic cliffs, cool rainforests, tumbling waterfalls and secluded beaches. Walk beneath ancient tree canopies, follow trails that trace the coastline’s edge, and spot koalas, echidnas, and wallabies along the way. From fishing and horse riding to world-class surf breaks, the Otways invite you to explore at your own rhythm.

Three hours from Melbourne

Tarra-Bulga National Park

Lose yourself in the rainforest splendour of Tarra-Bulga National Park, a sanctuary of towering mountain ash, centuries-old myrtle beech and cascading ferns. The park’s iconic suspension bridge drifts above a sea of green, leading into a landscape humming with birdlife and the murmur of hidden waterfalls. Cool air settles under the canopy, where sunlight filters in ribbons through the leaves. Meander along mossy paths, find a quiet picnic spot, and feel time slow in this serene corner of Gippsland.

Two and a half hours from Melbourne

Croajingolong National Park

Remote, raw and resoundingly beautiful, Croajingolong National Park sits at the edge of the world. Stretching for more than 100 kilometres along Victoria’s far eastern coast, this UNESCO Biosphere Reserve weaves together rainforest, granite headlands, glassy inlets and wild white beaches. Hike the legendary Wilderness Coast Trail, scale Genoa Peak at sunset, uncover Secret Beach, paddle across Wingan Inlet at dawn or climb the Thurra dunes as the ocean thunders below.

With over a thousand native plant species and skies alive with birdlife, Croajingolong is wilderness in its purest, most poetic form.

Six and a quarter hours from Melbourne

Heathcote-Graytown National Park

Heathcote-Graytown National Park is where Victoria’s Goldfields slip quietly into something more elemental. Stretching across box-ironbark forest and rocky ridgelines, it’s a landscape laced with old mine relics, spring wildflowers and far-reaching views from Mount Ida. The real showstopper sits just beyond the treeline — the Pink Cliffs, a surreal sweep of rose-and-ochre earth carved by gold-rush erosion. This contrast — rugged bush, soft blush tones and a deep sense of stillness — makes Heathcote-Graytown feel unlike anywhere else in the state.

An hour and a half from Melbourne

Yarra Ranges National Park

A favourite escape for Melbourne’s weekend wanderers, the Yarra Ranges unfolds in a sweep of mountain magic. Fern-fringed gullies cradle glassy streams that feed the Yarra River, while trails wind through cool-temperate forest alive with birdsong and dappled light. From the Mount Donna Buang lookout, views stretch across the valleys to Port Phillip Bay — a breathtaking reminder of how vast Victoria can feel. Bring a basket, find your patch beneath the towering trees, and let the forest work its quiet spell.

Two and a half hours from Melbourne

Loved our pick of the best national parks in Victoria? We’ve got plenty more ideas for your next road trip – how about a girls’ weekend in the Mornington Peninsula or a romantic escape to Daylesford? If you like to sleep under the stars, you’ve got to try these gorgeous glamping sites that come with all the creature comforts.