Overview
The High Country is home to the Victorian Alps, the spectacular alpine section of Australia's iconic Great Dividing Range. Travel through this inspiring region and discover white-capped mountains and snow gum forests, Alpine lakes, rolling green farmlands and wetlands teeming with wildlife.
Nature's blessings
Experience the natural wonder of the Alpine National Park, the largest national park in Victoria and home to 10 of the 11 highest mountains in the state. Explore the pristine wilderness and witness a changing landscape boasting everything from raging rivers and rocky outcrops to ghostly forests and high plains carpeted with wildflowers. Visit the Alpine resorts of Mt Hotham, Falls Creek, Mt Buller and Dinner Plain and experience the wilderness on skis, snowboards, two feet or two wheels, depending on the season.
Adventure seekers gravitate to Mount Buffalo National Park for its sheer cliffs, boulder stacks and plunging waterfalls, while the Upper Murray and Mitta Mitta regions offer abundant opportunities for water sports enthusiasts and fisher folk alike.
Faces in the trees
Hit the tracks and trails of national parks and reserves across the region and see the local wildlife in their natural habitat. During the warmer months, keep a look out for swamp wallabies, wombats, echidnas and endangered mountain pygmy possums, which have been brought back from the verge of extinction thanks to nature reserves created at Hotham and Buller. Visit in winter and you might see a little wombat wandering across the snow in search of grass.
Bird watching opportunities abound too, from the Alpine slopes to the lush valleys. See the turquoise parrot at Chiltern National Park, watch as wedge-tail eagles soar overhead at Mount Buffalo, and be there at sunset as scores of birds descend on the Winton Wetlands or at Candlebark Creek in Lake Eildon National Park.
Make your way to the pine clearings near Mansfield or the banks of Lake Eildon at dusk to see kangaroos, coming out of the forest to graze. And watch the kids' eyes light up on a trip to Mansfield Zoo, regional Victoria's largest zoo.
