The Ultimate Grampians National Park Adventure From Melbourne

Are you wanting to spend time in the Grampians National Park? Are you limited on time, and cannot take a whole week on your Australia travel? Do you have no vehicle access, but you are spending time in Melbourne? Well, a day tour with Hike and Seek, could be the perfect option for you. I tried this day tour and personally loved the company! (If you are interested check out my post on other day trips from this company to Phillip Island and the Great Ocean Road). This post will share with you, what a day tour with Hike and Seek looks like going through the Grampians National Park, waterfalls in the Grampians and walks in the Grampians.

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This post is all about the ultimate Grampians National Park adventure from Melbourne.

[Related post: The best Phillip Island Tour Including The Penguin Parade]

General Information on the Grampians National Park:

The Grampians is a National Park in Victoria, Australia. The Indigenous name for the local area that the Grampians is located is Gariwerd. Within the Grampians National Park, there are many aboriginal rock art paintings and the most in the state of Victoria.

The National Park is home to high peaks, an abundance of wildlife and wildflowers (especially in the spring – (August and October) as well as numerous activities for people who love spending time in the outdoors. There are so many hiking tracks and trials; a hiker and nature lover could spend a long time in the Grampians! There is even a world class 13 day/ 12 night Grampian Peaks Trail that covers 160km. Click on this link for more information about this amazing hike!

The Start of the tour:

The tour started at 7:20am where I met our tour leader for the day, Talaska,  and the rest of the group outside Hamer Hall in Melbourne. There were only 7 of us and we were from a variety of different countries which made the day more interesting as we could share different travel stories and cultures. After some quick introductions, some coffee and a delicious protein ball,  we jumped in the van heading for the Grampians National Park. The Grampians are a fair distance away from Melbourne (around 289km) so the drive took around 3 hours. We stopped halfway at a little town called Beaufort where we bought something for lunch at a bakery.

Here is the actual tour – check it out:

Hiking to the Pinnacle in the Grampians National Park:

When we finally arrived in the Grampians National Park, we parked at the Wonderland car park and went for a walk up to the Pinnacle lookout. The track winded up through beautiful rock formations with many photo opportunities on the way. I loved this hike! Even though it was short in distance, the incline made it a little more challenging. (It is a grade 3, 4km hike).  However, the views were amazing, not only from the top, but for the entire walk. In fact, I think this has been one of my favourite hikes in Australia so far.

Here is the view from the top of the Pinnacle:

[Related Topic: Great Ocean Road]

Waterfalls in the Grampians:

Broken Falls:

After the hike, we took a short drive to MacKenzie Falls, one of the top waterfalls in the Grampians. Here we sat and had lunch before starting our short walk down to see the waterfalls. We first stopped at a smaller waterfall called Broken Falls. Broken Falls is only around 500 metres from the MacKenzie Waterfall car park.

MacKenzie Falls:

We then continued down the track to the impressive MacKenzie waterfall. After having some time to take photos and just relax by the waterfalls, it was then possible to walk along the river and dip our toes in which was very refreshing.

MacKenzie River Walk:

There is a MacKenzie river walk that is around 7km and follows the river down. The walk to MacKenzie waterfall itself is very short, however, going back up, you will need to climb the 260 steep steps back to the carpark.

Boroka Lookout:

After the walk, we jumped back in the van and took a short drive to the Boroka lookout which had spectacular views of the area. The Boroka lookout is located 15km from Halls Gap. You could see Halls Gap and the east of the Grampians National Park from the top of here. Stunning on a clear day!

If you had a little bit more time and enjoy hiking, it is also possible to walk from Halls Gap up to the Boroka Lookout. It is a longer walk of 12km, steep and strenuous. However, it would offer amazing views whilst hiking up the side of Mt Difficult Range. For more information about this walk, click on this link to view it in Alltrails.

The Brambuk Cultural Centre:

After visiting the Boroka Lookout, it was time to try and spot emus and Eastern Grey kangaroos before we headed back to Melbourne. We stopped at Brambuk Cultural Centre and walked out to the boomerang throwing area. On the path, we came across a small family of Eastern Grey Kangaroos and in the boomerang throwing area there were 9 emus! I was so excited to see so many at once. In the past, I had only ever seen 1 or 2 at a time.

Talaska told us that if you lie on your back and pedal as if you were riding a bike, the emus would come closer. Most of us didn’t believe her, thinking it was something tour leaders/ Australians tell tourists in order to get a laugh out of our expense (just like the drop bears!). However, IT ACTUALLY WORKS. One of the guys in the group dropped to the floor and lo and behold, the emus started walking towards us. Talaska admitted that she had never seen anyone actually do it, but that her boss had told her this. But it seems that it isn’t BS and that it actually works!

When we returned to the van, we started our 3 hour drive back to Melbourne. It had been such an amazing day which has made me want to explore and hike more through the Grampians National Park in the future! Hike and Seek were amazing again, Talaska had so many interesting stories, and went above and beyond to make sure we all had a wonderful experience. (see my other blog posts on other trips I have done with them). I highly recommend the Grampians National Park as well as Hike and Seek if you are short for time. Both will not disappoint you!

Happy travels in the Grampians National Park,

Love,

Here is a link to the actual tour:

This post was all about the ultimate Grampians National Park adventure from Melbourne.