Gorge River Walk and Camping- Great Otway National Park

This walk is one of my favourites. The flora is lush tree-fern rainforest, and is more typical of NZ bush than Australian (I’m a kiwi). The rivers are beautiful, fun, and the waterfall is one of the most popular waterfalls to view in the Otways.

The plan is to drive up on Saturday morning, do the day walk, then camp overnight in one of the free campsites in Lorne. On Sunday we can make our way back to Melbourne at our own pace. This trip is perfect for first time campers and walkers, however the walk does include multiple river crossings and rock hopping/ scrambling so some confidence and balance on your feet and a an understanding that your feet will get wet is required.

The walk starts in Lorne, heading up the Erskine River. This is mostly on track, but has multiple river crossings (you can hop across the rocks if you have the skills or take the safer option and walk in the river with me). We then reach the 30 meter high Erskine Falls. The waterfall can be reached by car, so will likely have crowds of tourists hanging around, but the rest of the walk we will have to ourselves. After the falls, we will walk up, over, and down into a second river (Cora Lynn). This river is amazing, with high walls either side of fern and moss, it is more like canyoning than a bushwalk. Some sections of this river are very slippery, and due to the high canyon walls on either side there will be parts where the only option will be to walk in/ on top of the river. Last time I was there, there was a lot of debris so it was possible to hop along without getting your feet wet, but I wouldn’t count on it. Once we exit the Cora Lynn river, it is a short walk along the road to our campsite. The whole walk will take about 5 hours, so some stamina and general fitness is required.

At camp, we can all cook dinner together or separately (we can decide this at the trip meeting). You can hire all the gear you need for camping (tents, sleeping bags, mats), so you will just need to bring your personal clothing, day pack, lunch, snacks, breakfast ect (a full list of what to bring will be provided after the trip meeting).

On Sunday we can start heading back to Melbourne. We will be able to stop along on the way to have brunch/ lunch at one of the seaside townships, and if the weather is stunning we can also have a swim at the beach. We should arrive back to Melbourne in the early afternoon on Sunday.

If you have a car, you are particularly welcome to join.