Creswick Regional Park

Centrally located between Ballarat and Daylesford, this park is home to a variety of native wildlife and colourful spring wildflowers.

Explore the ancient hills and discover the relics of the gold mining era on a bushwalk or mountain bike ride - or simply relax and enjoy the peaceful surroundings with a picnic by tranquil St Georges Lake.

Enjoying the Park

Picnics

There are several picnic areas in the park, with wood barbecues provided. Gas barbecues are available at St Georges Lake.

Camping

You can camp for short stays at Slaty Creek. This is suitable for motor homes as well as tents. Campers should bring their own drinking water and firewood. Camping is not permitted at St Georges Lake.

Mountain bike riding

Mountain bikes are a great way to see the park and there are many tracks available. Note that bikes are not permitted on the walking tracks.

Fossicking

The Creswick area was intensively mined during the gold rush of the 1850s. Many methods of mining was used, including surface or alluvial mining by puddling, hydraulic sluicing, shaft and reef mining.

Panning for gold along Slaty Creek is still a popular pastime in the park. All adults must hold a current Miner's Right to engage in fossicking. Remember to fill any holes and leave the area as you found it. Relics must not be disturbed or removed.

Walking

Explore the park by enjoying some suggested easy walks. Step on and off the Goldfields Track which passes through the park as the trail winds through Victoria's goldfields.

Landcare Trail - Time: 30min loop
Enjoy this easy self guided trail and discover ways to address landcare problems while you walk the wetlands, through plantations and grasslands.

La Gerche Forest Walk - Time: 1hr loop
A self guided walk through the nursery plantations surrounding the Creswick Landcare Centre and La Gerches' original plantings. These trees are now over one hundred years old and tower over the landscape. Signs along the way tell La Gerche's story, and explain some of the other natural treasures remaining in the park.

St Georges Lake - Time: 40min loop
The gently undulating track around the shore of St Georges Lake is a great place to watch water birds and maybe even catch a glimpse of the elusive platypus. St Georges Lake is a great place to start if you decide to venture on to one of the longer walks in the park.

Eatons Dam - Time: 1hr 45min return
Walk to the concrete ford on the eastern side of St Georges Lake. Follow the Great Dividing Trail track along the water race and through the gate into Koala Park. Walk through the park and exit on the other side continuing along the water race across Jackass Road to the picnic area at Eatons Dam. A relic from the gold mining era, Eatons Dam is an interesting example of early stone and earth constructions techniques.

Koala Park - Time: 40mins - 1.5hr
Explore the many tracks within Koala Park and make your time here as long or as short as you want. You may even be lucky enough to catch sight of a koala in the canopy of a Manna Gum, the koalas' favourite food source.

Creswick Regional Park Koala Park

Great Dividing Trail
The Great Dividing Trail (GDT) stretches along the Great Dividing Range between Bendigo, Ballarat and Bacchus March allowing walkers to savour central Victoria's combination of gold rush heritage and its natural beauty.

The Dry Diggings and Leanganook sections of the GDT pass through Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park. They offer the opportunity for short and long distance walks running the length of the park from Porcupine Ridge in the south to Specimen Gully in the north. The wallaby track passes through the Creswick Regional Park.

The Great Dividing Trail takes you on an historical journey through Creswick Regional Park to Ballarat along the same paths miners walked a century ago. Follow water races and trails marked by quartz stone, the same quartz stones that the miners used to guide their journeys when travelling at night.

Places of Interest

Koala Park
Koala Park has a network of walking tracks. There's a good chance of spotting a koala here, although you are more likely to see one at Slaty Creek or Eaton's Dam. In 1942, forestry students constructed a netting fence in a section of the forest to be used as a breeding area for koalas. Koalas were released in the enclosure to breed and boost the numbers of the local population. However, they were able to climb the fence and so dispersed into the surrounding forest.

St Georges Lake
Popular St Georges Lake was once a mining dam used to supply water to the Creswick State Battery for crushing quartz. Today it is a great summer base for water activities. Free gas barbecues and toilets are provided in the main picnic area.

Slaty Creek picnic and camping area
Slaty Creek is a great place to enjoy a bush picnic close to the township of Creswick. Pan for gold along the meandering creek, take a stroll beside old water races, or simply sit and watch the bush come alive with many species of birds. There are three camping areas with wood barbecues and tables on the creek flats surrounded by tall Manna Gums. The main area has toilets and is more suitable for larger groups. Slaty Creek is suitable for motor homes as well as tents. Campers should bring their own drinking water and firewood.

Access for Dogs:

Dogs are permitted in the park but must be kept on a leash at all times.

How to get there

Creswick Regional Park is 120kms north-west of Melbourne, half way between Ballarat and Daylesford just off the Midland Highway.