Loddon Valley's Natural Wonders
The Loddon Valley is known as Victoria’s backyard for good reason; it promises unstructured adventure and unpretentious exploration in the great outdoors under a wide and generous sky. The valley is ...
Read MoreGet to know the landscape, produce, creativity and characters of the Loddon Valley via a self-drive tour to some of the region’s highlights. Drop your boat into the Loddon River or throw a line from the bank, watersports are a favourite pastime throughout the region, including at the spectacular Boort lakes.
Visit a two-acre open-air gallery sent within an oasis of ornamental trees and exotic birds, just a short drive from the Boort township at the Piccoli’s Spanner Sculpture Gardens. The head just down the road to discover where Marilyn Lanyon’s family have farmed tomatoes in Boort since the late 1970s at Simply Tomatoes.
In Wedderburn the Hard Hill Tourist Reserve features a working eucalyptus oil stew pot. Volunteers fire it up for visitors four days a week, from Monday to Thursday, and at other times by appointment, keeping this local tradition from becoming a lost trade. Book ahead for this and other tours to get the most of your visit. Explore original relics from the gold rush, including a gold puddler and stamper battery. Walk to the top of Hard Hill and see the old gold mine from the diggings days. Meanwhile the gold rush era history is on show at the Coach House Gallery and Museum in the main street of Wedderburn.
Go gold prospecting
What to strike it rich? Prospecting is permitted in Regional Parks, State Forests and other reserves throughout the Loddon Valley, which means there are thousands of hectares of public land to fossick for gold. Walk in the footsteps of the early diggers from the 19th century and you may just strike it lucky. Pick a spot of scenic forest and simply start fossicking. You might not be rich by the end of the day but you will get plenty of fresh air.
Gold Detecting & Prospecting
Gold Detecting & Prospecting Central Victoria is best known as the land of the Welcome Stranger, but there are plenty more gold nuggets where that 78-kilogram beauty came from. Finding gold is st...
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Camping and RV Friendly
The Loddon Valley is a camper’s paradise. Park your van or pitch your tent at a host of friendly caravan parks; most of the townships boast one. Or go off-grid at one of the valley’s many RV-friendly ...
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Cycling & Walking
Ever heard of the Pon Pon Swamp? Probably not, and that’s because it’s a hidden gem lying just beyond the thin strip of houses lining the Loddon Valley Highway at Serpentine. The Pon Pon harbours a ri...
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Gold-era history
It’s widely known the world’s biggest gold nugget, the Welcome Stranger, was found near the Loddon Valley. But just as impressive is tiny Tarnagulla, a town of contradictions sandwiched between Bendig...
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Aboriginal Culture
The beautiful Boort lakes and wetland are home to a rich and unique ecosystem. They also boast the world’s largest collection of scar trees, a tangible link to thousands of years of Indigenous culture...
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State & National Parks
The natural environment of the Loddon Valley is perhaps the region’s biggest drawcard. Get back to nature and immerse yourself in unique forests, wetlands, waterways, granite outcrops and rare grassla...
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Loddon Valley’s Historic Buildings
Talk about a slice of history. There’s a cake in Wedderburn’s General Store Museum carbon dated 1890. The original general store provided locals with all and sundry until 1969. Fortunately, the last o...
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Bakeries
The Loddon Valley’s bakeries are well worth travelling for. In fact you’d be hard-pressed to find better. Traditionally a bakery is the heart beat of a country town and that’s certainly the case here,...
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COVID-19 UPDATE: Regional Victoria including the Loddon Valley is currently in the Third Step of the COVID-19 Roadmap. For the updated restriction levels in Victoria please visit the DHHS website.