Creswick Regional Park

If you enjoy outdoor activities, the Creswick Regional Park is the place to visit. The park is 120 kilometres north-west of Melbourne and 18 kilometres north of Ballarat.

 Park features include the Koala Park, St George's Lake, Eatons Dam and the Slaty Creek picnic areas. The park also includes the Creswick Nursery and Landcare Centre and some of the tree growing demonstration sites for the School of Forestry and Land Management.

There was intensive mining throughout the area during the goldrushes of the 1850s and 1860s. This included hydraulic sluicing of gullies, mining by shafts and surface puddling. Mining remains are visible over most of the park and includes extensive water race lines, sluiced gullies, quartz stacks, hut sites, deep Chinese mine shafts (circular) and mining dams such as Eatons Dam.

 During the gold rushes the forest provided timber for local firewood and for use in mineshafts and buildings. Timber production continues to be an important use of the adjoining Creswick State Forest.

Picnics: There are several picnic spots in the park. All have barbecues but we suggest you bring your own firewood.

 Camping: You can camp for short stays at the Slaty Creek Number One picnic area. Toilets and picnic facilities are available.

 Walking: A network of walking tracks link most major features of the park. Try walking around St George's Lake and to Koala Park and Eatons Dam.

 Walking tracks also connect the picnic areas along Slaty Creek. Wheelchair access tracks are available at St George's Lake and the Koala Park. For more experienced walkers, a section of the Great Dividing Trail passes through the park and offers extended overnight walks.

Trees: Eucalypts growing in the park include stringy-barked Messmate, Manna Gum, Scent-bark, Broad-leaved Peppermint and Narrow-leaved Peppermint along the ridges. Candlebarks also grow in the park and are easily recognised by their stark white trunks.

 Wildflowers: Victoria's floral emblem, the Common Heath, is one of the plants frequently found growing under eucalypts. Look for its pink or white bells.

 There are many small plants from the pea family growing including the rich purple flowered "Sarsaparilla" or Hardenbergia.

 Birds: Common birds include Grey Currawongs, Crimson Rosellas, White-throated Tree-creepers, Grey Fantails, thornbills, robins and honeyeaters. Two migratory species found in the gullies are the Rufous Fantail and the Satin Flycatcher.

 Mammals: Koalas and Black Wallabies are common, although they can be difficult to locate. The Koala's main food source is the Manna Gum, a white-trunked tree with hanging ribbons of bark on its trunk; it is common along the damper gullies.

 Despite the name, Koala Park is not necessarily the best part of the Creswick Regional Park to see Koalas. The animals have dispersed since they were first released in 1942.