Mount Buffalo

Mount Buffalo National Park protects 31,000 hectares of granite plateau and forested foothills in north-east Victoria, first reserved in 1898 around The Gorge and now one of the state's oldest national parks. Its granite rises in tors, cliffs and slabs to The Horn at 1,723 metres, and the plateau holds three plants found nowhere else — Buffalo sallee, Buffalo sallow wattle and fern-leaf heath myrtle — along with the alpine silver xenica butterfly. The park is the Country of the Taungurung people, its Traditional Owners, who have cared for it across generations and who made summer ascents to gather Bogong moths from the rock crevices.

Most people drive the winding 325 km from Melbourne to Porepunkah and up Mount Buffalo Road to The Gorge, where granite cliffs drop away below the terraces of the 1910 Mount Buffalo Chalet. From there more than 90 kilometres of graded tracks run out to waterfalls, rock galleries, lakeside camping at Lake Catani and lookouts over the Ovens and Buckland valleys, with cross-country skiing and tobogganing at Cresta Valley and Dingo Dell once the snow settles.

What to expect

Reviewed 26 October 2026

You reach the park by one road. Mount Buffalo Road (C535) turns off the Great Alpine Road (B500) at the Porepunkah roundabout and climbs 8 kilometres to the entrance, winding with tight corners that rule out large caravans; from the entry gate it is about 30 minutes' drive to The Gorge. Myrtleford is the last town with fuel, food and gear before the mountain and there is no fuel on the plateau. There is no entry fee, so you stop only where you choose — Eurobin Creek Picnic Area for the falls, The Gap for the first lookouts, or straight up to The Gorge and the Chalet.

You come to The Gorge on the plateau's edge, where granite cliffs drop about 200 metres to the gully below and a chain of lookouts runs along the rim. Start at the Gorge Day Visitor Area opposite the Mount Buffalo Chalet — in winter that car park closes and you park at the Chalet and walk instead — then take the Gorge Heritage Walk, 2.0 kilometres and about 40 minutes return, which interprets the mountain's early tourism through the story of local pioneer guide Alice Manfield. The Chalet dates from 1910, was built by the Victorian Government and is listed in the Victorian Heritage Register; you admire it from outside and walk its terraced European garden, with interior displays viewed through the windows. From here the Underground River Track runs 2.2 kilometres, about 40 minutes one way, past Billson's and Haunted Gorge lookouts to the Underground River, and Parks Victoria is clear that you should not enter the cave without an experienced guide and proper equipment. A hang gliding launch ramp sits past Echo Point Lookout, and the cliffs and tors around The Gorge are a long-standing rock climbing and abseiling area, best done with a licensed operator.

From The Gorge the walking spreads across the plateau's rock country. Chalwell Galleries is a 1.8-kilometre, 40-minute circuit that climbs steeply and narrowly through rock galleries — it suits walkers comfortable with heights and confined spaces, and it is the wrong walk on an icy day. Near Cathedral Saddle, the Old Galleries circuit covers 800 metres in about 30 minutes through walk-through formations, and the Cathedral–Hump Track runs 1 kilometre, about 30 minutes one way, past The Cathedral rock formation to the Hump. The Monolith, roughly 1.8 kilometres and 40 minutes, is a granite outcrop visible from several points in the park, and the Big Walk climbs all the way from the park entrance to The Gorge if you would rather walk up than drive. More than 90 kilometres of tracks are graded 1 to 5 across the park, so carry a map — reception is poor in most areas.

Lake Catani sits at the centre of the plateau's camping country, 28 kilometres from Porepunkah along Mount Buffalo Road and then a gravel access track that 2WDs manage through the open season. The campground has 47 campsites — some suited to small caravans and campervans, others car camping and tents only, plus walk-in sites — with flush toilets, hot showers, dishwashing and laundry sinks in season, a separate area for school and social groups, and several sites with an accessible toilet and hot shower for visitors with limited mobility. A historic stone hut with benches, tables and two shared fireplaces gives you shelter, and the Lakeside Day Visitor Area adds picnic tables, accessible toilets and free gas barbecues by the water. You swim, fish and canoe on the lake and walk the 3.2-kilometre Lakeside circuit in about an hour. Campers must be self-sufficient with drinking water. In winter the road gate closes, the amenities shut, and camping becomes free walk-in or ski-in only, with a pit toilet behind the Stone Hut and a 1-kilometre walk or ski from the gate.

The Horn is the plateau's high point at 1,723 metres, reached by a 500-metre track from the Horn Picnic Area — about 20 minutes one way on Grade 3 ground, with 360-degree views over the plateau and the Alps and the nearest toilets back at Cathedral Saddle. Horn Road is unsealed, dusty and corrugated, closes seasonally and is not suitable for caravans or trailers, and the last 3.2 km to The Horn is gravel. Snow can fall on the plateau in any month; the declared snow season usually runs July to early October, and then you can drive only as far as Cresta Valley and carry chains to fit when signs direct. Cresta Valley and Dingo Dell are where families toboggan and skiers use the marked cross-country trails. Watch for crimson rosellas, gang gang cockatoos and flame robins around the snow gums, and look into the crevices at The Horn, where Bogong moths shelter and birds dart in after them. Parts of the park close from time to time for aerial deer control operations and on Catastrophic Fire Danger Rating days, so check the park's closures page before you set out.