An oasis of wetlands, wildlife and walking trails await.
If you consider yourself an outdoor enthusiast, you’re probably well-versed in Australia’s natural wonders, from national parks and UNESCO sites to deserts, mountains and islands. But there are many picturesque pockets of the country that remain elusive to even the most seasoned explorers – places like Gunbower Forest. Chances are you haven’t heard of it before – but once you have, you’ll be planning a visit, stat.
Where is Gunbower Forest and why should I visit?
Tucked away in rural Victoria, Gunbower Forest sits pretty on the banks of the Murray River – the only place in Australia to make National Geographic’s Best of the World list in 2025. The wetlands cover almost 20,000 hectares of the Murray floodplain, making it Australia’s largest inland island and creating a unique ecosystem that has remained relatively untouched for centuries.
The Murray River made National Geographic’s 2025 Best of the World list.
Flora and fauna
Gunbower Forest is home to an array of native birdlife, including white-bellied sea eagles, spoonbills, kingfishers, herons and sparrows. Rare reptilian species like the endangered carpet python can be spotted, as well as freshwater turtles, frogs, blue-tongue lizards and goannas.
Many mammals live here too, from kangaroos, wombats and swamp wallabies to emus, sugar gliders and pygmy possums. The wetlands also provide a safe environment for native fish to flourish, such as golden perch, Murray River cod and the native Australian catfish. Obviously, it’s paradise for any animal lover.
Keep your eyes peeled for the adorable swamp wallaby. (Image: Getty Images/Bkamprath)
More of a botany buff? Gunbower Forest is a haven of diverse vegetation, from native woodlands full of red gums and river box eucalypts to both sedgelands and rushlands. These two types of wetlands are distinctly different – characterised by the types of plants that grow there – but in certain conditions, they thrive alongside each other.
River box eucalypts are a dominant floodplain tree in the Murray. (Image: Getty Images/John Wallace)
Due to these rare environmental circumstances, Gunbower Forest has been listed as one of just 65 Ramsar sites across Australia . The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, also known as the Ramsar Convention, was signed in Iran back in February 1971.
The treaty aims to protect rare wetlands of significant biological diversity – just like Gunbower Forest. This unique status, as well as its remarkable biosphere of plants and wildlife is exactly why it’s been dubbed the ‘Kakadu of the South’ – and why it’s worth a visit.
How to spend your time at Gunbower Forest
Those keen to explore this incredible destination won’t be short on things to do. A great way to experience Gunbower Forest is simply by walking through it. Try the 3.2-kilometre Goanna Walking Trail, a gentle riverside walk perfect for wildlife spotting. Or BYO kayak and paddle the Safes Lagoon Canoe Trail, then pull over for a picnic lunch or head to one of the Murray’s sandy bends to set up there.
See it all from the water on a self-guided kayak tour. (Image: Campaspe Shire Council)
The wetlands are part of the new Murray River Adventure Trail as well – an expanse of connected walking, cycling and paddling trails that cross over 500 kilometres of country Victoria. The project is in its final stages of development, slated to open in late 2025. There are also plenty of camping spots, so you won’t have to squeeze it all into one day, either. But if that’s all the time you have, the leisurely Gunbower Island Forest Drive packs all the highlights into a half-day trip.
Gunbower Forest is part of the new Murray River Adventure Trail.
Gunbower Forest is a place of deep significance for its Traditional Owners, the Barapa Barapa and Yorta Yorta people, who actively care for Country. There are a number of cultural sites that can be visited, just be sure to remain respectful at all times.
How to get to Gunbower Forest
Gunbower Forest is located near the town of Koondrook in northern Victoria, around a 3.5-hour drive from Melbourne. The quickest route is along the Calder Freeway. If you’re coming from Sydney, fly into Bendigo Airport and hire a car for the two-hour drive. Entry to Gunbower Forest is free and there is plenty of parking onsite once you arrive.
Taylah Darnell is Australian Traveller's Writer & Producer. She has been passionate about writing since she learnt to read, spending many hours either lost in the pages of books or attempting to write her own. This life-long love of words inspired her to study a Bachelor of Communication majoring in Creative Writing at the University of Technology Sydney, where she completed two editorial internships. She began her full-time career in publishing at Ocean Media before scoring her dream job with Australian Traveller. Now as Writer & Producer, Taylah passionately works across both digital platforms and print titles. When she's not wielding a red pen over magazine proofs, you can find Taylah among the aisles of a second-hand bookshop, following a good nature trail or cheering on her EPL team at 3am. While she's keen to visit places like Norway and New Zealand, her favourite place to explore will forever be her homeland.
Located just an hour north-west of Melbourne, the largely undiscovered Macedon Ranges quietly pours some of Australia’s finest cool-climate wines and serves up some of Victoria’s best food.
Mention the Macedon Ranges and most people will think of day spas and mineral springs around Daylesford, cosy weekends away in the countryside or the famous Hanging Rock (of enigmatic picnic fame). Or they won’t have heard of the Macedon Ranges at all.
But this cool-climate destination has been inconspicuously building a profile as a high-quality food and wine region and is beginning to draw serious attention from oenophiles and epicureans alike.
The rise of Macedon Ranges wine
Barrels of liquid gold at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
With elevations ranging from 300 to 800 metres, Macedon Ranges vineyards are among the highest in the country. This altitude, combined with significant day/night temperature swings, makes for a slow ripening season, in turn nurturing wines that embody elegance and structure. Think crisp chardonnays, subtle yet complex pinot noirs and delicate sparkling wines, along with niche varietals, such as gamay and nebbiolo.
Despite the region’s natural advantages – which vary from estate to estate, as each site embodies unique terroir depending on its position in relation to the Great Dividing Range, soil make-up and altitude – the Macedon Ranges has remained something of an insider’s secret. Unlike Victoria’s Yarra Valley or Mornington Peninsula, you won’t find large tour buses here and there’s no mass marketing drawing crowds.
Many of the 40-odd wineries are family-run operations with modest yields, meaning the wineries maintain a personal touch (if you visit a cellar door, you’ll likely chat to the owner or winemaker themselves) and a tight sales circle that often doesn’t go far beyond said cellar door. And that’s part of the charm.
Though wines from the Macedon Ranges are just starting to gain more widespread recognition in Australia, the first vines were planted in the 1860s, with a handful of operators then setting up business in the 1970s and ’80s. The industry surged again in the 1990s and early 2000s with the entry of wineries, such as Mount Towrong, which has an Italian slant in both its wine and food offering, and Curly Flat , now one of the largest estates.
Meet the new generation of local winemakers
The Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Then, within the last 15 years, a new crop of vignerons like Andrew Wood at Kyneton Ridge Estate , whose vineyard in 2024 was the first in the Macedon Ranges to be certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia; Geoff Plahn and Samantha Reid at Paramoor , who have an impressive cellar door with a roaring fire and studded leather couches in an old Clydesdale barn; and Ollie Rapson and Renata Morello at Lyons Will , who rapidly expanded a small vineyard to focus on top-shelf riesling, gamay, pinot noir and chardonnay, have taken ownership of local estates.
Going back to the early days, Llew Knight’s family was one of the pioneers of the 1970s, replacing sheep with vines at Granite Hills when the wool industry dwindled. Knight is proud of the fact that all their wines are made with grapes from their estate, including a light, peppery shiraz (some Macedon wineries purchase fruit from nearby warmer areas, such as Heathcote, particularly to make shiraz) and a European-style grüner veltliner. And, as many other wineries in the region do, he relies on natural acid for balance, rather than an additive, which is often required in warmer regions. “It’s all about understanding and respecting your climate to get the best out of your wines,” he says.
Curious residents at Kyneton Ridge Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Throughout the Macedon Ranges, there’s a growing focus on sustainability and natural and low-intervention wines, with producers, such as Brian Martin at Hunter Gatherer making waves in regenerative viticulture. Martin previously worked in senior roles at Australia’s largest sparkling winemaking facility, and now applies that expertise and his own nous to natural, hands‑off, wild-fermented wines, including pét‑nat, riesling and pinot noir. “Wild fermentation brings more complexity,” he says. “Instead of introducing one species of yeast, you can have thousands and they add different characteristics to the wine.”
The estate’s vineyard, where cool-climate grapes are grown. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Most producers also focus on nurturing their grapes in-field and prune and pick by hand, thus avoiding the introduction of impurities and the need to meddle too much in the winery. “The better the quality of the fruit, the less you have to interfere with the natural winemaking process,” says Wood.
Given the small yields, there’s also little room for error, meaning producers place immense focus on quality. “You’re never going to compete in the middle [in a small region] – you’ve got to aim for the top,” says Curly Flat owner Jeni Kolkka. “Big wineries try to do things as fast as possible, but we’re in no rush,” adds Troy Walsh, owner and winemaker at Attwoods . “We don’t use commercial yeasts; everything is hand-harvested and everything is bottled here, so we bottle only when we’re ready, not when a big truck arrives.” That’s why, when you do see a Macedon Ranges product on a restaurant wine list, it’s usually towards the pointy end.
Come for the wine, stay for the food
Dining at Lake House Daylesford is a treat. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
If wine is the quiet achiever of the Macedon Ranges, then food is its not-so-secret weapon. In fact, the area has more hatted restaurants than any other region in Victoria. A pioneer of the area’s gourmet food movement is region cheerleader Alla Wolf-Tasker, culinary icon and founder of Daylesford’s Lake House.
For more than three decades, Wolf-Tasker has championed local producers and helped define what regional fine dining can look like in Australia. Her influence is palpable, not just in the two-hatted Lake House kitchen, but in the broader ethos of the region’s dining scene, as a wave of high-quality restaurants have followed her lead to become true destination diners.
The hatted Midnight Starling restaurant is located in Kyneton. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
It’s easy to eat well, whether at other hatted restaurants, such as Midnight Starling in the quaint town of Kyneton, or at the wineries themselves, like Le Bouchon at Attwoods, where Walsh is inspired by his time working in France in both his food offering and winemaking.
The beauty of dining and wine touring in the Macedon Ranges is that it feels intimate and unhurried. You’re likely to meet the winemaker, hear about the trials of the latest vintage firsthand, and taste wines that never make it to city shelves. And that’s worth getting out of the city for – even if it is just an hour down the road.
Delicate dishes on the menu at Midnight Starling. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
A traveller’s checklist
Staying there
Stay at the Cleveland Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Enjoy a four-course menu at the one-hatted Surly Goat in Hepburn Springs, Japanese-inspired fare at Kuzu in Woodend or unpretentious fine dining at Mount Monument , which also has a sculpture park.
Drinking there
A tasting at Passing Clouds Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Settle in for a tasting at Boomtown in Castlemaine, sample local drops at the cosy Woodend Cellar & Bar or wine-hop around the many cellar doors, such as Passing Clouds .
Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Playing there
Idyllic scenes at Castlemaine. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Wander through the seasonal splendour of Forest Glade Gardens , hike to the summit of Hanging Rock, or stroll around the tranquil Sanatorium Lake.
Purple flowers hanging from a tree. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
