Neds Gully Campground — Hotel in Northern Victoria Region

An east drive from Melbourne, a quieter stay than the drive-in Cooks Mill site a couple of k’s up the road, and Little River flowing even in the dry season - this smaller campground is a winner. A short 50m walk from a “loading zone” to the campground crosses a steel span bridge that looks so strong that it will survive the apocalypse. Little River, which runs alongside the ground, is a great play and exploration zone for kids (of all ages). Take your own water, take home your own rubbish.

The walk along the river to Cooks Mill campground takes about 50 mins at medium pace (the sign says 40. It’s lying). It’s mostly flat and runs through magnificent open forest amd magical woodland scenes. We saw a Black Wallaby, plenty of regular Roos, but the best was the very large number of black cockatoos that serenaded us with their distinctive screeching along large sections of the track. Just watch out for narrow sections of the path, fallen logs, and plenty of tree roots and rocks that play an endless game of “trip up the tourist, especially when they are looking at the beauty around them”.

Two minutes beyond the Cooks Mill campground is a historical site of the same name; it’s worth a look and a reflection on how this country was built by greater men and women in almost unimaginable conditions.

There are several other steep, rocky climbs available starting at the campground for those with youth, vigour and the desire to suffer.

Plenty of formed fire pits let you burn wood, rubbish and small animals, but don’t be that group that ignores the “don’t take wood from around the campground” and enters the fenced off regeneration zones to collect wood. (Yes, there was that group there when we camped.) It’s also a no dog camp (sad, but it doesn’t stop everyone- yes, someone turned up with a dog while we were there).

All in all, a lovely spot. Not everyone does the right thing, but to be honest the ground seems to be in good shape regardless, and it didn’t spoil...

Great little campground, with a small creek that you can bath in on hot days. There are a lot of spaces, which is both a blessing and a curse. Too many people obviously kills the ambiance, but at least there is more chance of getting a spot. You are supposed to book online though I am unsure how well this is policed.

There is also a local wombat that wanders around the site though it was suffering from a pretty bad case of mange when we were there. Thankfully it is being treated, but looks pretty manky.

Tl;dr Great campsite,...

Ned's Gully was beautiful - you have to cross a short bridge and then we almost had it entirely to ourselves. You can do some beautiful short & easy or long & hard walks directly from camp. We did get frost overnight in June. Lots of birdlife, possums, wallabies and kangaroos about, and you might get lucky and hear or...