Croajingolong National Park

Croajingolong runs for about a hundred kilometres along the far eastern coast of Victoria to the New South Wales border, a UNESCO biosphere reserve protecting heathland, warm temperate rainforest, dunes, inlets and beaches where the ocean meets country almost entirely without development. Point Hicks, where Cook's party made the first recorded European sighting of the Australian east coast in 1770, carries a lighthouse of 1890 with keepers cottages available to rent. Thurra River and Wingan Inlet hold campsites reached on unsealed roads, and the wilderness coast walk runs for a hundred kilometres to the border. The 2019 to 2020 fires burnt the great majority of the park, and recovery is ongoing.

What you actually see

• Point Hicks Lighthouse - the 1890 tower at the point Cook recorded in 1770.
• The empty beaches - long stretches of coast with no development.
• The inlets - Wingan, Tamboon and Mallacoota inlets meeting the sea.
• The fire regrowth - heath and forest recovering from the 2019 fires.

When to go

October to April; winter is cold, wet and the tracks difficult. Summer holidays fill campsites, which must be booked. Access roads are unsealed and close after heavy rain. Some areas remain closed or altered following fire damage.

Honest expectations

Fire in 2019 and 2020 burnt around three quarters of the park and the landscape is still visibly recovering. Roads are long, unsealed and slow, with no fuel or supplies inside. Phone coverage is absent. Campsites are basic with no drinking water.

Nearby

Mallacoota lies at the eastern end; Cann River is the supply town on the highway.