Little Desert National Park

The Little Desert is a misnomer twice over: it receives enough rain to be classed as heathland rather than desert, and it covers more than a thousand square kilometres. What it does have is deep sandy soil that drains too fast for farming, which is why it survived, and a proposed subdivision here in the late 1960s triggered a campaign that is often cited as the start of the modern Victorian conservation movement. The park protects malleefowl, birds that build large incubating mounds of sand and vegetation and tend them for months, along with heath that flowers heavily in spring with orchids, wattles and banksias. Tracks range from easy walks to sandy four-wheel drive routes.

What you actually see

• The malleefowl mounds - incubating nests built and tended by the birds.
• The spring wildflowers - heath in flower from August through November.
• The sandy heathland - deep sand country that resisted farming.
• The conservation story - the campaign that saved the park in the 1960s.

When to go

August to November for wildflowers and comfortable walking; summer is hot with fire danger and little shade. Malleefowl are active around their mounds in spring but are shy and rarely seen. Winter is cold and tracks can be soft.

Honest expectations

Sandy tracks bog conventional vehicles easily, and the western sections need four-wheel drive. There is no water in the park. Malleefowl sightings are uncommon, and the mounds themselves are unremarkable to look at without interpretation.

Nearby

Dimboola and Nhill are the gateway towns; the Grampians lie southeast.